Lower value stars- do those matter?

Inna22
Level 10
Chicago, IL

Lower value stars- do those matter?

I have been getting four stars for value fairly often. I do ask the guests what they think I could do to improve the value. Here are some responses from this week:

Guest: the toilet was broken, it made me uncomfortable. Me: What is wrong with the toilet? I have other guests there now, no one said anything! Guest: Silent Me: Poo

Guest: we turned the heat on but it was still cold so we had to use a space heather Me (to self): it is 96 degrees outside! Did they play hide and seek inside a refrigerator??

Guest: Taxes and fees in Chicago are high. I know it is not your fault. Me (to self): so not only I pay higher taxes every day by living here, I also pay by losing stars. Nice

 

I would think guests would be turned off by lower stars for cleaning or communication. Would they care about value? I clearly cannot do much about it so I guess I am trying to convince myself that it does not matter.

14 Replies 14
Kelly149
Level 10
Austin, TX

@Inna22 nope, doesn't matter. Disregard

Lisa723
Level 10
Quilcene, WA

@Inna22 @Kelly149 An occasional review with 5 stars in everything except value reassures me that my price is not too low.  (OTOH 4 stars in everything including value means it definitely is too low. 🙂 )

Lawrene0
Level 10
Florence, Canada

I don't think it means anything to prospective guests, @Inna22 . They can see the price, they can see the photos and the map and the amenities and the reviews. Someone else thinking the price was too high for all that won't put them off, unless they don't understand anything about anything. 

And then you don't want them anyway.

So think of it as a filter 🙂

 

@Inna22  The funniest thing is when guests give you 5* for Accuracy and 4* for Value.

 

It means, "everything is exactly as advertised, at the price I explicitly agreed to pay, but I still deserved a discount because I'm awesome."

 

The fact is, "value" means very little other than the price that someone is willing to pay for something. A customer is seldom ever qualified to assess it in any meaningful way, and along with Location ratings it represents the most utterly useless data that Airbnb collects from guests.

Emilia42
Level 10
Orono, ME

@Inna22 

Sometimes I think people only think of something as a good value if it is dirt cheap. So if your 8 bedroom house in the city center is $99 per night than that is 5 star value! If it is a more realistic cost then it is what it is and value is okay. Remember a lot of people are drawn to Airbnb because they are usually looking for something much cheaper than a hotel while getting so many more amenities.

Mark116
Level 10
Jersey City, NJ

We've been getting more 4 stars on value since our city, state and county all added taxes totally about 16%, so the guest is paying basically now almost an additional 40% over what our published rate is....which my assumption is where the knocks on value are coming from even though it's all out of our control and they already knew of the taxes and fees when booking. 

Suzanne302
Level 10
Wilmington, NC

@Inna22  You are a fabulous host. Guests can be crazy. I wouldn't stress over a 4 star value rating. 🙂

@Suzanne302 Thank you!

Kath9
Level 10
Albany, Australia

@Inna22, I think the problem is that people don't actually understand the definition of the word 'value'. As @Emilia42 suggested, people think that 'value' means 'cheap', which it doesn't. As we hosts know (because we're all linguistic Einsteins), value means whether a listing was worth the money paid. So, I believe it is a fair category to include, but only if people understand its meaning. Given that they don't, it should just be removed. I get pinged on value even though I am the cheapest accommodation in town (even less than the backpackers) for a really nice room in a really nice house with really nice water views and walking distance to the centre of town. Once I deduct my costs (not just cleaning but also their excessive use of power and water), I barely make anything at all. STILL, I sometimes get 4 stars for value. So frustrating!

Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Inna22 

There isn't much you can do about it Inna.....Airbnb are breeding a class of entitled guest.

 

Have a look at this pre-approval request I got yesterday......

 

Pricing difference.png

 

1/.......Firstly the enquirer wants to know why the price increases when she comes to book. Really, she has used Airbnb as a guest 3 times before so, she does know that there is a difference. 

She was just fishing for a special offer.

 

2/..... She wants to book as one (1) guest but then she lets slip in the message stream that one didn't actually mean (1) ....it could have meant, well, whatever! It said 'We' so I can only speculate there.

 

I did not have a booking for last night but decided not to state the obvious to her, I was pleasant, said where the money goes and offered her a pre-approval anyway thinking ....'well it's a night I was not going to otherwise get'!

Well as the $90 (as indicated) didn't come along, she made other arrangements.

 

It annoyed me that guests who do know better would try this on but, this is the sort of bloody nonsense Airbnb are generating. They give in to guests every whim and expect that we hosts will just go along with it and buckle under.

It's no risk for Airbnb, whichever way it goes they make money either from the guest or penalising the host.

 

Convince yourself that it doesn't matter Inna, because, in the final analysis, it doesn't, we can't do a thing about it. It is just one of the joys of using the platform.

 

@Emilia42  @Mark116  @Suzanne302  @Kath9 

 

Cheers......Rob  

Geri26
Level 10
Adelaide, Australia

Oh Robin - I think Y came to you for a booking after I got tired of her inane questions regarding closeness to the city, things to do in Adelaide and my minimum nightly stay policy- even though she could see my location and picked to book with me which  I pre-approved.  I politely  suggested she might be more comfortable elsewhere when she got too demanding.  Seems like she decided to skip Adel altogether...

Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Geri26 

Oh Geri, maybe we both dodged a bullet!

Look, normally I would simply decline a pre-approval request like that.....there were just too many red flags in there, but I am a greedy bugger!

I had to dig up the bulk of my sewer system and did not want to subject guests to jack-hammering noises and that ever so pleasant waft of septic, So I blocked the previous night and when things went so well for me I left last night open.

My initial reaction was to instantly decline, the whole thing was just full of inconsistencies but I thought........"Look, it's only one night and a night I would have had no chance of getting another booking....and this septic system upgrade needs to be covered anyway"  so I did pre-approve Y. There was no way I was going to get into some sort of bartering situation with her....she either paid her $122 or went elsewhere. 

It just annoyed me that all she was after was something at the last minute on the cheap....and God only knows how many she had in tow with her!

Yeah Geri, Melbourne's a good spot for her! 

Good on you mate!

 

Cheers.....Rob

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Robin4  Maybe your enquirer is schizophrenic and hears voices, hence the "we". Guests who aren't visible to anyone but the booking guest don't have to be listed on the reservation- I'll try to find the TOS that pertains to that and get back to you 🙂

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

Guest's value rating perceptions:

1*   Host made me pay $10/head for the unlisted extra guests I brought.

2*  Host expected me to wash my own dirty dishes.

3*  There wasn't a gift basket worth half of what I paid for the room.

4*  I only got the amenities that were listed.

5*  Host went out and bought everything on the grocery list I gave her, drove me halfway across town to my friend's house, replaced the blue linens (I hate blue) with the pink which I told her I prefer, babysat my 2 year old all day so I could go out shopping and invited me to join her for dinner every night.