After another strange rating, I finally took the time to inquire at CS about the ratings by guest and here is what I learned.
My question: "I would like to request a revision of the rating of the review. The total rating of the review is 3/5, while there is:
Accuracy 4/5
Check-in 5/5
Cleanliness 4/5
Communication 5/5
Location 5/5
Value 3/5.
How does it work that the total value is the lowest of the scores?"
And the response I got:
"Thanks for your message here, I am Community Expert, also a Super host and guest. I will try to assist you with your issue.
The total is not the average of all the items but it's rated by the guest. I understand you perfectly as a host. It's a little hard to accept that guests sometime gives good rates on all items and then on the total, they give a lower rate.
Let me know if this helps and if you need any extra help on this!"
So in short, the overall rating of a host displayed in the listing, as well as the chance of getting the so-much-desired Super Host status, really depends on a random value given by the guest at the end of the rating, possibly on the spur of the moment or other undisclosed sensations. In no way is it any derrivative of the constituent ratings, namely Accuracy, Check-in, Cleanliness, Communication, Location, Value. And yet at the same time, it is a crucial value that helps guests make financial decisions, which in turn impact Airbnb's and hosts' revenues. Leaving business to emotions is not a good advisor.
I have visited many outlets and tend to analyse such systems, but this one of Airbnb's is rotten to the core.
So if anyone of Airbnb, capable of making logical decisions that will finally support hosts, cares, please include it in the agenda for patching the holes.
// "The only person you can trust is yourself"