New Requirement of 4.7 or Get Delisted?

Rebecca160
Level 10
Albuquerque, NM

New Requirement of 4.7 or Get Delisted?

Hey Fellow Hosts,

 

Have you taken the time to really consider the new minimum requirements to take effect July 1?  In particular,  the minimum 4.7 star average to host and 4.8 to remain a superhost, or face getting delisted.  There are a few other things, too, but the most concerning to me is the star ratings. This puts our livelihood in the slippery fingers of a harried happy guest, a calm happy guest , or an unhappy, vindicative guest.  Anyone can deliberately or inadvertantly click on a low star rating for a host, even when the host was outstanding. A low rating is almost impossible to remove, according to many testimonials on this forum.

 

I just clicked on London and discovered that the average star rating there is 4.5. Sorry London hosts, but looks like most of you are going to be leaving the plaform very soon...

 

My dashboardMy dashboardTarget descriptionTarget descriptionScreen Shot 2018-05-25 at 3.55.40 PM.png

I have not found any way to recover from actually being delisted. Is it a temporary suspension? Permanent?

 

Are you worried about the new targets? Outraged? Might want to think about it, before the bots get us.

 

As for me, I am pretty outraged.

74 Replies 74

@Gi-Angelo0  If you go to your "Progress" page, then click on "Opportunities" (how they come up with these terms, I don't know) you'll see the "Basic Requirements", "Superhost" among others, in the boxes. Those will show you the minimum targets and where you stand at the moment.

Nick674
Level 1
England, United Kingdom

I was delisted for a few days until I noticed. My rating is 4.7, I contacted air bnb and they said it was down to a “glitch in the system”

i turned my listings back on and they offered 25USD as compensation. Even though the amount of business I turn over from them is very high, the 25USD compo doesn’t reflect that and I have to take a hit with my business turned off without my consent. They can’t offer any more as they have to follow the bot system and have no power to overrule it. Luckily my listings remain on in the mean time I have to keep an eye on it and worry about my star ratings for the (4.7 or less) risk of deactivating. If that is true what they say about the risk of deactivation then many companies and hosts renting property will suffer.

Cheryl389
Level 7
Keyport, NJ

Everyone who has rated me less than  5 hasn't actually had anything bad to say about my house. It seems like they don't know how to use the rating system. My score is only a 4.6 but people have only had good things to say. It would be really unfortunate if this got me delisted. 

@Cheryl389  It's not so much that they don't know how to use the rating system, it's that Airbnb tells them that 4*s means "Good", then turns around and threatens to delist hosts with less than 4.7 average. That's why my guests have been shocked when I tell them how Airbnb deals with the star ratings on the host end. Most have no intention of hurting their host. They ask why Airbnb deceives them like that. I say, Good question, as a guest I think you should complain to Airbnb about this, as they don't seem to listen to hosts' concerns. 

So a guest rates your place as Good, then Airbnb turns around and tells you that Good isn't Good Enough.

It's beyond any kind of logic. It's sadistic, really.

This is why I block any guest who gives me a glowing written review and a four star over all review. I can't afford to have my business delisted because Airbnb is inconsistent between host and guest as to what a good rating actually is. Add to that, retaliatory reviews are now allowed and will not be removed, so if a guest causes hundreds of dollars of damage and leaves me a three star review because I dared ask for half of that amount, I'm delisted. True story.  

.

@Jennie131 

 

You said:

 

  • I'm delisted. True story.

 

I've checked Your 2 listings and they are both active. What exactely happened to You? Did airbnb pause Your listing for a week? Did they remove Your places from search results?

 

 

My apologies. I meant to say that I was punished, not delisted. That's what I get for doing things in a hurry!

Delwyn3
Level 6
Raglan, New Zealand

Hi all, way back in this thread there is a screen shot showing targets and the airbnb statement that anything below 4.7 could get you delisted.   Could someone kindly provide a link to where I can find this information on the airbnb site.   The screen shot shown (the progress/opportunities tab) in my case shows my listing at 4.7 but my public listing is actually showing 4.63 and I am getting a bit nervous!

Helen350
Level 10
Whitehaven, United Kingdom

@Delwyn3 I wouldn't worry..... There is a lot of folklore surrounding delisting... I know the 'basic requirements' tab under 'Opportunities' tells us we are at risk below the 4.7 minimum, but I think they just do that to 'encourage' us to try harder! Once, in my early days, one of my rooms (my biggest, ironically) dropped to 4.4, then was stuck on 4.5 for a while. I didn't get any threats or warnings, other than the computer generated one; I certainly was not suspended. If you look at other listings in your area, or anyarea, you will see many listings between 4.0 and 4.69. Some of them even look really good! You rarely see listings below 4.0, so perhaps they DO cull those? (I've seen a few with only half a dozen reviews, so perhaps they give them a chance to amass a few more 5s to get the rating up?? - In your case, you're a new host, so one bad review has skewed things, & your rating may not be truly representative of your place...? The good side of this is that every 5* review will cause your average to improve dramatically! Once you've had 30,40,50 reviews, it will all average out to give a truer picture of what people really think of your place.... - DON'T WORRY!

@Helen350 thanks for your reply.   I have just had two reviews in a row that have resulted in this.  (previously all 5 stars)  The last one was 4 stars overall and 4 for cleaning and accuracy because "the house felt unaired and a little dusty when we moved in." and the wifi was not working.   This was a result of a network fault that the previous guest (who gave me 3 overall because kitchen bench was sticky and glasses had finger prints) did not tell me about and  that I got fixed within 24 hours.   

Its interesting that both of these guests are new to Airbnb and I gave them their first reviews, both glowing I might add!   

Thanks so much for the reassurance as I am getting close to giving up!!!   🙂

Helen350
Level 10
Whitehaven, United Kingdom

@Delwyn3 Opinion is divided (here in the CC) as to the wisdom of having a word, or leaving a note re reviews... Some advocate diplomatically informing guests that Airbnb tell guests 3* = OK, 4* = good, 5* = excellent. - Whereas hosts are told 4.7 & anything less is failure! (5* = default position.) - So long as it's a FYI, not an order to give 5*! I've mentioned this with those I trusted to use the info positively, not hold it against me! - It's all about playing the game! ( NO "if you..., then I'll... - that's extortion, not allowed!)

@Helen350 yes I understand completely.  I too am not sure of how it would come across to have a note in the guest book or in a welcome message educating the guests as saying anything less than 5 stars is damaging really just sounds bad.  I had to ask my last guest what was the reason for the low scores.   I felt I had to ask as how can I fix an issue that resulted in the 4 stars if I don't know about it.   Once he clarified I now know there is nothing I can change.  That's what seems so unfair.   

Hi everyone,

 

I've read this thread with interest. I'm just wondering if, almost three years since this thread began, anyone has actually been delisted  based on falling below 4.7, and how it played out?

 

To be  honest, I saw this: https://www.airbnb.co.uk/help/article/1451/airbnb-experiences-standards-and-requirements#Hosting

 

And it instantly scared me.

 

Look forward to hearing from people.

 

- Nick

Vytautas0
Level 2
Vilnius, Lithuania

Your apartment can be delisted based on one review only:

 

Now it happened with my apartment, which was active on Airbnb from Y2017.

The last review was provided 10 months ago with overall value 2, although average value of all the criteria was 4 (from the same guest). Despite the fact that two more Airbnb guests later rented the same apartment and there were no claims.

 

Now I know, that Airbnb not focus on my average review value (4.3)  or on my achievements (I still have active Airbnb's bonus for my recent Superhost status).

 

Airbnb's answer:

"Thank you for your patience while we reviewed your appeal.

After careful consideration, our team has decided to uphold the original decision to suspend and remove your listing on September 9, 2021 for low review ratings and for failing to meet guest expectations. Your recent performance hasn’t sufficiently raised your overall review rating."

 

It turns out that just one review can destroy a host’s business, and Airbnb helps do that.

 

Good luck to all 🙂

Tove21
Level 1
Kent, WA

Hi, actually I have a question pertaining to this, not as a host but guest. My host was really great, she responded quickly and apologized for a not so clean unit. The unit wasn't as described in her listing as it wasnt as secluded which was misleading (all the angles of the surrounding homes were left out and it didn't tell you the address until after you booked it (saying it was non-fundnable at that point)). She said she'd inform the cleaners about the cleanliness to fix it later bust asked for me to leave a 5 star review or none at all. In this situation it makes me think that the same has happened to others and I feel bad leaving a bad review having her listing removed. Would it be best to leave a 5 star then in the description add on details about it? I don't want to ruin someone's livelihood but I don't want to leave an outstanding review because it wasn't outstanding. Figured here would be the best place to ask because I'm afraid support would get after them too if contacted