Do you like Airbnb's review system.....do I hear Crickets!

[Robin4]

Every 3-6 months I get to stay in another Airbnb as a guest, and each time the requirements of the review system get more onorous.

At least for us hosts we simply get to write a review, private feedback, star rate 3 categories and give a thumbs up/down...easy!

Have a look at what the happless guest has to go through.....12 step/pages!

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

There we go, I think we are half way!

My question, although the second part is not obligatory, why is it attched to the review at all, when most of these things were covered in the listing description. I got frustrated with having to do it and I am sure most guests would get frustrated with it as well. What is the point of it other than the gathering of statistics.

On the other side of the coin I am now excepting guests from Homeaway/Stayz.

Have a look at the entirety of their review system.....

That was it, short and simply, I didn't have to dream up lots of superlatives to write, things to criticise!

And Tom has said he will email me the procedure he has to go through.

I am not enjoying the Airbnb review system these days and I know the guests are becoming frustrated with it as well.

What are others thoughts on this?

Cheers......Rob

[Ava30]

Thanks @Robin4 , having actual pictures with the steps is very helpful.  I actually have a brief note in my on-site Guidebook about how the Airbnb‘s rating system works when it comes to how it affects the host. I knew it had become rather tedious and have even included in that note that I appreciate anybody that takes the effort because it has become so time consuming.  I agree, I think most of it is just for gathering statistics and to be a system of checks and balances to make sure the hosts are not lying about their included amenities.  I’m sure they will justify it under the guise of trying to prevent fraud. As my husband might say, somebody had to make sure that their namby-pamby job was not pulled out from under them so they came up with this. 

[Robin4]

@Ava30 

Hi Ava, I have had great success where my reviews are concerned since I borrowed and adapted this from another contributor Kath from Albany in Western Australia. It explains to guests that Airbnb are somewhat disfunctional about their star rating system. They infer to the guest that a 3 star rating is a good rating and that the property and experience from the guests point of view were as expected. Airbnb  then turn around to the host and threaten them with delisting for not providing an 'authentic Airbnb experience'!

It is a system that is completely at odds with itself!

Since I have included this inside the house rules folder I have not had less than a 5 star review in my last 31 reviews.....

Now the issue here is  Ava, Guests are first asked to give an overall star rating, but when they get to step three those overall star ratings are explained and the guest has the opportunity to back track to step one and alter the initial star rating they gave. They may have initially thought....'yeah pretty good, we will give it a five! But when they come to step 3 and see those explanations they will think....'well hang on, it was ok but it wasn't perfect and they will go back to step one and give a rating based on what Airbnb have themselves recommended......Can you see where I am going here? 

Ava, guests are genuinely shocked to read this and invariable make a comment about it. Most of them see it as deceitful by the company, because they have stayed in a number of Airbnb's where they have given less than a 5 star rating thinking they were being honest, helpfull and doing no harm to the host, and when they learn this they become angry that Airbnb would in fact penalise a host they were actually trying to help and praise.

This succinctly puts the review system in perspective for the guest and I highly recommend all hosts who are protective of their good standing include something similar prominently in their property or their house rules!

Cheers......Rob

[Ava30]

@Robin4 , Mine looks very similar. I cannot claim Superhost though 😕 Each time I was right there someone hit me with a 4 star <sigh> It bothered me at first but it doesn’t seem to affect my booking rate. We were much busier this winter than we expected.  I guess people will come to hang out in the redwoods pretty much any time of the year. 😁  I am poised again, at the border of making super host as long as I can maintain this 4.8 till the end of March. I’m not going to hold my breath and I’m just not going to stress over it anymore. 

[Karen466]

@Robin4  thank you so much for posting your sample note to guests about the rating system. I adapted your note for myself (great idea using the superhost logo!), and have it in my room now. My first guest to see the note wrote to me to assure me she'll give 5 stars.
It feels awkward and uncomfortable to ask guests to leave 5 stars, but I guess we have to do what we have to do!  I made sure to ask for honest and constructive feedback in all the areas of the review other than the "Overall Experience" stars.
The thing that bugged me most is a guest who left 3 stars along with, "Great place. Nice location."  And I have no recourse. 

[Manik1]

Hi Rob and Ade

Where can I get a hold of this graph so I can use it as well. This is really good information. It is so unfair the way these are worded and totally not fair by the host nor the guest as guests are sometime so obilivious and I have questioned guests who says they never said that as feedback. How do you explain a 5 star rating for everything including in the compliments saying sparkling clean and then as feedback guest said the who place needs a clean? and when questioned the guest they always deny strongly that they never selected that feedback? Their argument is why would I say that when it is simply not true! Guests have said to me that this is Airbnb's doing not them so I don't know whom to believe anymore! 

Cheers

Manik 

[Robin4]

Hi Manik

Because the thread has moved on I do not get the opportunity to tag and alert you to this reply so I hope you receive it Manik. I am sorry it has taken this long to get back to you, I was not aware of your post until just now!

There are a couple of ways you can use that graph of mine.

1/.... If you are using a PC you will notice if you hold your cursor over that graph screenshot, a small magnifying glass will appear with a + sign in it. Right click your mouse while hovering over that screenshot and an option box will appear. Click 'Save image as' and give the image a name and save it to your pictures.

You will now have that screenshot and you can add your own details instead of mine  by opening in 'Paint' and with the use of the Paint tools you can insert your own details over the top of mine so it will look like you have created it yourself and then save as a seperate picture file that you can print for your own use.

2/. .....The second option is, tell me what details you would like and I will alter that screenshot to suit you. I will repost it here and you can then save it and it will print as an A4 page file you can then laminate and use in your own house rules!

Cheers......Rob

[MarieTherese5]

Good afternoon Rob and Ade,

Thank you for your post which I found very helpful indeed.

I have modified a bit to suit my personality and style and hope to include it with my comminications with guests in the future  see below

 Yours with gartitude,

Marie therese 

IMPORTANT NOTICE ON AIRBNB RATINGS- PLEASE READ

Airbnb’s feedback forms can tedious and yet they are necessary to keep the platform going which helps both guests and hosts alike to avail of this wonderful service.

You will be asked to score on scale (using stars) of 1 to 5 on the following

• Accuracy
• Check-in
• Cleanliness
• Communication
• Value
• Location

N.B. PLEASE NOTE;

 THE RATING SYSTEM USED BY AIRBNB IS A MATHMETICAL ONE

• 5stars = Acceptable and
• 4 stars = Not good enough
• 3 stars = Bad

Airbnb considers a score of 4 to be a fail.

This is totally different than any feedback form I have ever used over the years. There is no grey area at all, even helpful suggestion given to hosts effects overall ratings.

As a teacher of positive living I feel that a score of 100% leaves no room for improvement and we all need to progress and grow in life

And then I realised; Of course, Airbnb is based on a mathematical algorithm. In other words, you are either right or wrong.  

5 = Right. Acceptable

4 = Wrong. Not acceptable

So please dear guest, if there is anything bothering you during your stay let me know and I will do my very best to sort it out straight away and I would ask you to do the same and treat my home from home with care leaving it as clean as you found it. That way we  will  both be worthy of  5 stars on your departure.

[Robin4]

@MarieTherese5 

Hi Marie Therese, it is good that you are looking at this issue and working to adopt a stategy to work around this imbalance in review perceptions.

The issue I see with what you have done is it does not address the heart of the issue....the overall star rating. That is the rating that affects us.

The individual category ratings tell us what the guest felt but it is the overall rating which the company decides whether we rise or fall on. I have had a number of guests who have marked me down in the categories but still given me a 5 star overall which leaves my star rating intact.

But there are some that have given me a 5 in every category but left a 4 overall, and that is what hurts!

That is why I concentrated that graph screenshot of mine on that ever important Overall Star Rating, they can rate what ever they like about location, value and check-in, it's the stars alongside the profile name that are important.

Thanks for the input you have put a lot of effort into that and it reads well.

Cheers.....Rob

[Rachel594]

I recently had an american guest who picked my property to bits.i thought she must have jet lag after such a long flight, she wrote a scathing review and now i get no guests anymore from air bnb so i'm switching to stayz now. its sad as i warned air bnb about this guest  as was difficult when she was there to pre warn them and they said they understood as she was so difficult.  why do air bnb believe the guest and not the host.its dissapointing as its wrecked by business.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Robin4,

 it's an OVERKILL and the result is 2-words-written reviews (if any) like " Nice place" ...or... ."Great location" it really stimulates us to go over and beyond for our guests 😛  😛 but who needs host anyway, everything becomes automated with smart locks, cameras, text messages etc...

knowing that ABB turns over to hotels and commercial agents it's probably done by purpose. I wouldn't be surprised if, in the near future, ABB abolish text reviews altogether. 

[Robin4]

@Branka-and-Silvia0 

Branka, I am sure of my ground here because, I have been able to talk with my last 30 guests about this.

Think about that!

The crux of my argument is.....you go back Branka and study that first screenshot of mine regarding the first 6 steps of the review process and you will not only see a 'Next' tab for each step, you will also note, there is a 'Back' tab!

More than half my guests have said, in past reviews they started off with...'I enjoyed it here, lets give this place a good review' and they hit 5 stars for the first step...."How was your stay at Robin's place"?

Next they went to the 'what impressed you' page  and maybe clicked one or two of those icons.....then they came to the 3rd step where all of a sudden those star ratings start to make sense.....'How did your stay at Robin's place compare to your expectations'....and the guiding prompts are all there. The guest all of a sudden thinks....."Well hang on, if we are going to be honest and follow the system, maybe it wasn't a 5 after all, there was nothing wrong with it but it wasn't perfection so lets go back to that first page and give it a 4"! So at that point they hit the Back tab until they come to the first step and ammend that 5 they initially gave to a 4....or maybe even do as Airbnb suggests and give it a 3. They don't think they are doing anything wrong, in fact when they progress to step 4 they actually get a chance to say why they felt that 5 they originally gave was in fact not deserved and what needed to be done to elevate the property back up to that original five.

I can tell you honestly Branka, all guests who read that guidelines page that I include are shocked to learn what happens and at that point they split into two camps! 

1/.... Those who will only give a 5 star review unless there was a glaring fault with the stay.

2/.....They will decide not to get involved in the review process because they don't want to hurt anyone!

This whole Airbnb review process is Lala land, but we accept it and it wasn't until I started to get a couple of Stayz reviews under my belt that I realised how broken it in actual fact is. It doesn't matter whether we are talking about individual home hosts or hotel hosts, the procedure is the same!

Cheers......Rob

[Ann72]

@Robin4 I agree with you, and thank you for posting.  I just stayed at an Airbnb in London and gave the review after I got home, jet-lagged and exhausted from a busy week.  I finished it as quickly as possible and was too tired to "write a private note to Nick" and "tell him what he could do better."  I liked him and found the space suitable so didn't want to complain about the dingy carpeting, even though I think he should have it cleaned or replaced.

Your point about being asked to repeat what the host has listed is extremely well taken.  Are they trying to uncover inconsistencies?  

[Alon1]

@Ann72 

You chose to write as 'quickly as possible' when you had 14 days option. So it's not an excuse for declining "to write a private note".

  Your omission is rather evidently due to your liking your Host and finding his space suitable. 

My concern is rather that you chose to stay with a Management Agent company with numerous listings, precisely the type that is swamping London and other cities and locations around the globe, who threaten us longer term hosts with the original ideal of home-share. 

[Ann72]

@Alon1 I looked at a number of places in the exact area where I needed to stay, and found reviews that mentioned how dirty the flats were.  One mentioned mice.  When I found Nick's flat, I didn't realize it was run by a management company until after I booked.  I admit I was a little disappointed about that. 

And yes, I did like Nick, and the flat was suitable, and I didn't want to be the kind of SuperHost who goes around finding fault, so I left it at that.

But there's really no reason to scold me in this fashion.  

As for the original ideal - I've worked in book publishing for almost 40 years, where first chains like Waterstone's and Barnes & Noble, and then Amazon and self-publishing, threatened all of us, but we're still here, making books and making a living.  Do what you do well and you'll be fine.