Guest ratings - how is the overall rating determined?

Fredrik-and-Bianca0
Level 2
Cape Town, South Africa

Guest ratings - how is the overall rating determined?

Hi. I would like to understand how a guest star review ends up being 3 out of 5 when the aggregate of the review she gives is higher. I.e. out of the 6 categories in her review we got 4 x 5 stars, 1 x 4 star and 1 x 3 star. Surely that won't end up being an overall 3 out of 5 star review??! See summary below.

 

Christine
3 Jan - 8 Jan · R1032 ZAR
Rustic Cottage nestled in the Valley
Public feedback
3 stars
 
Private feedback
 This is just for you. It won’t appear on your listing or profile.
 
Accuracy
 5 stars
 
Check-in
 5 stars
 
Cleanliness
 5 stars
 
Communication
 5 stars
 
Location
 3 stars
 
Value
 4 stars
2 Replies 2
Steve143
Level 10
Limerick, Ireland

Hello @Fredrik-and-Bianca0,

 

Guests are asked to separately rate a host on cleanliness, accuracy, value, communication, arrival, location and overall.

The "overall" rating isn't an average or aggregate of the others. It's meant to capture the guests general feeling, which may include things not covered by the other ratings.

 

In one case guests gave me 5 for each category except that they gave 4 for overall because I had friends staying the night that they checked in. I had advised them of this, they still decided to stay but marked 4 for overall as my description says that I'm the only person living in the house.

 

How do star ratings work?

 

Steve.

Steve.

Thanks for the reply Steve. It would seem then that ratings are relatively unreliable then to determine a possible venue. This is a problem if one is pushed byAirBnB to become a 'Superhost'.

 

If this guest feedback is an objective view of the guests based on their answers to specific questions that's one thing, but then only show the guests 'overall' rating which could mean their personal experience which has nothing to do with the property offering; the rating system is flawed in my view. 

 

If a guest's response is going to influence potential revenue for a host, then the guest must substantiate their rating and be held accountable for it if false.