Listing shows "Bath 1" for bathroom

[Mark858]

We have an independent suite with a bathroom which has a shower - not a bath.
So we list it as having 1 bathROOM,  but on the listing it  shows as

Entire guest suite

2 guests

Studio    1 bed    1 bath

This is right at the top of the listing of course.

The problem is, people don't always read the actual description which states

"Note: Studio 21 has a shower not a bath. The AirBNB icon doesn't reflect actual facilities."

So I just got rated down on accuracy of description because the AirBNB software inaccurately says "1 bath"  whereas it should really say "1 bathroom"
This is the second time it has happened, and both times it has cost us our recently regained 5 star rating for accuracy.

How do you actually explain this to AirBNB to suggest they change their software to reflect neutral wording

[Sarah977]

@Mark858  Yes, they call it a bath. I've not had any guest arrive expecting a bathtub, though. I agree that bathroom would be a better designation. All I can suggest is that you send them feedback on this, and make it clear in messages to guests when they book, rather than just in the listing description, which many don't bother to read. It seeems important to mention anything in a message which we've found guests misconstrued or didn't read at all that could lead to a bad review.

Have you contacted Airbnb to see if they would remove at least one of those reviews, based on the fact that Airbnb's wording is leading guests to misunderstand, that it's not a matter of you not being accurate, its Airbnb's faulty definition? 

[Mark858]

Based on their  crazy move over requiring CO alarms in (only) Work Collection properties regardless of relevance, and their totally ignoring messages from myself and others about the matter, I am not sure where to turn who might actually go "oh yeah, our description is a bit confusing, let's change bathroom to bathroom instead of "bath" 

Also not sure where to go to ask for a review rating to be altered to be honest Sarah, so any advice much appreciated.
We're tracking okay at  a 4.9 overall rating about 1 month out from our 4th Superhost renewal, so it shouldn't hurt us too much, but would be nice to see it sorted for everyone.

[Sarah977]

@Mark858  Yes, it would be great to see it sorted. You could contact CS and ask them to look at those reviews that marked you down for accuracy because you didn't have a bathtub if the guest said that was why they marked down and point out that the AIRBNB wording is what led these folks to assume you had a bathtub. But honestly, those guests are pretty brain dead- I mean it says xx # of bedrooms and xx # of baths. It would be obvious to most people that means a bathroom. It doesn't say x# of baths, x# of sinks, x# of toilets. There's not many guests who would not get it, you just lucked out to get two of them 🙂

But if your overall rating is 4.9, I don't think I'd waste much time on it. But sending a feedback message on the site, saying what happened to your accuracy rating and why, might be worthwhile when you have a moment. Unless they just throw those feedback forms straight into the garbage bin.

[Mark858]

After kicking the thing with one guy for 3 messages he "escalated" it to a case mananger but I received the usual "praise and platitudes" from AirBNB - but no actual acknowledgement that is is a problem.

------------------------------------------
Thanks for reaching out! My name is Melody, and I am a Case Manager in Airbnb. I will be assisting you from here on.

First and foremost, we're so glad to have a host like you in our community. Thank you for your dedication to providing exceptional hospitality.

We understand that you have concerns about the internal accuracy rating left by your guest, Ashwin, after they have completed their reservation HM3DBDQKW3 with you. Please know that I am here to provide support as quickly as possible.

Please know that Airbnb will not be able to edit, remove, or alter any star-rating provided by the guest. This accuracy rating that you are referring to is only visible to the host, and does not affect your overall experience rating.

We designed the review ratings feature so you can celebrate what you’re doing well, and also identify opportunities to improve. The detailed ratings show where you can have the biggest impact on your guests’ experience. If there’s a pattern of low scores in one area, you can focus in on them and make targeted changes. In some cases, guests may leave private feedback with tips to guide adjustments to your listing.

As you begin using this information, we hope you’ll find that it’s valuable. We want to give hosts resources to help you get the most out of the Airbnb experience and provide your guests with the best possible experience.

You can read more about your star ratings in our Help Center article:

www.airbnb.com/help/article/1257

Checking the guest's private feedback, it appears that they were under the impression that the 1 bath refers to a bath tub. However, this is not how Airbnb classifies bathroom. Please see below for details:

Bathroom classifications:

0.5 bath = a bathroom that only includes a toilet OR a shower
1 bath = a bathroom that includes a toilet, and shower OR bath tub

Bathroom (which is shown as bath on the listing's page) does not necessarily need to have a bath tub. One full bathroom just needs to have a toilet and a facility where people can take a bath (so, this could be either a shower or a bath tub).

We are aware that this has caused a lot of confusion with both Airbnb guests and hosts, as we are a global marketplace which caters to all types of people (international or local). However, we appreciate you doing a good job in setting proper expectations to your guests by adding information about the bathroom set up on your listing's description.

This would likely serve as your weapon in rare situations of guest's inaccuracy complaints.

We value your business and appreciate all your feedback. Your comments have been forwarded to the relevant personnel where they are being utilized in our ongoing efforts to further improve our services.

On behalf of Airbnb, I again sincerely apologize for your current experiences. I just hope that this helps and clarifies the whole situation. Let me know if you have further questions.
-------------------------------------------------

We need somewhere we can rate AirBNB's listening/reading skills. I messaged her back giving a 0 stars rating.

[Sarah977]

@Mark858  Whenever I get those CS reps who just spout platitudes (thanking us for being such great hosts, blah, blah) I message back pointing out that when hosts spend time contacting CS, there's a good reason for that, and we aren't the least bit interested in being thanked or praised, what we are interested in is actually recieving an answer or solution to our issue. and that sending cut and paste responses with links to the Help pages is not in the least bit useful to experienced hosts and pretty offensive- if the answer could be found in the help pages we wouldn't be wasting our time or theirs bothering to contact them.

I also got a clueless CS rep the other day on a tech issue- my transaction page shows "processing" on payments after they've been released and even after they appear in my bank account. She kept ignoring what I was telling her- that I was reporting a tech issue, and kept telling me when my current payout would be released and sending me links to "When will I get my payouts" in the Help pages. I told her that a Superhost with 100% 5 * reviews and and 2 and a half years of hosting is well aware of when payouts are supposed to be released and that she was not doing the job she was getting paid for. If I could have reached out thrrough the phone line and wrung her neck, I would have 🙂

And sometimes I'm lucky enough to get a really good rep. It's absurd that it's so inconsistent.

[Mark858]

HAH - I am glad to hear I am not going mad...... but sorry you get the same as me.

You get the feeling that there entire "brief" is to placate, and deter the host from thinking about the actual issue.

ACTING to improve our (and the guests) experience as their service provider is seemingly not in their job description.

[Robin4]

@Mark858  @Sarah977  @Stephanie 

Mark, in actual fact Melody your case manager was quite right. The fault lies with us as hosts....we just automatically click 1 bathroom when we are listing our space!!

I just did a check with my listing and sure enough, the option is there to list your property as .5 of a bathroom which goes on to explain that it has a shower and a toilet but not a tub.

I think this screenshot I just took should clarify this.......

The option is there Mark, it is up to us to set it up correctly, not blame Airbnb because the option does not exist!!

Cheers......Rob

[Marit-Anne0]

@Robin4 

I imagined a half bath would only be a toilet/powder room with a toilet and a hand basin - so I have understood the US term for half bath, but I may be wrong. A shower room is a shower room I think,  not 0.5 bath.   

@Mark858 

Perhaps include "shower room" under each captation of the bathroom pictures.  

[Robin4]

@Marit-Anne0 

You may be right, interpretations do seem to be changing all the time., but what Melody did quote was from the same interpretations that I had......a half bath, or .5 is clasified as a wet room without a bath.

But I can see where guest confusion would come in and hosts would not want to give the impression all they were offering was a 'powder room'!!

In retrospect I do conceed that Airbnb need to change this....or at least own the problem!

Cheers.....Rob

[Marit-Anne0]

@Robin4 

Googled definition on half bath and this came up:

Generally a half bath, also known as a powder room, consists of a sink and a toilet. Usually a 3/4 bath has a sink, toilet and shower. And a full bath or 4/4 bath has a sink, toilet, shower and tub. A bathroom that has a shower over the tub is considered a full bath as long as there is also a sink and a toilet.

This would be the US definition - in Europe we do not have half baths or 3/4 baths terminology, we have separate toilets, shower rooms and bathrooms.  A shower room can be referred to as a bathroom.

[Jeff158]

@Robin4  I thought I'll try that if it say's shower, no such luck.

Half-bath sounds like one of those short things that are no use to anyone.

[Mark858]

The AirBNB Customer Services representitive my complaint was escalated to has written to me below
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bathroom classifications:

0.5 bath = a bathroom that only includes a toilet OR a shower
1 bath = a bathroom that includes a toilet, and shower OR bath tub

Bathroom (which is shown as bath on the listing's page) does not necessarily need to have a bath tub. One full bathroom just needs to have a toilet and a facility where people can take a bath (so, this could be either a shower or a bath tub).

We are aware that this has caused a lot of confusion with both Airbnb guests and hosts, as we are a global marketplace which caters to all types of people (international or local). However, we appreciate you doing a good job in setting proper expectations to your guests by adding information about the bathroom set up on your listing's description.

This would likely serve as your weapon in rare situations of guest's inaccuracy complaints.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Note the americanism " One full bathroom just needs to have a toilet and a facility where people can take a bath " They use the word "bath"  for washing, something almost unique to their culture, and something they need to address for their international marketplace as others have also noted now.
I didn't realise though as a relatively new host - 13 months - that 0.5 bathroom used to have a different meaning.

At least they finally acknowledged this to me - after a few email exchanges.
I do have the text in my listing "Note: Studio 21 has a shower not a bath" - but people often don't read the listing details, and they obviously don't look at all the pictures as we have about 4 showing the details of the bathroom... hopefully in time they will fix this.

- I had never heard of a 3/4 bathroom before today........ It would be nice if there was  a full line of icons to tick in setup - like shower. bath, toilet, kitchen/kitchenette,  that ran in a line across the page, or even just the word Bathroom followed by whichever icons were applicable.

But hey, apart from one guest who was a horse's you know, we have had great guests all through, and are safely in the 4.9 bracket and running over 90% occupancy, so can't complain. The GOOD thing about the AirBNB software is that it is easy to use, the calendar works well, they have addedd that "reservations" menu option so you get all the bookings in chronological order. So things are getting better over time.

[Stephanie]

Hi @Mark858 

That's a great idea, and would better reflect Hosts facilities so guests aren't surprised when they arrive.

Anything else on the listing iconography/wording you think could do we a spruce up?

Cheers,

Stephanie

[Sarah977]

I've always known a half bath as referring to a room with only a sink and a toilet, as well. I should think that listing a full bathroom with a shower (not a bathtub) as a half bath would lead to even more confusion among guests. Yes, @Stephanie, it would be great if Airbnb could change the wording to make it clear.