New Review Flow for Guests

[Lizzie]

Hello everyone,

I know many of you have already noticed that Airbnb launched a new review flow, simplifying the process for guests to send more detailed feedback to hosts. There are already a few threads talking about this here in the CC and so I am really pleased to provide an overview of this product change for you.

We believe that detailed guest feedback is invaluable—whether it’s a rave review that encourages you to keep providing standout hospitality or a gentle reminder on how you can improve next time.

If a guest gives you less than five stars in any one category (cleanliness, accuracy and amenities, check-in, or communication), they can now choose from different focus areas in each category to help you know exactly why, and what to improve for the next time around.

To see what this process looks like, take a look at this Airbnb Blog article.

I hope this information will give you more insights around the new review flow. What do you think? Have any of your used the new review flow yet? Also, feel free to share any questions you might have on this.

Thanks,

Lizzie

[Gina-And-Jose-0]

Thanks, Mala,  I did respond to your contact to me , I am more and more amazied that so many think the Star thing is so important.  I don't even bother about it.  Only when I saw  4 or something for cleanliness, that was the icing on top of the cake.  I am the Queen of Clean and no less than a perfect plus plus plus could/  would ever apply to my home or garden so - that means the system is terribly flawed.  

[Gina-And-Jose-0]

More,  When I first saw this Star thing, the 5 star thing,  I laughed out loud .  Those ratings are for Hiltons and Intercontenentials Hotels. maybe Hyatt and Timeshare mllion dollar resorts.  Its hardly appropriate for an Airbnb in private homes.  hahahaha  

[Robin4]

@Gina-And-Jose-0

The problem is not that Airbnb uses a star rating system as if it were running hotels, its the fact that 5 star is the Airbnb 'default' rating. If you are given anything less than a 5 star you are falling down on your job, you need to do better.

I have no doubt that your cleanliness is exemplary and that there is no possible way for you to host any better within the confines of what your listing offers.

Airbnb are chasing something that is not possible. There are certain guests that will never give a 5 star! As far as they are concerned that is unacheivable...I know I have had a couple of them through here and they have plainly stated that. I heard of one guest another local hosted who said they would never give a 4 star as they regarded 4 stars as being reserved for something special....a luxury tree house on the Serengeti with a tamed and domesticated cheetah as a butler!!

@Gina-And-Jose-0 we are fighting for (at least) some sort of acceptance that the present rating system has a few flaws in it but, I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for change. And as long as those 5 star reviews keep coming along you just accept it but, when all of a sudden a number of those 5 star start turning to 4s because of things you have no control over, it does get to you....doesn't it!

Cheers.....Rob 

[Gina-And-Jose-0]

Hi Robin , what you said  sounds to me like Planet of the Apes  scary,  that is   '' . If you are given anything less than a 5 star you are falling down on your job, you need to do better.''   Who put that mind set into the hosts ?  What kind of sublimiital mental programing is happening here ? ''   Airbnb is just a business - not Big Brother.  As long as you are making money for them, what do 'they - the corporation ' care ?  Answer is they do not.  Any thinking person who has been brainwashed into the mind set of having to to better than possible on account of some stars in a compter, sincerely he/ she  needs not to do this program at all.  I am sure some  depend on this income  - and think / feel differently , same time, life's too short for this nonsence.  My opinion .  Beauty , and stars, will always exist only in the mind of the beholder.  

[David126]

The issue is in my mond the nasty things ABB can do if you do not play by their rules, lower the rating the lower your listing and less business you get, so you do need to use the tools ABB give you to fight negative reviews where possible.

[Robin4]

@Gina-And-Jose-0 What @David126 says above is absolutely correct. If you do not continue to get thsoe 5 star reviews Airbnb will punish you....It has nothing to do with Planert of the Apes, but it probably has a lot to do with Big Brother.

Look at this screen shot.......

On the basis of the new guest review system my 5 star trips have fallen from 98% to 89% in a month! I am not doing anything different, I am not providing anything less than that which I have provided for the past 2 years. Guests are now being asked to star rate my listing on things like smells, noise, bugs, character!! The experience received for the money spent has nothing to do with the rating system any more.

From that graph above, if my 5 star trips (and I might add I do not have anything less than 4 star) fall below 80% I will loose my Superhost status because 80% is the 'minimum' to retain that badge.

An increase in less than 5 star trips WILL lower your position in the search window, as David says!

This is the kind of, (and its certainly not subliminal), programming that is going on.

It's not a matter of...'well if we are making money, what the hell, ir doesn't matter' ....it does, It's a matter of pride, its a matter of being rewarded for doing our best. Its a matter of your cleanliness @Gina-And-Jose-0 being accepted. Not being told that the 4 star you or I got purely because the guest never gives 5 stars, is not good enough on our part.

Just like you, I take great pride in what I do, and you are right, life is to short for this nonsense.....but it is nevertheless a nonsense we have to deal with the best way we can in order to retain our ever eroding diginity.

Cheers.....Rob 

[Nancy67]

@Mala0 Welcome to the club of hosts who ask the exact same question. 

[Mike225]

Most guest i have had give me a bad review often are extreamly messy and just not very nice people. So the review system is very flawed. i can almost garntee if someone is super messy and treats my place like a hotel leaves stuff all over they will leave a bad nit picking review,  someone nice and clean and understands how airbnb works leave much better reviews and treats my place so much nicer. You have some people who think airbnb is a hotel and treats it like it with out regard this is someones house often with great discount and extra things like kitchen then a hotel with out hotel prices yet hey still leave it messy and leave bad reviews. This dose discourage me some times. I now look to  get my own people and not use airbnb allot of times and its been working mainly because of the review system. I have someone right now who i think changed there plans and wanted a full refunds. i could not do this as i can not get this place rented again even though my place has been booked solid for the month and have had high demand. I can almost garentee this person will leave a bad review over this. his is my point the review system is flawed. I have 10 houses 4 on airbnb and will prob drop this down instead of expanding if this dose not get better. 

[Gina-And-Jose-0]

I am impressed that you have 10 houses, do you use Work Away and HelpX to keep up with the cleaing ?  We do , I almost always have a work away er or help x er here to do the work.   I agree with you - but I qualify intensely so we have had  few problems here and if I see one - you can bet that I go after the person, leave a note, put up a sign, bang on the door.   The Japanese man here now with us Airbnb left a sink full of rice, burned pans , and a mess in the kitchen.  He got up at night and cooked but left the mess.  I called him to it and told him it was not ok.   He did it again and I took the pan, took the rice, and told him he was not allowed to cook more.   He did the same with the coffee pot so I took the coffee pot and told him to go to 7/11.  This is not enough money to put up with crap , sloppy or bad manners.  Not for me.  To H*ll with a bad review.  

[Mike225]

haha brave lady, i try so hard to get good reviews, but i agree so muchb about when people treat your place badly and its like common respect. Airbnb needs to really understand this. They need a system that cuts off one bad review a month if all other reviews are decent. In this buiness just like a hotel you will get wacky people who disrespect you. its a customer service buiness but man we can only take so much abuse. I do it all my self 🙂 even cleaning. But its a part time job for me. I tried getting cleaners but was so hard to get them to come when changes happen. Just seemed easier to do my self. 

[Gina-And-Jose-0]

Mike,  I love to be active, love to clean and make a place into a nicer place just to be, but truly, Life's too short to clean your own house if you have a life.  Go take a look at Work Away inc, also HelpXchange , both have something to offer - I am a host on both of those sites now for 5 years give or take and get most of the hard stuff done for us or we would never have any free time just to do stuff we like to do.  It's also cost effective, saves me so much expense.  I am not the only host who uses both Work Away , HelpX and is a host on Airbnb .      We don't have much extra space at the moment , 2 of our sons moved back home a couple years ago, so what can I say bout that excpet that they are here.   You have a huge job with so many houses to mange, I'd definitely donate a room to a work away -er or / and help X -er in your potition.  We have a Chinese man here right now who has been doing the tough yard work, cutting down a huge tree, cleaning the yard, broadcasting mulch, cutting roots out from the patio stones, as well as some cleaning inside the house.  Just a suggestion.  I appreciate your feed - back .  Gina 

[Gina-And-Jose-0]

Sorry I forgot to say the first important thing, Airbnb is a business , they don't care nor have to understand at all, they just want to make the money, like any good business.  We are on our own. 

[Gina-And-Jose-0]

Interesting, I just rememberd that I went via Airbnb to a home in Costa Rica, the place was a dump,  the beds awful, we had to use both twin mattresses on one bed they were so old, thin , and inadequate, place was clean enough sort of, but the hosts were nice so I gave them a great reveiw.  I reviewed the positives and ignored the negatives.    Some of the accomodations on Airbnb I suspect are actually hotels, condos, and are using Airbnb as rental agents for them - not my issue so I don't care.  I do care about the quality not the quantity of guests we accept into our home. I am also very aware of, on the look out for someone who really is looking for an apartment not for temporary accomodations. This has surprised me that it seems so many hosts are concenrned with the 5 star rating system.  I have just ignored it so far, and plan to continue to ignore it.  Of course some guests will never be pleased no matter where they are nor what you do and will complain, will find something to complain about.  That does go with the territory.  This is a great concept for some pocket money if all else is compatible .   Miami , Florida 's mayor has been pressured to restrict Airbnb here  - serious pressure from the hotels and hostils here who are losing  many guests - I have no news on how that is going.  f y i   

[Cari3]

Folks we can moan and groan and come up with bad things to say about airbnb and share stories of horrible guests.  But is that helping you feel any better?  I know that after I've read a few comments, my energy feels like it's positively drooping and that's not how I want to spend my time. How about instead of getting ourselves all worked up, we share practical ideas that might help each other instead.  Here, I'll go first:

Here are 3 things I communicate to my guests that let's them know I'm doing my best as a host to earn a 5-star review.  I personally don't believe in asking my guests outright for a 5-star review because I don't want them to feel coerced or guilted, but I do want them to clearly know what my standards and expectations of myself are:

In their welcome letter I include this:

I'm going to be preparing the The Poppy Place for your arrival soon and was just wondering if you have any pet peeves that I could avoid OR anything that would simply make you smile in order to ensure your stay is a 5-star one?   (the interesting thing is that since implementing this - my last 3 guests - all 3 have reassured me they are low maintenance.  LOL)

After their first night I send them this:

Hi ...., I wanted to check in with you to find out if you slept ok and if there is anything you had questions about, or if there is anything I might be able to do to make your stay more wonderful?

Before check out I send them this:

Hey ...., What time would you like to check out tomorrow- and is there any way I could accommodate any special needs you may have? And, by the way, is there anything you've noticed that I need to upgrade - I'm very invested in making sure that all my guests have a 5-star experience when they choose us to be their hosts.

And PS. If I have an inconsiderate or bad guest, I do not hesitate to say so.   My view is that we're all part of a community and I wouldn't want you not to know about a bad guest.  I feel it's my duty as someone who cares about you, my fellow airbnb hosts.  I want you all to have 5-star guests too. We can's expect airbnb to protect us if we aren't doing out bit too.

[Helga0]

@Robin4, you need not worry about loosing business when loosing the superhost status. I never had it and still get more bookings than I should take. There are other criteria, that have a higher influence on the booking situation and that you can control. 

Airbnb has a double standard in their communication about the stars. Mind, in the communication about it, not that they apply it ever. Why would you take pride in being able to fulfill the double standard? In being a good dumb disciple, who strives to deliver an impossible goal? Take pride in what the guests write, where they clearly say , what they intend to say. Not in the stars, where they apply the explanation communicated to them or what system of notation **bleep** grew up with or have seen in place somewhere, but unpredictable different from what airbnb tells you, that the stars mean.