Guests who give all 5s except overall...

[Kenneth12]

Are of course rather frustrating;   at this point we get a few of them,  and a few 4s here and there.

I'm trying the following for now:

"Hi again GUEST,

I was a bit surprised to see you left 5s for individual ratings and a 4 overall.

Hosts are evaluated by Airbnb on their percentage of 5s overall-- nothing else. I'm sure most would rather have a 5 overall and 4 on every individual rating.
I'll hope you might keep that in mind when reviewing hosts in the future.

Otherwise, only about 1 in 15 people do not give us a 5; is there anything we could have changed or improved?

Best regards and thanks,"

Otherwise I'm tempted to put "thanks for the 4-star review" in their review replies ...

Any other ideas or comments here?

[Ange2]

 @Kenneth12   I do not know how Airbnb word the overall question but it probably implies to some guests, perception of their overall vacation.  I received a 4 overall (everything else 5) because the taxi I ordered for the guests was a few minutes late. They were nervous travelers.  In my experience asking for feedback and explaining why is not that helpful, except to educate guests for rating the next place they stay at, laugh (grimly) or marvel at human kind.

I have never blocked anyone who has given less than 5 stars because many guests have no idea  it is so damning. I do not want to play Airbnb's game of being sandwiched between a rock and a hard place and penalize guests because of it.

Some 'amusing' but entirely unhelpful  feedback/responses I have had, some voluntarily and in person, but some I have asked out of curiosity, especially when the guest wants to book again. 

Category scores are higher than overall, some all 5's:

"I didn't use all amenities, you should have given me a discount"  : 2

"I tracked chewing gum onto the bathroom mat, no one cleaned it up immediately. Everything else was great and super clean. If there was an option, I would have given you 4.9 ." : 4

"It's not the Ritz, but I will definitely recommend this to all my friends it was fantastic"  : 4

"A homeless person asked me for money"  : 4

"Drinks are expensive, going out for dinner is expensive" : 4

"Get an elevator!" : 3

"The double bed [as listed with dimensions] was not a king size bed : 2

"Asking me for feedback is offensive"  : 2

And my favorite so far :  "The city is not like Gossip Girl"  : 4

[Emilia42]

Haha! They were probably expecting to eat lunch alone on the steps of the Met but were surrounded by millions of others. Obviously, that deserves a 4. 🙂

[Ann72]

@Ange2  Can't stop laughing at these, especially the last one.  And "Going out for dinner is expensive."  Alert the New York media!

[Anonymous]

@Kenneth12  I really think it's better to let it go.

Airbnb is in the wrong to make everything less than 5 stars feel like a failure, but hosts only make this problem worse if they pile onto it. In a sane world, a 4-star review with all positive remarks is a good thing, and we can humbly accept that despite our best efforts our services aren't always 100% perfect in everyone's eyes. 

I just don't feel like it's a good look for the hosting community to display how obsessive it can get about stars and badges. It doesn't leave guests feeling "educated," it just makes hosts look petty.

[Ange2]

@Anonymous 

I agree with 4 stars IS positive and in my experience 3-star hotels have also been a positive experience.

But 4 stars average gets you kicked off this platform, so I do understand why hosts want to know.

I have asked (especially people who want to return)  because I want to improve the experience if I can, I do not care about Airbnb's penalty system it is far too arbitrary. I prefer to focus on improvements for guests and  let the chips fall where they may.

Most feedback is unhelpful because it is based on unrealistic expectations or just not reading the description.  But, sometimes it does yield treasure. One guest who re-booked said he gave 4-stars overall the first time because I didn't have a microwave.  I purchased one —many guests like to reheat left-overs to save money and he was very happy to see it when he returned. I had not considered this because it was not listed as an amenity I offered, I do not like micro-wave ovens and I never eat left-overs—I never would have known had I not asked. And who knows how many other 4's  or less I may have (or would have) received because of  the lack of this easily addressed expectation.

Thus, I can't understand  how asking for feedback to improve a guest's experience is petty,  even if it is also tied up in trying to navigate Airbnb's horrendous star system.  If I were a guest I would be happy to help a host improve an experience for me or for future guests, it would not disturb me in the least if they asked me and I would not think them petty—everyone wants to succeed.  Many a long-time airbnber has volunteered information to me that they find  5-stars-pass-anything-less-punishment, to be insane and to their regret they only found out about it after their first 3 or 4 trips when a host told them. Education can work.  Two voiced their concern that there are less and less great shared listings and were worried that hosts would (are) leave or be de-listed if Airbnb failed to educate guests and address expectation, and for them it would mean they would no longer be able to afford to  travel as much. They even took it upon themselves to educate other guests in their reviews.

However, I do think it's a tricky situation, much due to Airbnb's arbitrary system and the power Airbnb gives to guests. Airbnb does not have a host's back so hosts have to have it. Guests may respond helpfully when asked, or be highly offended.  This business is a calculated risk, in my opinion the more information you can glean the better you can mitigate the risks.  The way that is approached is key.

[Anonymous]

@Ange2  I didn't say that requesting feedback is petty. Quite the contrary. It's always possible to improve, and being genuinely receptive to constructive criticism is crucial to that. Of course, you shouldn't lose sight of the fact that a guest who reviewed you already left feedback, and from their point of view they've probably already expressed everything they wished to.  

The minute any mention of star ratings comes out: that is what sounds petty and unprofessional to me. Now, once the relationship with the guest has moved into more friendly territory, a different kind of etiquette applies. But to seem more preoccupied with one's status on a website than with the human side of hospitality makes us look like children whining about stickers on our homework. No matter how you care to put it, the subtext is: "I'm entitled to a perfect score, and you're harming me if you don't give me one." Bit too Tracey Flick for my taste.

As a guest, I've given 5 star reviews to hosts even after a 2 or 3 star experience (along with private feedback), because I felt they didn't deserve to feel punished by Airbnb while they were still learning the ropes. But if any had been condescending enough to try to "educate" me, I would not have hesitated to rate them more honestly. 

[Ange2]

"No matter how you care to put it, the subtext is: "I'm entitled to a perfect score, and you're harming me if you don't give me one." Bit too Tracey Flick for my taste.”

@Anonymous    I don’t see that subtext. I see two things: 

1.  A host trying to improve their offering and the guest’s experience

2. Getting a fair shake from a nebulous, penalty driven rating system.

i.e. Evening the odds to mitigate risk.

btw: I had to look up Tracey Flick - "desperate, ruthless, overachiever"?

[Anonymous]

@Ange2  Once again, totally with you on point 1.

On point 2, as a hypothetical guest my feeling would be: "I thought you were the owner of this home, not Airbnb. Your issues with the Airbnb system are between you and Airbnb - who do you think you are to make them my problem?"  And this would immediately spoil the presumption that you were genuinely looking to improve the experience. 

I'd picture being a literal educator, facing an adult student who says as as he turns in the exam: "I just want you to know, my parents are very strict and will hit me if I don't get a perfect grade." I wouldn't think "oh I better make sure I don't get you in trouble." It would be more like "get out of my office, you're a grown man."

[Emilia42]

@Anonymous your analogy sent a shiver down my spine. Unfortunately, so true.

[Ange2]

@Anonymous    We obviously have different opinions.  If your example were my student I would just think what a shame you have such parents, nothing more. Each to his own. But it is helpful & fascinating to know about and take into account others interpretations and viewpoints on this fraught topic.

[Sarah977]

@Anonymous  I agree that questioning a guest about the star ratings they've already left looks petty and rather unprofessional. Giving them a little education during their stay, depending on how it's done, isn't in the same category, though, as I see it. I don't think I've ever come across to guests as obsessed with the ratings, at least I hope not, since I'm not. I mention it in an off-hand way, quite casual, when I'm having a friendly discussion with them about many other things, or when they are relating their travel experiences. But my guests were happy to be told- it's a service to them as well, since good guests would be and are shocked to learn that the 4* rating they gave a host harmed that host. Guests dislike non-transparency just as hosts do. They don't like being tricked into leaving a rating which will damage a host when they had no intention to do so and were quite pleased with the accommodation and the host. I never mentioned the ratings to the one host/guest I had, as she would obviously be aware, but she sort of brought it up herself before she left, saying, "I hope I was a 5* guest", and when I touched on the subject with another guest, he said he already knew how it worked, because his sister hosts and that he thought the rating system was absurdly punitive to hosts. Some guests said they were happy to have the info because they had been considering hosting themselves. The veteran Airbnbers were also mostly aware, I guess they had picked up the info somewhere along the way.

Education is never a bad thing, IMHO, but it's a matter of how and when the educating is done. And being sensitive to whether it might be a guest who wouldn't be receptive or resent being informed.

[Helen3]

@Kenneth12  personally I would never send a guest this sort of follow up note. The time to advise them on how the ratings system works is during their stay in your guest book/check out details, not once they have left. Is that not something you do?

Your note sounds like you are questioning the guests right to decide what rating to leave and if i received it following a stay at yours I would be offended.

Nor would I dream of blocking someone who didn't reply to a follow up message from me asking why they left me a particular star rating @Ann72 

[Ann72]

@Helen3 Oh, I wouldn't dream of it either.  I just do it.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

lol 😄 @Ann72 

[Laura2592]

I JUST got a 4 star review with 5s in every category. I'm wondering if Airbnb changed the questions they ask. I'm going to be staying in one as a guest soon so I'll see.

I never ask about ratings but in this case the guest was fantastic and everything hunky dory until today when the rating came up. I did email and do some polite education. She left me private feedback that we had a blue light in a closet (news to me but there is a light on one of the moisture detectors in the attic) and rhag it disturbed them. So that's worth a star off I guess...especially as she never mentioned it during her stay.....