Crazy "Value" reviews

[Mark105]

Caution - this is just a *little*  rant followed up by a question...

I have been a Superhost for a while now and I continually strive for the 5 star perfection, but sometimes I just have to scratch my head at what people consider "value."    On our last two reviews we scored 5 stars on everything but value and the guests then gave us a 4 star overall.  Why you ask?  Well, both  of our most recent guests commented that they wished I had an additional bathroom.  I find this odd because, well, I advertize that I have two bathrooms and not three and I even take time on the listing to call out the locations in the house.  With this information in mind,  I find it odd  that somebody would rent a house with two bathrooms and then score me as a four stars on value, with with a private comment that they wished I had three bathrooms.  What makes the value comment most botheresome is that I am one of the only properties in my area offering up 5 real bedrooms and a large home loaded with custom furniture, comfortable beds, expensive linens, all ammeneties hotel including grooming supplies, loads of fluffy towels,  a stocked kitchen, a refrigerator filled with soft drinks, beer and wine, and a private, half acre garden with a pool that is maintained weekly.      I reached out to Airbnb, since the last two 4 star ratings have lowered my overall score into an area of concern,  and I was informed that  it's unfortunate I was given an overall four stars even though I scored 5 on everything else  (accuracy, cleanliness, check-in, communicatin and location) and that, well, so-sad-so-sorry, perhaps you can try harder to provide value.  Le sigh. 

So here's my question to the community.   Since the comments about adding an extra bathroom are "private" would anybody address this publically in the review response section?  For example, "Thank you for taking the time to leave your review.  We appreciate that we didn't meet your needs for having three bathrooms and that we will be sure to update our listing once we build a new one."  Not quite like that of course  🙂  But still.

Thank you for your comments.

[Diana309]

A lovely guest commented that while he thought my villa was perfect, he commented publicly that the roads they take to the town has no sidewalks and not ideal for families with young children. Anyone who's been to Thailand and Phuket knows that road safety for pedestrians and motorists are not ideal most of the time. I simply thanked him for his comment (after I had written a warm review about him) and said I would add a note in my listing to caution future guest, although I feel I've already got too many notes of caution in my listing.  Being that my villa is a 2-storey with open stairs rails, I've already added that the families need to be careful if there are very young children. The villa is on a steep hill, so I've mentioned that too. I still get complaints about guests struggling to return back to villa and then climbing up stairs to the 2nd floor bedrooms!

[George77]

I think the best way to scrutinise guest's reviews of your property  is by sending a message direct to the guest and ask a series of questions about their reasons for their review/ratings of your property.

You will get a response.

I finish my communication saying "It sadens me to realise that as a result of your disappointment I can only assume you will not be a guest that will return to our place" What a shame.

[Laura2327]

I'm so sorry these guests weren't completely satisfied - even though they knew exactly the configuration and number of bathrooms in your house. We, too, have 5 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, so will probably come up against this soon enough! My 5 star overall status has gone down to 4.8 because a woman complained about some dust on the top of our toilet paper holder! It's about 2" long and 1/4" deep - she gave us a 4 star rating because of it. I can only laugh because it is ridiculous. My house is professionally cleaned before every guest and we go above and beyond for everyone. She also complained that my sponge in the kitchen was dirty. Some people can't be pleased. I guess I should be happy that those were the only things she could find because she was clearly hell-bent on finding something! 

I would love it if air bnb allowed one bad review a year to be removed. That would be generous and appropriate, in my opinion. If I ever find myself in Kenwood, CA, I will stay in your home and give it all 5 stars!!

Laura 

[Lindley3]

I am soooo frustrated by this too! We consistently get pinged on value. I don't understand how a guest can give us 5 stars for everything else but 4 stars for value.

It is a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house a block from downtown with a gorgeous garden and well-stocked kitchen. We offer amenities like a membership to the botanical gardens that allows 6 guests . The house sleeps 6. We currently charge $165 per night. We do not charge our guests an additional cleaning fee. We provide great communication and lots of local tips. The house is spotless and the decoration is gorgeous!

How is this a bad value? You certainly couldn't get a hotel room this nice for the price. 

[Darran6]

I cannot agree more on the ridiculousness of the value rating. What context do guests actually have that allows them to rate this in the first place? They have visibility on the costs involved in a particular property and location? Of course they don't.  

I live in central London. It's expensive. My listing is also amongst the more expensive in my area. This is solely a reflection of the cost of the property. My guests pay around 20% more than they would pay per day if they signed a 1 year lease. That's before the deposit, the 20k of furniture, multiple sets of bedding and towels, my time, vacancy periods etc. In reality I probably make "a loss" - I only list my home when I am away, to try to reduce my own costs. My apartment is also usually 20% cheaper than another full time Airbnb listing in the same building, that is of a lower quality, yet has a better value rating, because 3 of my guests gave me 4/5 for value. They have no idea. The only view they have on 'value' is what they already know at time of booking, when they have 100% visibility on the cost. So they mark down on something they knew in advance? Are they suggesting they were forced to book mine? They could have booked somewhere 'cheaper'...

To finish my rant, it's also true in my experience that they more you give, the more extras, the larger discount, the more likely you are to suffer this. For my last 4/5 value guest I included free parking. It's central London so paid parking outside my property is £5 per hour, 16 hours a day. For 6 days. The real value of that freebie was £480! I feel sick. Airbnb need to clarify why this is acceptable.

[Huma0]

@Darran6 

You have a 5.0 overall rating and great reviews, but your lowest star rating is vale at 4.7.

This is so annoying.

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@Darran6 wrote:

The only view they have on 'value' is what they already know at time of booking, when they have 100% visibility on the cost. So they mark down on something they knew in advance? Are they suggesting they were forced to book mine? They could have booked somewhere 'cheaper'...

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Well, exactly. I haven't checked your prices, but your place is very obviously high end and it's in a trendy area. If the guests were able to find a similar Airbnb in that location for less, why didn't they book that one instead?

I think that Airbnb should get rid of both the value and location ratings altogether (yet, I know they won't) because, unlike communication, check in and cleanliness, both are known to the guest when they book. They choose to book at that location and if they couldn't be bothered to read the 'where you'll stay' section or do their own research on the area, then that's on them. Value doesn't even require any research. The price is there and broken down from the start.

The only reason to mark down on either location or value is if the listing description was inaccurate, i.e. the location was made out to be something it isn't (e.g. saying it's in Central London when it's Zone 4 with no tube station) or value was poor because the guest booked one unit and the host put them in a smaller, inferior one. Or, the listing promised amenities that weren't available, had photos from years ago when the place was newly decorated/furnished but it hasn't been well maintained etc. etc.

But that's what the ACCURACY rating is for! Accuracy covers all of those scenarios, so Airbnb could easily ditch location and value.

Another host made an important point about the Airbnb guest fees. While you are really not making much of a profit here, guests usually think of the total cost including fees when they evaluate the value. From your end, you're probably making a loss but, from the guest's end, it still seems pricey. Of course, we have no control over Airbnb fees (which seem pretty inflated to me) and shouldn't have to drop our prices to compensate for them.