Airbnb needs to fix their star rating problems!

[Nicole158]

This is totally unfair, and I really hate that Airbnb considers anything less than 5 stars a bad rating. I've read of people's accounts being suspended for bad star ratings..... If they write you a good review but give you less than 5 stars, you should be able to appeal it.
It would be nice if Airbnb either eased up on the hosts or let the guests know how much their star rating will effect the host.

[Christabel-and-Rita0]

yes AirBNB consideres 5 as good and 4-1 as bad - when the average rating goes to 4.4 star you will start to get warnings

guests are not aware that 5  only is good

this really makes airbnb with just 2 ratings Good (5) or Bad (1-4)

so airbnb should at least change the system to just GOOD or BAD - so at least guests would know that is they give a BAD rating it is because they  consider their stay as BAD . This would stop us from getting 4s (which airbnb considers as BAD) from guests that were happy but never give 5 ....as 5 is for perfection which probably is non existing 

[Annette33]

@Christabel-and-Rita0 , five stars for your suggestion! It would definitely be a major improvement over the  anxiety provoking and flawed system we have in place right now. 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Christabel-and-Rita0 exactly, thumb up or down... like when we are asked if we would recomend this guest 

[Christabel-and-Rita0]

thinking further, probably the best rating system is to have 3 options

GOOD

NEUTRAL

BAD

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

"Everything was perfect, it's hard to get 5 star out of me.... "

look at this egotrip! 

[Yasmin2]

Yes let's face it there are folks that are not able to appreciate what is given and that applies to their journey through life, however, this doesn't change my appreciation for myself and this is what holds me through my daily life. It's great to be aware to not take it too personally as we know that what we are offering is to our best ability,  to be open to learning as there is so much more to being a host than money yet a wonderful exchange of energy.

We had guests who said to us that they never give 5 stars and they wanted to give us 7 stars for hospitality but they had to find something wrong so their comment was "some dust" you gotta laugh!

In joy

Yasmin

[Beverly44]

Guests need to be educated that ABB ratings are not the same as hotel ratings. Our small, well-appointed, rustic cabin—bargain-priced, too—gets crazy rave reviews. But then, two of the most complementary guests gave us 4 stars! My guess is they wanted potential guests to know— great place but not a 5 star hotel. SoI’ve just posted this note in the kitchen. “ We know we’re not a 5 star hotel but we hope you’re having a 5 star experience. We give all our guests 5 star ratings and hope you’ll return the kindness. I hope the note doesn’t backfire, pll help the 

[Anne1036]

Hi Beverly, I really like the first line of your message, I think it is a good way to convey to guests that you are interested in them having a good experience at your place while subtly including a reference to the star ratings. I'm not sure that you need the second line, but as with so many things that is personal preference I guess.

[Elizabeth164]

I also think the star rating system needs amending. Too many of my guests give me a lower rating for my location, not because it is a bad location, but because it isn't where they wanted to be, although I am very explicit about where I am. Just because a guest isn't where they'd ideally like to be doesn't mean my location is "bad".  I think that whole rating category ought to be taken out.

After six years of being a host for 3 rooms, I've seen a definite change in how guests rate me, and while I generally rate well, guests expectations have risen dramatically. I think this is because Airbnb features very expensive places, rather than ordinary homes. So, Airbnb has created those expectations, against its original mission. I keep looking for a new business to start that keeps to its original mission of offering rooms in private homes--modest, ordinary homes.

[Yasmin2]

Hi Elizabeth I dont agree with amending the rateing system however there is some truth to the raised standards compared to the origional HOME SHARING model as we have 2 rooms in our 'home.'

Its very clear on our listing that we are sharing a rooms in our home and there are devoted guests who choose this style of stay and they so appreciate meeting the locals and enjoying our home and location as much as we do ...perhaps there could be a special rating for Home Sharing Hosts ...worth pondering!

[Thomas1032]

I agree, and cannot stand this, I think it is totally unfair.  Airbnb sports the slogan, "rent a castle, or a futon" but they dont seem to care when the hosts renting less than perfect spaces get shut down by one or two bad reviews, when the majority of the guests are happy.  I dont think they will change this policy anytime soon: I believ it is one of the reasons airbnb, although a great service, doesnt really care about its users. =(

[Robin-and-Mami0]

Well, I do agree from the point of view that often Airbnb does things to promote themselves unfairly at the expense of hosts - like

1) the 4 hour window to make a resolution when that's hardly enough time to clean the place and making a resolution means photos, writing, purchasing replacemements, getting a repair bill.  This puts the burden of repairs which can exceed the revenue earned on the host - making the stay a net expense - I've experienced this where guests stain sheets, break dishes - use supplies they are clearly not authorized to use, and Airbnb simply says I failed to make my claim before the next guest checked in.

2) Cancel and refund reservation based on guest health reasons instead of putting the burden on guests to get travel insurance. That is what travel insurance is for and it's only available to guests - duh - for a reason.  Hosts can't purchase it.  On top of that many of these arise from guests conceal their pre-exisiting conditions and exploit them at their whim.  Airbnb looks the hero when they slam the host with lost rent and grant the concealed guest a refund making the host - "self insured" 

3)  Allowing ignorant or malicious factually incorrect reviews to stick - not reviewing, deleting clearly fraudulent or irresponsible reviews.

[Thomas1032]

Just to drive my point home in terms of math: say you have 10 guests. 5 of them give a 5 star review and "love it". 4 of them give a 4 star review, saying that it was "excellent for the price", not understanding the rating system. One guest gives you a three star rating because they thought you did not have AC, even though your listing clearly states this. Now you are at a 4.4 star rating, one point from having your business shut down, though 9 out of 10 people liked your place, and one person did not read the listing properly.   !!!

[Robin-and-Mami0]

I think Airbnb should allow guests to dispute reviews that are factually-provably incorrect when it comes to unit specifications or working order of furnishings.

Often these are written by guests who are either ignorant or malicious.

Like you, I often get those complaints where they didn't read the listing where I've communicated over and over again how large my 2 rentals are.  I give them square floor plans, square footage and room measurements in standard, metric and japanese tatami mats (jo).   I provide HD photos from the 4 corners of each space.   This would be and exhaustive explanation-description-declaration. 

The apartment is the same size as 700 others in the same, most popular high rise in Waikiki.   The unit is furnished with space saving furniture; queen instead of king size bed,  queen plus sofa sleeper instead of 2 queen beds.  ceiling fan instead of free standing floor fan.  sconce lighting instead of floor lamps.  built in cabinets that use otherwise unused wall space instead of free standing cabinets.  I encourage them to measure it out on their floor or go to a public place like a park and measure it out if they are uncertain how much space that is. 

And they still often say, the apartments are too small !     Maybe they come from some place where square footage is relatively cheap and homes are huge by comparison.  

And I've had guests complain -- after they check out -- that something doesn't work -- when it does -- there was no problem with the item.   If a guest doesn't complain about something not working during their stay they should not be allowed to complain about it after they check out.

[Ned-And-Laura0]

Ok, I have posted my thoughts on the entire concept of reviews a few times but I wanted to post it here again as this topic comes up a LOT.  I have been an airbnb host for less than a year and just got my superhost status last July, but I was a guest for years.  I have also been running another small business for 13 years that has to deal with online reviews all the time.

First off, we care WAY more about reviews than guests/customers do.  So many hosts get upset when somebody gives them 3 or 4 stars on value or location.  I promise you, NOBODY goes into your review sections to read your performance on individual sections like value and location.  Just let all that go.  We all get 4 stars here and there and even a random 3 because guests don't like where your property is located or didn't want to pay a cleaning fee.  And you never know what's going to stick in a guests mind, maybe the bathroom window sticks or the AC rattles or their massive SUV couldn't fit in the parking spot.  Who knows, who cares...let it go.  Just keep up the good work and the ratings will take care of themselves.

Second, every business has to deal with retaliatory reviews.  It's just part of doing business in the internet age.  If you can't handle that fact, you shouldn't be in any form of business that can get reviewed.  It would be nice if we could remove every review we personally felt was unfair, but let's be honest, that would be EVERY bad review, right?  We all bend over backwards to make our guests happy and some people just had a bad trip for whatever reason and take it out on you.  Some people want huge discounts and threaten bad reviews even though they are in the wrong.  It happens, it's part of doing business, don't take it personally.  Every coffee shop, mechanic and bakery have a few bad reviews from disgruntled customers and we all just ignore them.  It's not you, it's them.  Now if you get multiple in a row, well, then maybe it's you. I promise, not one potential guest is going to book somewhere else because your average is 4.7 instead of 4.9.  Guests simply don't care that much.  They are looking for the best price in the area they want.  They look at the pictures, BRIEFLY read the description, MAYBE scan reviews to make sure there aren't a bunch of bad ones and that's it.  

What it all comes down to really is whether or not people are booking your space.  The rest is just gravy.  So long as your booking rate stays consistent that's all that matters...money in the bank, I mean that's why we are here, right?  It's not for some existential validation of our lives, it's about paying the bills.  So long as your rating is good enough to not get kicked off and you are making money then it's all good.

Now that brings me to the update of the policy.  It seems below a 4.7 now gets you kicked off the platform?  That does seem a bit extreme.  I'm completely fine with a 4.8 average for a superhost.  It SHOULD be hard to be a superhost, otherwise it doesn't mean anything.  (And really to my point above, most the guests don't care about superhost either, some do, most don't) But to kick hard working hosts off the platform because of what may be one single bad review?  That seems crazy to me, are we certain that is the case?  I wonder has anybody with a 4.6 actually been kicked off yet?  Sure they get the letter, but actual removal?  I'd be curious to know.  4.7 doesn't seem all that bad to me really.  I'd totally book a place with a 4.5 or 4.6 rating if it looked nice and the price was right.  If that's the case, airbnb needs to seriously reconsider.