AirBnB's upcoming Superhost rating system is a nightmare.

Tony-and-Tania0
Level 5
New South Wales, Australia

AirBnB's upcoming Superhost rating system is a nightmare.

What planet do you live on, AirBnB?

 

I've hosted hundreds of guests for years (remembering only 30% of guests leave reviews on my listing), retaIned Superhost ever since receiving it, and break my back ensuring guests have an amazing stay and create fantastic memories when they're here. Why should I suffer at the hands of people that don't read and don't care. People who book, lie about understanding the listing and reading our rules just to get in the door, then leave us bad reviews?  Reviews which show that the guest clearly did not read the listing - thereby breaching AirBnB's own T.O.S, that you then refuse to remove regardless? And this is your practice before the upcoming changes. Are you bloody mad? 

 

You are robbing us of our own self-determination and putting all of the marbles in the hands of fickle, non-accountable, occasionally disgusting and vindictive guests.  Your upcoming rating system is the antithesis of sane. You've been told countless thousands of times by all of us all over the forums here that it is so bad it's borderline, nay, exceeding parody. Look at your forums, look at all of the threads - can you hear us all? do you care? 

 

The upcoming rating system is masochism. It's mental health destruction in its upkeep and retention. You're giving us all blood pressure, anxiety and fear. 

 

This is not how you treat people that uphold a gold standard on your own platform. 

 

Listen to us. 

 

 

 

 

59 Replies 59
Lynette57
Level 10
Gladstone, Australia

@ Tania, I thoroughly agree with you on every aspect you have written, I have on been a host for 8 months , have had 13 bookings  and got 4.5 to 5 in all aspects and reviews but I still get emails from ABNB telling me I have to improve. Guests dont seem to understand the star system and think a 5star review is for the very fancy , wait on hand and foot, 24 hr service, totally everything supplied whatever they ask for. and even though they have a great time and love my house they give me a 4.5 star and ABNB  says its not good enough. 

So I have taken the stance of keeping my home to the same high standard, supplying approx 3 to 5 days of complementry items, Cofee tea sugar milk, butter various spreads shampoo conditioner, body wash and hand wash, washing powder  etc. And I no longer read the stars as I know I am doing the best I can and my guests love it, I have also accepted that I am a bloody good host and if I dont get one of those little medals attached to my picture, then I really dont give a damm.

Steve2743
Level 10
Calgary, Canada

Have they changed the requirements? I've been out of the loop with the businesses of life...

Steve

Hi @Steve2743,

 

It took me a while to wrap my brain around what the changes mean.  At the moment on our Progress page it says the target for overall rating is 4.8 already and it seems to me it was always 4.8 for us.  We have never had a calculator for the last 365 days that says what % are 5 stars so we would never know if it was 80% or not.  We have had a % on reviews since we started hosting calculating with every single review from day one but not broken down into years.  The change is:

 

Coming in July 2018: updated rating requirement

  • Current requirement: Receive a 5-star review at least 80% of the time
  • Updated requirement: Maintain a 4.8 overall rating

I actually had no idea that we were not supposed to be maintaining a 4.8 already for superhost.  I think this means that you must now have 96% of reviews be 5 star in order to keep superhost.  That means 19 out of 20 reviews have to be 5 stars.  

 

I think this has already been our requirement since we started.  Are there any other Aussie hosts out there who can check their Opportunities page?  Because I have never ever seen the 4.7 requirement, I feel like I am in the twilight zone!!  Could it be that multiple listings have a different standard?

 

Thank you, Lisa

Jayesh5
Level 6
Hervey Bay, Australia

Screen Shot 2018-05-15 at 6.28.08 PM.png

 

Here is a screen shot of our page where it says the target is already 4.8 (and always has been as far as I remember).  Does anyone else have this on their page????

Fred13
Level 10
Placencia, Belize

 There are actually two changes, one recent and the second coming soon: the recent Trips Reviewed (minimum 50%) requirement and the new Overall Experience 4.8 minimum (vs. 4.7 of the past) in July. 

 

 

Michael956
Level 10
Salvador, Brazil

Despite the thousands of complaints from hosts about the rating system, it's one area that Airbnb neither listens to or even comments on.  I wish they'd at least offer us an explanation or justification for their expectation that any rating that is less than 5 = FAIL.  In the real world a 4 rating should equal GOOD.  The Airbnb rating system--which is more appropriate for a hotel than home-sharing--causes hosts so much worry and burn-out.  I also think it leads hosts to the conclusion that I'm sadly coming to:  Superhost status is simply a psychological torture designed to keep hosts in a perpetual state of anxiety about quality, but in fact leads some hosts to give up  on attaining or keeping Superhost status because one feels like a hamster on a never-ending wheel. 

@Tony-and-Tania0

 

I am currently in discussion with AirBnb CS about the review system and have used your post as an example of the feeling that hosts, and indeed many very talented Superhosts have about the review system, the Superhost Program, and the new scoring changes.They tell me that they VALUE the business that Superhosts brings (ha,ha ) so I have suggested to them that, if that is true, they take some notice of what feeling there currently is within the Community on these topics and the lack of communication and response to the issues being raised.   I doubt the concerns will go further than the waste paper bin..but...we will see 

@Mike0 There are over 200 comments on a post I did on this subject recently entitled 'Review System Needs To Be Revised'. Feel free to use this as a resource as well as you 'fight the good fight'. July will be here soon, and many, many hosts will suddenly understand just how truly horrific these new requirements are. If they are even hosts anymore, given they may fall below 4.7 and have their listing suspended / deactivated by the heartless, merciless Airbnb Computer Bot.

   The trick with getting something is 'giving' something else. That is why I would like to see a tougher requirement to get Superhost (time - say 1 year, and/or amount of guests say 25 not a mere 10) and then keep the more forgiving 4.7 vs. 4.8 requirement; because oftentimes 1-2 'bad' reviews could make the distinction, as you have so expertly pointed out @Rebecca0.

   Remember, Airbnb wants to cut down the % of Superhosts, and if they do, then 'I think' their intention is make a more big deal of it.

I agree with you Fred.  I wonder if the future change in requirement actually somewhat accomplishes what you are suggesting. 

 

If you are a new host and somehow get to be Super Host  with 5 star review for 9 bookings and a single 4 star review, chances are you lucky, not necessarily a good host, i.e., educated about how to use the platform, solve problems, manage market changes.  That somewhat describes me in the first 5 months.  Blissfully ignorant, I became a Super Host.  This felt like a nice pat on the back, but unlike many hosts, I had the time and curiosity to continuously educate myself about this business.  So I have managed to maintain this "status" for over 2 years.

 

Now if a new host gets another booking with a 4 star review the host will no longer qualify until there is an increase the number of bookings with 5 star reviews.   Once a host has a fair number of bookings and becomes a seasoned host, she/he will become more and more able to handle the occasional 4 star review.

 

 

@Rebecca0

 

"Feel free to use this as a resource as well as you 'fight the good fight'. "

 

Yes, I included that post in my strongly worded message to the CS

Rebecca.

You made an excellent point.

And how on earth can we force the guests to be honest (and clean?).

We have no direct influence to what the guest will write and we'll never know their mood while writing the review.

I've been in many AirBnBs myself, as a guest, and reading the respective reviews from others about the place have actually almost nothing to do with the reality. Does AirBnB take fake reviews? Can they wheat them out?

And to the other side, AirBnB insists we should all lower our prices and my own experience showed, after way more than 600 bookings, that the lower the price, the less respectful people arrive; of course exceptions apply.

don't hold your breath. seems like Airbnb forgot who contributed to their sucsses. Even it is clear a guest left lower rating and bad review in retaliation can be proven by the email exchange Airbnb give you the finger and lough at your face "nothing we can do" they will tell you, really??? they just do not give a dam about hosts.

"Super Host" is the industry's equivalent of the kindergartener's "gold star on a forehead".  It's insulting and condescending.  It also pits owner against owner, which is likely its intent.  Bad thing.  Owners should reject it, IMO.