Guest leaves 4 star review

[Marilyn395]

We have been hosting for 2 years and are Superhosts.  Up till September every single guest review was 5 Star.  Until one in September rated us 4 star for no reason that we know of. His written review was ok - short & sweet. There were no complaints, yet his less that 5 star has now brought our listing down to 4.98 average.  Question is: does this ever go away or change or does that less than perfect review stay on out Airbnb page forever?  

[Helen3]

What did the guest say when you asked them about why he left the review?  

you won’t get up to 5 star again but doesn’t really matter as long as you get the ratings you need for superhost @Marilyn395 

[Emilia42]

@Marilyn395 

If you continue to get overall 5 star reviews (not a single other 4 star,) your overall rating will round to 5.0 at 200 total reviews. 

[Robbie54]

@Marilyn395  very interesting. 

[Marilyn395]

@Emilia42  Good to know, thank you!  Wrote to Airbnb but never got an answer.  Guest was a newbie with not reviews and I spent a huge amount of time emailing him answering his questions. Just feeling disappointed after doing so well for so long and all it takes is one (*&^%%$^*  to mess things up!

[Emilia42]

@Marilyn395 

I feel you. It will happen to me someday too. I've mentally prepared myself but who knows 🙂 While it does feel like all your hard work was for nothing, you have to remember that an overall rating of 4.98 is amazing! Higher than even the finest hotels! Sometimes I try to think more in terms of "Wow, I can't believe I get so many 5 star reviews!" versus "Ugh, why would they give me a 4?!"

[Marilyn395]

@Emilia42   Ya I know, we work so hard and then just one and it messes everything up. I have had guests that definitely  could have given us a 4 rating, like when the fridge quit or other issues, but this one guy,  a self proclaimed nudist has to be the one!  Maybe the couch was too scratchy for him!

[Charles224]

@Marilyn395 

I once had a guest who rated us 5 Stars in every category, then gave an overall rating of 4 Stars.

Fortunately most people are happy and grateful, so 5 Stars is the norm. 

That said, that 4 Star guest review really annoys me, even today.

Chrres, Charles

[Marilyn395]

@Charles224  Thank you, that's exactly what happened!

[Fred13]

@Marilyn395 Perhaps take a moment and notice that even world-famous places with a high amount of bookings tend to have ratings below 5*, its a mathematical certainty; they already been 'messed up'. Welcome to the club, you are in great company. 🙂

[Anonymous]

@Marilyn395 Congratulations on your long run of perfect ratings - as well as having 100% satisfied guests! We should never lose sight of the fact that most people consider 4* out of 5 to be a very positive rating representing a successful stay, and would be baffled that a host takes offense to it.

That said, I notice that your listing title starts with "5 Stars." It's not really clear what that means - perhaps you were just reflecting back your average rating, but to many people it refers to top-end hotel amenities and might set up the wrong expectations. Your listing is totally awesome, quirky and unique - but your optimal guests are not the type of people who insist upon 5 Star Hotels. And certainly not ones who would be deterred from booking because your average rating was "only" 4.98.

[Marilyn395]

@Anonymous  Thank you, your comments and observations were very helpful and appreciated. 

[Ute42]

.

Hi @Marilyn395 

yes, @Emilia42  is correct, You need 200 five star reviews to make up for one 4 star review.

A bunch of pretty math-savvy people have been working on this calculation around the world, including myself, and I can confirm that Emilia's information is right.

Here's the whole picture: If You get one low stare review, how many 5* reviews do You need to make up for that? These are the results:

• to make up for one 4* review, You need 200 x 5* reviews

• to make up for one 3* review, You need 400 x 5* reviews

• to make up for one 2* review, You need 600 x 5* reviews

• to make up for one 1* review, You need 800 x 5* reviews

Now let's take a quick look on how airbnb is displaying the average rating.

3 years ago this is how an average 5* rating was displayed. To have this 5* rating displayed with one of Your listings, mathematically You needed an average rating of 4,51

Then airbnb started to show half stars. This is how a 4,5* rating was displayed later.

In order to have a ***** star rating displayed, mathematically You now needed an average 4,76  rating. Again, later, airbnb started to only show one star in front, followed by figures. This is how an average 4,9* rating was displayed last year:

In order to have an average 5* rating displayed, mathematically You now needed an average 4,96 rating.

Early this year airbnb changed the way they display the average rating again. Till to date, they are showing 2 decimals behind the comma:

And all of a sudden, in order to have a straight foreward 5* rating displayed, mathematically You now need an average 4,996 rating.

What I'm trying to say: While in 2017 You were a perfectly ok 5* host with a mathematically average rating of 4,51, today You are a looser if You don't reach 4,996.

Back to Your case: Until recently You had a perfect average 5* rating. Now as You've got one 4* rating, You need 200 x 5* ratings to make up for that and Your are trying harder and harder and harder to please 200 guests. Let's assume, You're successful and you do get the 200 ratings You need. Then, once again, a perfect 5* rating will be displayed for Your listing.

But the very minute You are back to You straight foreward 5* displayed rating, airbnb again changes the way they display the average rating:

Now You need to please Your guests even more that You did before, because 200 x 5* ratings will not be enough, with 3 decimals displayed You now need 2000 x 5* ratings to have a straight foreward average 5* rating displayed.

Marilyn, You're fighting an uphill battle that You can never win. Don't ruin Your life trying to be a 5* host.

cc:  @Anonymous @Fred13 @Charles224 @Super47 

[Marilyn395]

@Ute42   Wow, your answer is amazing!!  Thank you, I would be great if every host could see it.  I'll just keep on what I've been doing, can't please everyone all of the time 

[BenkaandKeith0]

CONGRATULATION ON THIS MATH, YOU NAILED IT! We pointed out to Airbnb numerous times that their algorithms are all off. For instance, look how the new hosts can never fail and can mess up terribly to lose 5 stars up to 50 ratings. From there, all goes down the hill, with the algorithm you can never improve your hosting. Period. This is sickening to every each of us and I am surprise that among so many smart pants at Airbnb no one is actually smart enough to figure how destroying and discouraging their actions are to their own hosting community. Shame on you, Airbnb 😞