Fuzzy Math

Fuzzy Math

I'm totally confused by the way my Acceptence score is being handled. I had 86% the first time I had looked. I always handled inquiries by answering questions without pre-accepting or declining, so now I know I can't do that. Then I did not accept a guest booking request, becasue I wanted him to know that a renovation was taking place next door and did not want him locked into the booking before making an informed decision about staying. He didn't respond right away and the clock timed out. My 86% became a 79% for losing that 1 booking. I then booked 2 more guests and my rate only rose 1% for each booking. I now have 2 additional bookings and when I accepted the last, noticed that my rating slipped back to 80%. How did that happen? A week later I still have not seen any progress. So from 79% and 4 new bookings, I now have only an 81% acceptence score which is the same as when I had only accepted 2 new bookings. If I lose 7 points for one lost booking why do I only get 1/2 point for each new booking?

 

How many points get lost when you get timed out? How many do you get after redeeming yourself with new bookings? Is there a math genious among us who can figure this out. And while I'm asking, if you cannot become a superhost without at least 10 bookings which I had, why does my account say I've only had 9 bookings with 9 reviews that only represent 75% of my bookings? This is all looking suspiciously like a math apptitude test! Question: How many Airbnb employees does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Answer: None, they all use the flashlight in their cell phones, or remain in the dark. 

 

 

19 Replies 19
Tif1
Level 6
Borlänge, Sweden

@Donna240  Oh I feel for you. I thought i had a high acceptance rate, but then realised that last year because I declined enquiries(having been prompted to by ABB 'so that the customer could book something else' I had been dinged for declining and enquiry.   Then, when I refused a booking by the same person who requested to book, got a no, then  booked  again anyway  I lost 14%! That was my first booking refusal since starting! 

I got no satisfactory answer from airbnb, and if you search for threads about this you will see that others have also experienced this some even going as low as 6+& BUT although ABB threaten to delist or lose superhost status it seems that it isn't the case. DO NOT decline enquiries, then you get dinged

This is yet another one of their unanswered problems that lies in their favour. Have a look for the threads and see if anything has been added or updated within the last 2 to 4 weeks.

I was at 86%, had two bookings and went to 88% but have just had another two,  and it is still sat at 88% after a week .

Ultimately the advice I got from peeps here was to not stress about it. and that it is a scare tactic by air bnb.  I just wish we could find a way to all band together and get the questions we really want answers to adressed   x

The most frustrating is when you get the auto standard reply via CS  that doesn't answer the question at all

Tiff

@Tif1 thanks for your input. LOL, it's nice to know that problems are evenly distributed between hosts all over the world. I have only declined once because the guest wanted to book 3 people in my property that accommodates only 2. I do not believe I was dinged for that, so there is some fairness in the system. Two other bookings wanted to add people and cancelled when I reminded them of the limit. So the best thing to do is encourage cancellations from guests, as there is no host penalty that way. Judging by your double booked and declined guest, I believe 7% is what we lose with each decline, since you lost 14% for 2 and I lost 7% for 1 lost booking. At 1% or less for a new booking, it can take me 3/4 of a year to make up for that, because I only need 10-12 bookings per year to pay for my own travels.

Tif1
Level 6
Borlänge, Sweden

@Donna240Think you are right. Rather cruel isn't it. We also aim for only  10 or 12 bookings a year, which suits our purposes too. I must start to ask people to cancel their booking in a nice way I think if that comes up. My main enquiries tend to be people who want to bring children, one, two or five, or recently they wrote 2 guests in the enquiry but actually wanted to have 2 adults 3 children and Granny in the lounge. I now actually also include a suggestion for another family property nearby, as although it clearly states no children, people will always try though won't they ? We live and learn 😉 x

If ever you are in Sweden , you know where to find us lol !

 

@Tif1 We have a 2 person limit also and our property is not suitable for children either. We also have a sofa bed and do not charge a cleaning fee for the same reasons as you have. Tif, I just looked at your property and it is charming. You make it clear to anyone reading the description that the limit is 2 adults period. I have a suggestion; don't mention that the sofa converts to a bed and I suspect you will get many fewer inquiries about additional adults and children. Some of my inquiries asked about the sofa, but I say that I want each guest to have the best experience possible , so I do not mention it in property details and limit the number of guests to 2 so the con=mfort level remains high. They usually look elsewhere after that. You can decline anyone who proposes 3 guests by telling them that your stated limit is 2 and Airbnb will not deduct points for that. I know this from experience. It has also been my experience that when people search through properties they go by guest limit, so any guests that do not want to sleep together will still find your property and will ask about a separate bed during their inquiry, so you will not lose those bookings, because you can accommodate them with the sofa bed. Good luck.

Good ideas @Donna240  Thank you. Your place looks divine!

Cor3
Level 10
Langerak, South Holland, Netherlands

Hi @Donna240,

 

The math is not really difficult. Although I it is somewhat difficult to mimic your situation exactly.

When I calculate it, you must have for instance: (implicitly) declined 3 times out of 22 booking requests, to reach an acceptance rate of 86%. Then you must have (implicitly) declined a further 2 booking requests, in order to reach an acceptance rate of 79%. When you would then have accepted 2 more booking requests, your acceptance rate will have risen to 81% again.

19 / 22 = 86,36% (Rounds to 86%)

19 / 24 = 79,17% (Rounds to 79%)

21 / 26 = 80,77% (Rounds to 81%)

That’s why the rate decreases faster, than it will go up again.

 

Ps.

As far as I know, only the last 4 quarters (including the current quarter). Are taken into account, in the calculation of the acceptance rate.

 

Pps.

And no: You don’t have to pre-approve or decline an inquiry. A simple reply is sufficient (at least for now). Just refresh your browser-session. And you will notice, the clock will have disappeared.

Obviously it’s different for booking requests! You have to accept these within 24 hours. Anything else will be considered as a decline. And will therefore decrease your acceptance rate.

Ben551
Level 10
Wellington, New Zealand

Hi @Cor3 - great post to explain the “maths”, thanks for that.

 

I thought I would point out though, declining a reservation request doesn’t always affect a hosts acceptance rate. As a host using IB, when I receive a reservation request it means they haven’t been able to instant book. This normally means they have children, pets... or something else I don’t accept in my booking requirements. When I decline these types of reservation requests there is no impact to my acceptance rate. I’ve done it 4 times in the last month and still have a 100% acceptance rate.

 

I think Donna is not using IB, so your advice to her is indeed quite correct. Even so, though I would mention the above “exception to the rule” for the benefit of IB hosts who might be reading.

That is so good to know, @Ben. Thank you for mentioning that! I only wish it would say why a guest has been prompted to 'request' as opposed to instantly book. I heard that guests who have received a thumbs down cannot instant book but there is conflicting info. So I always worry that a guest may request and I wouldn’t know why but accept them anyway since I'm pretty flexible. 

Ben551
Level 10
Wellington, New Zealand

Hi @Emilia42 - yeah I hear you. More information would be helpful.

 

If someone sends me a request instead of instant booking, I currently get an email that has a section in it like the below:

E6D9843E-02D9-4300-A48D-6627866B3EBC.jpeg

 

So far I have only had people make requests with children, which I have set to not instantly accept (too many hazards in a NZ bush setting, my home insurance won’t cover liability). So I don’t know if it would tell me other reasons the guest couldn’t instant book.

Cor3
Level 10
Langerak, South Holland, Netherlands

Hi @Ben551,

 

I’m a bit surprised by the “Age range (Over 25)”-part in your screenshot (I use IB too, but without restrictions. So, I do not get any booking requests).

Can you require a minimum age (I do appreciate the NZ Bush hazards. So out of guest safety)?

Because it sounds a little bit like discrimination by age, to me (not blaming you, of course).

Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Cor3

Thanks for once again posting that Cor, so many hosts do not understand where these figures come from!

And it follows through to the review rating stats .

My last 17 reviews have been 5 star but I am still sitting on 92% from that 1 four star review from 18 reviews ago which dropped me from 93% to a 92.....

Overall stats.png

It doesn't take much to lose it Cor, but it takes a mass of work to get it back again!

 

Cheers.....Rob

 

Cor3
Level 10
Langerak, South Holland, Netherlands

Hi @Robin4,

 

At least that’s the theory. Until these SF-Based mathematical whiz-kids round a 4.8 score down to a 4 and a half star on your listing? And Airbnb CX keeps on telling me, it really is a 4.8 score?

And even sending me screenshots, to prove it! But maybe it is only in Holland, where they are rounding according to the 4/5 rule?

 

Rounding to 4 and a half star?Rounding to 4 and a half star?

And this is what it shows in the listing?

 

A 4.8 seems to be a 4.5?A 4.8 seems to be a 4.5?

In fact the true score is 4.761, but on the listing it still seems to round down to 4.5?

Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Cor3

They keep on telling us location and value are not factored into that 4.8 overall rating Cor, but it is showing as having an effect on  your individual star ratings.

I have not had enough category movement away from 5 star to show up on my star rankings. They all just show as 5 stars, and this is where the system is fouled up. Ten of my guests who gave me a 4 star overall gave me a 5 star in every category

 

Ratings 6.png

 

 

 And that is why I am showing up as 92% five star reviews, according to my categories I should be sitting as a 97%. I could have just as easily had a couple of those guests who, (not understanding the way it works) give an overall 3 star after giving 5s in all the categories and I could have lost my Superhost.

Airbnb appear to be trying to arrive at a rating by using two differing sets of stats!

 

Cheers.....Rob

 

Cor3
Level 10
Langerak, South Holland, Netherlands

Hi @Robin4,

 

I appreciate your comments on the flaws of the review system.

We all know, the target is always a full 5-Star All-over review, preferably including all 7 compliments (Especially: Sparkling Clean).

 

On the other side, not getting a full 5-Star All-over review, so once and a while. Does not need to be a problem. As long as:

  • Your ratings still show 5-Stars (So, as long as you keep them at 4.75 Stars or higher, All-Time)
  • Superhost Status not at stake (Overall experience: 4.8 or higher during the past year)
  • And home highlights to work in your favor, I don’t especially like these: 90% of recent guest gave this accommodation a 5-star rating on …..

 

It seems, I’m currently a bit hampered by a ‘half’ review, left by a guest, 2 years ago!

As in: 5 Stars on: Overall Experience, Accuracy and Cleanliness.

But completely no rating on: Communication, Check-In, Location and Value (the ratings show as blanks)?

All I can imagine is: The guest completed the review on his mobile. And pressed the ‘Next’ button. Instead of scrolling down to the other categories, before pressing the ‘Next’ button.

And the review system, seems to accept this (As in: No Opinion).

 

My ‘Congratulation’ counters are ‘stuck’ at that particular review too.

I.e.: I’ve never been dinged on Communication and Check-In. Despite this, these congratulation counters are not equal to my total review count.
Having said this though: I notice, your congratulations counter on Communication is at 50 too. Is this a coincidence?

 

I’ve had a very lengthy conversation over this with an Airbnb CX Officer. But I have my sincere doubts, whether my message actually came across. As they kept on telling me, it is system generated.

I can only hope, they passed on my bug-report to the engineering department. And is does not end up on a big pile of other reported issues.