I quit my successful Airbnb rental because of the review system

[Manon87]

That's it, I quit.

I am counting the weeks before I can walk away from Airbnb. I hosted hundreds of guests in a little over a year, and what started and a very pleasant experiance, now has become source of constant stress and anxiety. All the good things about hosting have been taken away by the now flawed review system.

Last summer, I used to say that Airbnb was a blessing in my life;  It was a pleasure to host people from around the world plus it was a good source of supplemental income. 

It was also a blessing for people who needed a break in their journey(I am located right in the middle of two large metropolis that are 18hours of driving away). My place was a convenient stop at very modest cost and guests were very appreciative. 

Now, Airbnb accounts for 15% of my income but also, 90% of the stress in my personal and work life combined. Not worth it. In the last few months, I also feel that the type of guests have changed, they are reviewing us like hotel cutomers would, not understanding the harm it causes hosts. The highest hotel rating in my area is 8.9/10. Airbnb rating system is asking us to remain at 4.8 or higher to keep our superhost status, that's 9.6/10. If Airbnb is attracting more hotel customers, they have to adjust their rating system to adapt to these new guests.

I asked myslef what could be done to keep my rating up, I have doubled my operating costs and time invested compared to last summer to improve guest's stay and, it did nothing. It did not change the rating I am getting. If anything, I have lost a few percentage points. Another downside is that it keeps me from raising my prices in fear that a higher price would affect the reviews negatively while I am having close to 100% occupancy during the summer months.

The current review system is not helping us improve guest's stay, it only creates stress and anxiety on the hosts. It would be better if guests told us what could be done to improve their experience before leaving a review without even undertsanding what it means.

Guests are leaving four stars with great comments in their reviews. THEY ARE NOT LEAVING US ANY CUES FOR WHAT COULD BE IMPROVED!  If I don't know why they are leaving a four star, how can I fix it??!! I don't think they even know themselves sometimes. 

It was a wise decision to open my calendar only 90days in advance, so I don't have to commit to hosting on Airbnb any longer. --Walking out

[Susanna125]

Dear .... exactly how I feel like. We are not a hotel, we open our houses for strangers, we let them share our private life, and still, some of them complain. In my case, I find it a shame, I even threw out a guest once, who was respectless and did not care, that my kitchen is to be shared and not hers. The rating system is ridiculous. That Airbnb put up to 10 euros on my price and still charges me will lead to further Problems. The guests think it's too expensive while 25 or 17 Euros per person is the cheapest one can get here, nevertheless some expect a 3-star hotel.....

[Barbara167]

 I really seem to have more problems with the Millennials. A sense of entitlement and overall self absorbed attitude. (who the last gal was)

One younger gal asked me to wash all her sheets in her detergent after seh woke up in hives... She had pet allergies and I have a dog. She asked for all of her $ back after 2 days. fortunately Airbnb took off her review that said not to stay at my place if you have allergies. ironically it's touted as a chemical free, eco friendly home .   

For me, I have to have this income. In between roommates. But I think I'm going to start being more stern on who I pick. 

[David526]

You may want to consider preparing a guest log book to ask the guests to write their suggestions in before departure so you can monitor how they feel before departing.   In this way the guests feel that their opinions matter to us   ...    because they do! 

In this way we can have a clue as to why they may rate us with less than 5 * .  If there are no suggestions from the guests on departure, at least that sets the stage to know if we dealing with real issues, or perhaps just guests who don't understand the harm they can do to our bookings, with even 4 * rankings. 

[Leslie275]

Hi Manon,

 I hope you hang in there. It's true that a few 4-star reviews can be frustrating. I recently had two guests leave a 4 star overall and  5 stars for everything else. This was after both sets of guests got an early check-in and  I allowed them to leave their bags for pick-up at the end of the day as well!

I think many folks are comparing us to hotels and quite frankly that's unfair given most hotels at Airbnb price points are cinderblock buildings, way out of the interesting parts of towns. 

I've had a career in customer relations and one thing I can tell you is some people just have to criticize. As a good friend once told me ..."no good deed goes unpunished". 

That said, 90% of your experience has been positive, maybe just take a break from the public.

Good luck going forward.

-Leslie

[Cathie19]

Hi @Manon87.

If your stress levels are high all the time from Airbnb, then best to remove the problem.

If however, the stress is only review related .. think for a moment.

- Guest’s generally like your place ?

- You generally enjoy hosting ?

- The workload of preparation for guests is doable with your other work?

- The 15% income earnt is not easily replaced, or is a utilised bonus that fits with the rest of your lifestyle?

 IF your answers are generally positive, then just consider continuing what you do..

Can the 15% income earnt, be easily replaced?

Has anyone in the forum, actually known hosts who have been delisted?

If your fear is the drop of income, then look at other rental platforms, and ensure you have everything in place to switch to another rental platform, and how you will market yourself, if the need or choice arises.

BUT it sounds to me like you already have a niche market, and provide a good service.

If the balance stays right, then as already advised, just continue to do what you do...

KEEP your bookings to a short calendar in advance. I do and it does reduce stress, and cancellations.

Work ONLY on what you have control over (your listing, the description, service on the ground) and DON’T stress or worry about what you have no control over.. (reviews/ Airbnb implemented business plans and strategies) 

Find the balance in the rest of your life... and if hosting can still be happily and economically, a part of it .... then stick with it! 

🙂

Cathie

[David126]

I do not read the reviews, the odd weird one used to annoy me, now it does not.

[Izabela17]

I have a feeling that this isn’t all about review system...

You probably need a break! Don’t worry about one or two odd reviews from mid-aged grumpy individuals.... your reviews are great and am sure your are a great host. 

X Izabela 

[Ruth175]

Sometimes I feel hosts need to grow up and stop paying any attention to reviews, superhost status or airbnb fairy tales how caring they are. This is all plain BS. At the end of the day I only care about my earnings, not some ocasional loonatic guest review or airbnb idiotic review system.

[Manon87]

Your status does matter because earnings will go down if you don't maintain your superhost badge. Consequently, you tend to get more picky guests who leaves vindictive reviews when you have a superhost badge. There are plenty of stats online on that subject.

[Pam1395]

When a total stranger can libel your name, business, and home and you have no way to defend yourself, despite the fees you pay airbnb, it is more than just a complaint. It is a legal situation.

[Anonymous]

Hello Manon,

In spite of my husband and I are new hosts, we've already had a bad experience with a review system.

Once Airbnb called me around 20:00 with request to accept 6 people who stayed without accommodation on the street . I called my friend and she came immediately within 15 minutes, refreshed a flat, washed a floor and passed keys to guests.

When the guests left accommodation, they left review with 4 stars for cleaning?!

So, fresh cleaned floor wasn't clean enough for them.  I do not tell about simple gratitude.

When you stay with 4 children on the street after 20:00 and not too much choose when you can spend your night except of expensive hotels, would you criticise the person who gave you a hand?

Now next guests left my flat in very bad condition: broken bed(their children, probably, jumped on),

bed linen dirty and after washing stains stayed on, so, it goes to bin now, ect. When they left, they didn't mentioned any damage made by them. I've sent them message with offer to find solution. No answer. Sent message to airbnb resolution centre. Wait for respond,and wonder-what kind of review my former guests will leave. 

Absolutely understand your feeling.  It looks like some of the guests think if they have paid, they have right to do everything with you and your flat.

[Mae8]

And, we are running into guests with multiple accounts to circumvent the review process. These are never good guests. They are always the problem makers. In the communications, these guests always say "I stay at Airbnb's all the time" and even admit they have multiple accounts. We have flagged at least 10 of these accounts and not one of them has been suspended. NOT A SINGLE ONE.

We have reported these accounts to Airbnb. We receive the same form email response: "Thank you for contacting Airbnb and sharing you feedback.  Hosts like you are a valuable member of the communiting. 

So now guests can act like idiots with no fear of repercution. If they get a bad reviews, they just open a new account. If we get a bad review, it haunts us forever now that the reviews are not in chronological order.  Someone will respond and say "Well Airbnb have filters to prevent multiple accounts." But those filters do not work. 

So the review process is compromised and is no longer an accurate reflection of the guests or the hosts.

[Amber1]

Yet a 12 time superhost gets their account suspended and all bookings canceled because they listed under their nickname. 

[Tony134]

I have learned the hard way: NEVER accept a guest when Airbnb calls and asks you to. It is ALWAYS a guest who is already on the phone complaining because they got thrown out of someone else's house, usually fur a house rule violation.

I've taken many of these, every single one was a disaster.

[Ken28]

@Tony134  I'd say that I'd usually agree with you here. Guests that overstay their welcome in one place are seldom a good choice.

But there are special circumstances. I had two very good guests that Airbnb and I had to relocate due to some sudden plumbing issues. I would have loved for them to stay, but the sever was backing up and the extra water usage was making it worse.