Change When you Shut off a listing

[Melanie58]

I have an idea that many places are solidly 3 star experiences and that is okay.  Some people might want to trade some amenities for price in their travels.  My idea is instead of penalizing hosts for dropping below a 4 star average, penalize hosts who get thumbs down ratings a certain percentage of the time.  I say this because I started on Airbnb as a guest.  In real life, I basically never dish out 5's - I had no idea that rating things 3's or 4's could mean the end of the Hosts livlihood.  Airbnb has a system that is a bit out of whack with reality.  But on the whole, the thumbs up or thumbs down really summarzies the whole experience, and lets people be a bit more honest with their stars I think.  In turn, this could make the whole thing easier to navigate overall.  

[Mike127]

I agree with Melanie. Thumbs up or down is the right way to go.... Some guests expectations are far too high even if you spell out all conditions of a 3rd world country,  like here in the Philippines. They still expect 1st world surroundings and rate you low because of things a host can not control. I.e. one of our guests complained the room did not have tv or fridge. He booked a room without tv or fridge. Thats why it was cheap. He left the next day and wanted a refund! So we get low ratings because our guest is an idiot???

Another wanted the street outside fixed. Hey we do NOT fix the roads, the council does. Star rating does NOT work for us...

[Cheryl13]

Hi, I agree that the ratings by Air BnB should be changed to reflect a more accurate result.  I also have stayed with other hosts whose listings should always be 5 star.  Guests need to read carefully about amenities etc as in the case of a guest who stayed with us for several days.  Our listing clearly states "Bed and Breakfast".  Because of the length of time the guest stayed, we went out of our way to provide a small oven/griller, the use of our kitchen and more.  She gave a lower rating and suggested that we needed to provide for guests who wish to cook as we are 20 minutes from shops. Let's hope that thumbs up or down or a more honest rating system is adopted for the benefit of all hosts.

[Janet77]

Agree

[Greg45]

I HAVE AN AIRBNB IN OHIO.  THE COMMENTS NEED TO BE REVIEWED BY AIRBNB BEFORE THEY'RE PUBLISHED. THEY SHOULD CONTACT THE HOST VIA EMAIL OR CHAT OR TEXT TO CONFIRM WHAT THE GUEST (S) HAVE COMMENTED ON AND ADJUST ACCORDINDLY.  THE GUEST SOMETIMES WANT TO STAY FOR FREE OR MAKE THE PRICE UP THEMSELVES.  I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE A PLACE FOR PET FEES AND THE CLEANING FEES SHOULD BE ABLE TO BE CHANGED ACCORDING TO HOW MANY PEOPLE STAY INSTEAD OF ONE FEE.  THE WEBSITE NEEDS TWEAKED CERTAINLY.

HOPEFULLY THIS WILL CHANGE QUICKLY ALSO. 

[Andrea9]

Fully agree with @Melanie0. Guest ratings are as arbitrary as can be, from people never giving higher than 3 or 4 or as revenge measure for not getting their way or having too high expectations for not properly reading a listing. The thumbs up or down are a much better benchmark.

[Zandra0]

Do you not think some will just thumbs down? The good thing about a star rating is the law of averages; it's less black and white and eventually a trend emerges and suddenly that 3 star in the context of all  fine. With just thumbs up and down its too black and white; I soaps eh it wouldn't be long before people were complaining they'd been getting too many thumbs down and wanted a graded system .