Remember that we are human - Rating System Needs to Change

[Irene70]

I think AirBnB has lost sight of the type of people hosts are.  We are giving. We are generous. We are inviting. We are probably on the more sensitive side of the spectrum (not cry babies, but sensing that people need something, and generally being happy to provide it). We are warm. We are nice.  We are only human, and we try to be good ones.

So why does AirBnB sending punishing, threatening messages to us when we lose a star for something (and don't let us see what the star was knocked off for), or because maybe we need to deny a person who seems sketchy, or because our lives get busy and it takes us 24.2 hours to respond to someone?  Why do you encourage guests to tell us what went wrong instead of informing guests that if something is not to their liking, they should tell us to give us an opportunity to fix it?

And it's painful for me to review guests, because they too make mistakes, and sometimes rub us the wrong way, and it pains us to feel like we need to publicly share this -- ON THE INTERNET -- when maybe they were just having a bad day, or travel was rough, or anything. It's weird -- we are essentially rating them as people as then putting it online, and they do the same to us.  And often, we only have a few minutes of meeting these people and assessing them.  I think in our internet world of ratings and likes and numbers, numbers, numbers, AirBnB has forgotten that it is a COMMUNITY. Please bring some humanity back into the emails you write us, treat us like good people, and make the rating system more positive.  We definitely don't need more negativity in this world

[Suzan4]

 I used to love airbnb as a host- now they never respond to any queries have got too big and too greedy on the backs of us small hosts- success has gone to your head- go back to provisding us with an easy way to email contact you if we have queries .. too much time wasteded wading through inane claptrap trying to find how to directly email- smarten up, neaten up ,dont just have your eye on the profit- or the whole  ideal of it will soon  be lost 

[Rachella0]

I am also very disturbed by the rating system. 

I am often dinged for things that are beyond my control.

For example, I live in a multicultural part of London. I love it and chose to live here because of this diversity and the energy that comes with it.

However, after hosting for several years I am now extremely wary of hosting suburban Americans who invariably become nervous when they see people of colour and give me low ratings in the "location" category. 

I'm describe my area in great detail in my listing but this happens time and time again. 

[Ange2]

"Why ... instead of informing guests that if something is not to their liking, they should tell us to give us an opportunity to fix it?"

Totally agree. I ask my guests to tell me if something is wrong and that I will be happy to address it. When I see them I always give them an opportunity to address things they might not find to their liking. I live in my place, it makes things easier.

As for "And it's painful for me to review guests" I stick to a standard. Are they clean, respectful, responsible, easy to communicate with, abide by house rules - and I add friendly and easy going if so - that's all I address. If I had guests who are not these things I only address it only in standard terms - nothing private or personal.

[Mike127]

I am also very disturbed by the rating system. 
I am often dinged for things that are beyond my control.

Get rid of Location stars!

[Andrea9]

Yes, it's often disappointing that those you try to make the most comfortable or do the most for in the situation end up being those reviews that don't make the 5 stars. It's then an extra kick in the groin getting the Airbnb 'you were not good enough' warning sign.

[Catherine232]

Oh man, you're singing my song. Our ratings are generally good (don't get me started on ratings though- we average 4.5 * for one place, 5 for another, but stayed in a superhost place last year that was really below-par- not properly clean, nothing worked- seriously- fridge, washing machine and dishwasher nonfunctional- how on EARTH did she rate super host?, and very little provided) but I have stopped reading my reviews. I slipped and read some yesterday and it just put me into a foul mood- people complaining about location (why did you book here then?), a room with no door (clearly explained and described in our listing- it does have a curtain and is described as an extra place to sleep if guests want, AND I had a long discussion with the guest before she booked about the sleeping options, plus they arrived at 10:00 pm and changed their minds about arrangements necessitating me making up an extra bed at the last minute, which I did cheerfully while entertaining her small children at the same time), check out times ("you should have a check out time more inline with hotels"- hello? You're welcome to book into a hotel if you want, and again, why did you book with us if you didn't like our check out time?), complaints about us still working on the place when they arrived- BECAUSE THEY ARRIVED THREE HOURS BEFORE CHECK-IN TIME on a back to back...We try really hard and the nitpicky and unreasonable things people say really discourage me 😞

[Dee9]

I agree the rating system needs to change but i disagree where you think there shouldnt be public reviews. The whole airbnb system is based on reviews.  Its a necessary component

[Wyatt]

The status of this Idea has been changed to Popular. Ideas that receive 20 or more Thumbs up from the community within the first 7 days of being published become Popular. The Popular Ideas with the most Thumbs Up are reviewed closely by the Airbnb product team. In reviewing these Ideas, the original post and comments from the community will be considered. Thank you for taking the time to submit a thoughtful Idea that resonates with the community.

[John282]

I get dinged for my location category even as I write more about my location so people know what to expect. There's nothing I can do about my location. The guests have selected my place. Why am I to blame? Perhaps Location gets moved off the star system to: "Was the location what you expected?" Y/N

[Ange2]

I get dinged because people haven't read the description and they mark me down because I do not offer what I do not offer! hum!

[Suzi6]

I agree with what's been said about ratings. I think there should be some way hosts could silently tag troublesome guests for other hosts would know to beware. We're told to write positive reviews, and what if they're not positive? We should have a way to know that.

[Jean84]

I too have been  marked down for location, some rooms not en-suite,price , the amount of rooms I have ,hence amount of other guests, breakfast etc. Most guests are great and very appreciative,and I do have a lot of good reviews, but there are some who will complain no matter what. it is dissapointing, especially when like myself you go to the trouble of emailing every guest to discuss before booking, I even ask them to tell me they have READ room descriptions and are happy to book. One solution maybe if we had an introductary page that guests had to read before accessing our listings with all the points we would like them to be aware of,as I'm sure a lot of guests only look at the photos and the price , as I have several emails from potential guests asking about all the things which are alreay there for them to read.

[John-and-Heather0]

I agree with Jean-- the apps and webpages could easily REQUIRE the guest to view the entire listing (photos, description, rules) before booking.  I think the problem is with people booking on phones--we have very high marks and superhost status, but the occasional guest who has docked stars were all for items very clearly identified in the listing description and photos. "I assumed you were right on the beach." (honey this whole area is 50 miles of high bank oceanfront, everything 'on the beach' was washed into the ocean 100 years ago, which is why no houses are there--very clear if you look at the listing for more than 5 seconds). 

[Sandra126]

But what is the suggestion here? It needs to change, but what is your proposed solution? There are a couple of suggested solutions here in Host Voice, read through and give a tick if you agree with any of them.