Airbnb Warns to Suspend my Most Booked Listing

[Jeet0]

Hi Fellow Hosts,

I just saw a warning from Airbnb that if my rating falls below 4, my listing could be suspended.

I want to point out 3 things:

1. Mine is the most booked place in my area (clearly guests prefer it even though I'm not a super host with a 5 star rating) becuase I offer homecooked food at a remote hills station and have a the most reasonable pricing.

2. Getting a 4+ rating in India is a tough job because most Indians often expect to get a lot for the price that they pay. Giving a 5/5 is not our culture. Even if you write everything correct in an exam, our teachers always deduct a point for poor handwriting or something silly coz 10/10 is not a thing here. It's a belief that marking something 10/10 (or 5/5 in this case) means that's the end of improvement. Thus GETTING A 5 STAR REVIEW IS A MIRCLE.

3. I have a 100% Response Rate and 98% Commitment Rate (because I had to cancel an instant booking once and I was under the impression that hosts aren't penalized for 3 IB cancellations.).

- Accuracy/Comminication/Checkin are all 4.5+.

- Location is 4.3 and there's nothing I can do about it, can't move my house to another place, can I? I give detailed instructions, goolge maps link, and also walk down to the main road to receive guests if they are dumb enough to not know how to use navigation.

- Value is 4.3 and there's not much I can do about it, like stated in point 2 guests here aren't very giving. It's a cultural thing, most don't even say thank you while checking out.

- Cleanliness is something I can work on, but it rains 6 months and is cold for 4 months making walls and tree trunks and pathways kindof moist, it's a known common problem in our town, plus ours is a old house and I'm not making so much from Airbnb that I can demolish and rebuild the entire bunglow. I ensure that the lines, towels, washrooms are all hygenic and the house smells fresh.

My point being, is it fair for Airbnb to threaten to suspend the most booked place with the maximum reviews (63) that's trying to provide a facility for tourists at a difficult place which tourists prefer just because it does not match it's International Standards of Hospitality? I'm not running a 5 star Hilton or Marker here. This is my home and I feel that these standards are unrealistic.

What do you guy feel?

Deeply dissapointed,

Jeet

[Marc28]

Sounds like the classic scenerio of a big, dumb computer making decisions based on algorithms rather than looking at the real service being provided.

At the very least, Airbnb needs to make it very clear to guests how their reviews can impact a host. I've received a few 4-star reviews from guests who had literally nothing bad to say about their stay, but they just weren't accustomed to rate anything 5-stars that wasn't the Ritz-Carlton.

Truth is, all markets, especially the hospitality market, need less-than-perfect products (in this case, rentals) because this offers a range of prices and experiences for a diverse population. Many people love our home, for instance, because it isn't TOO nice as far as furnishings go, so they feel more relaxed staying there with their young children.

Not focusing on the human element has been and will continue to be Airbnb's main weakness and ultimately their downfall if they don't fix it. With more cities trying to shut down short-term rentals, responsible, engaged hosts are their only hope to avoid becoming a completely rogue, black-market platform.

I really hope they properly evaluate your listing before shutting it down based on pretty darn good ratings.

[Shelley41]

They tried to shut mine down for lack of a reply to a booking request that Airbnb system failed to text or email me about. I finally contacted them on Facebook and they said sorry can't do anything about it and docked my stats and it still hasn't come back up after 2 years of 100% responce rate. Only once and their fault, in 2 and 1/2 years and I get a 97% rateing??? I think they need to fix this rating to 4 star also, seems more reasonable as we do not have ritsy places and Airbnb does not tell guest how important a 5 star is to us and prohibit us from telling them or asking for a 5 star. But I bet the ones that do have 5 star across the board ask their guest for them. :o/ Very disdapointed in this rating system!!!

[Ana7]

@Jeet0 i'm totally on your side. Suspending your account, wtf??? For the rating as high as 4.2? Unbelievable. Guests pick up where they want to stay. If they like your place and don't mind the rating, what's in it for Airbnb not to like?

[**bleep** edited]

[Jeet0]

Thank you @Marc28, @Shelley41 and @Ana7 for taking out the time to respond to my distressed situtation. Appreciate a lot. 

I agree, machines work differently and lack the human touch and I'm pretty sure that my rating won't drop below 4 thus, I hopefully, would never get suspended. But it came as a total shocker that led me to write this post especially after having a fantastic Decemeber with my guests.

I hope this feedback reaches the Airbnb team that works on this and they realize that not all of us live in high-end villas with surreal views or ultra-modern amenities. 

I feel as long as guests love to book a place even if it's rating is 0, Airbnb should allow that listing to stay on the platform and allow guests to have all variety of options to stay at.

Once again, thanks for sharing your thoughts. 

I feel much better now 🙂

[Thalia0]

i have the same problem. My account is in rIsk but...

i have 72/ 00 of 5 stars , 23/ 00 of 4 stars .

Out of almost 135 visitors only  2 people

wrote bad reviews and rated as 1 star...,

who were almost black mailing me for not paying their stay.

Overall experience 4.6

Accuracy 4.7

Cleanliness 4.7

Communication 4.9

Check in  4.8

Location 4.9

Value 4.7

 Reviews (118)

Location 4.9 star- communication 5 star and all the rest 4.8 and 4.7 star.

I don;t know whom to talk to.

I don't feel as protected by the airbnb site anymore as i used to.

Thanks you

[John467]

I had the same thing.  15 reviews, 14 5 star rating and one airbnb newbie gives me a 1 star because it wasn't the Ritz. The review was totally distorted, bordering on an outright lie. It's in review now but then I get the notifcation. Regardless of the outcome of the review, Airbnb won't remove the review for "transparency" purposes. That screws me from now on.  Airbnb apparently sides with guests, even crazy guests new to Airbnb over long time hosts. 

[Sandy18]

We have a 4.8 rating and got the same message for cancelling on 1 guest.  And it sits there staring at me every time I log on.  I feel like a naughty school kid who just got an "F" for English! 😞  Also, we have recently had a request with questions about whether or not a dog had been in the house during the last 12 months.  There had been and so it wasn't suitable for their stay.  However, they didn't know how to cancel there request so I had to do it my end by declining their request.  This has happened a couple of times lately (different questions) but I get a message from Airbnb telling us to better describe out property.  You can only say so much!  It needs to be easier for the guests to cancel their request prior to acceptance so we don't get slapped across the knuckles.

[Elina11]

Outrageous.

[Chad-and-Char0]

So, how does Airbnb think it will increase its revenue if it suspends listings?  They make money from our listings, so what would make them want to decrease the number of listings out there making them money?  It doesn't make sense.

As has been pointed out, guests don't give 5 star reviews all the time (some don't give them any of the time - don't get me started!!), there are plenty of people who don't care if they stay in a 5 star place.

The guests should be able to see what they are getting and read reviews from other people and make their decisions about where they book based on that information.

It is crazy to suspend a listing for anything short of criminal activity.