Superhost Evaluation Timeline - 2019 first quarter

Quincy
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Superhost Evaluation Timeline - 2019 first quarter

Hi everyone,


We have reached that time in the year again for the quarterly Superhost assessment, where we celebrate all of your hard work! This evaluation period started on the 1st of April and will run until the 14th of April, after which you will hear how you did. We look back over your past year of hosting to review your performance, but there's no minimum tenure to become a Superhost, as long as you met all the criteria by the 1st April. 


For more information about the Superhost program, have a look at this page.


We would like to wish you all good luck with this Superhost evaluation round!


Thanks,


Quincy

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Please follow the Community Guidelines // Volg de communityrichtlijnen

25 Replies 25
Lizzie
Former Community Manager
Former Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Wishing everyone the very best for achieving or retaining your Superhost badge. 🙂


--------------------


Thank you for the last 7 years, find out more in my Personal Update.


Looking to contact our Support Team, for details...take a look at the Community Help Guides.

Maree25
Level 4
Napier, New Zealand

To think I miss out on Superhost..I have a 4.7 not 4.8..all because of location..hardly seems right or fair when I have met all other criteria..I feel quite sure that it is because it is a flat in a block of units..something I clearly state and have which I have no control over..it is actually situated in a quiet location very close to the city centre and one street over from the beach..best of all worlds..unless you want rural and then clearly I am not the property you seek..so then why book and then mark me down?..baffles me..not too sure how much longer we will continue with this platform..any platform for that matter..between a unfair rating system and people (guests) can't say I can really be bothered with the grief, time and effort

Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Maree25 

Hi Maree, that surprises me that you have a 4.7 rating your reviews are excellent and most of them mention what  great location you offer. The only one I could find who was critical was Don and as you say there may have been other reasons behind that rating. In fact looking at your cumulative category ratings you have an overall 5 stars for location. The only category you have been marked down in is value and, I would agree that value along with location are annoying  because neither are the result of an error or wrongdoing on your part.

What I would suggest to you Maree, if guests are privately mentioning dissatisfaction with your location....show a couple of shots of the outside of your complex! At the moment all you show is a patio shot and this does not give any idea of your general location. You could even go so far as to open a broad complex picture in 'Paint' and put a highlight box around your particular unit to illustrate exactly what guests will be booking. This might help clear up guest misunderstanding.

 

You have a nice unit and you present it well Maree. Try not to be too disheartened, remember, every guest teaches us something and after a while you do get to weed out those aspects of the listing that may cause issues in the review system. You streemline what you do!

I am not mad on the review system but we do have to work with it. I am on a couple of platforms and I can't say that one stands out as being better than the other....they each have their strengths and weaknesses.

All the best Maree you are obviously a good host and I am sure Superhost status is just around the corner for you....it appears that just one review may have robbed you of it this time, but hang in there, it will come and you are better than that one review.....OK!

 

Cheers......Rob

Thanks Rob for the words of encouragement..not sure that it is enough for this gal..but thank you anyway 🙂

Alon1
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Maree25 @Robin4 

 

Please note 'Location' isn't factored in to evaluation of Super Host.

 

Maree, I've been hovering on 4.7 for the past two or three quarters, perhaps longer. Truth to tell I don't keep count. 

 

And the current status is confusing, as it shows 4.8 accompanied by the following two notices:

Superhost
Pending assessment
Assessment ends: 14 Apr 2019
We’ll let you know if you’ve received Superhost status after the assessment period has ended.
 
Everything’s looking good! Keep it up to earn Superhost at the next assessment. The next assessment is Jul 01, 2019 and will take into account your performance since Jul 01, 2018.
 
-------
 
Next week on the 14th the confusion will be resolved.
 
In any case, after 6 years of hosting and never achieving the SH status since its induction; I'm not remotely concerned whether I receive it now or not, as in either case, it won't change the way I host in the slightest.

 

----

 

My true belief and feelings have been articulated on other threads, most recently on a current active thread 'Guests who never leave a five star review?'.

 

The comment in mind is by a hostess called Lan:

'   'Airbnb also should consider there is difference between host 10 times and 300 times with multi listings. Hope there is reward for hosts who is consistent, steady, with multi hundreds hosting experience, loyally stay with Airbnb for many year.....time is great evaluator!!'

Lan 

 

i'd only qualify that I'm also not  interested in 'rewards' from Airbnb.

  However, far from ungrateful, the greatest benefit and singular purpose of my hosting on the website, to pay off a substantial UK Inheritance Tax on the property following my mother's death. I need pay this horrendous tax over 10 years in annual installments + Interest, and Airbnb provided the most immediate and viable option.

  If I manage to complete the feat, I will be eternally grateful to Airbnb for providing the means to keep my beloved family home of over 35 years. 

Maree25
Level 4
Napier, New Zealand

We are going into an off peak season..and with a lot of listings where I am competition is stiff..so was kinda counting on Superhost to give me a slight edge and maybe a slightly increased chance of some extra bookings in the slow period..bookings have dropped away already..otherwise I really am not bothered by Superhost status..but any advantage however slight counts

Alon1
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

:@Maree 

 

It's true or said to be so that SH status makes listings more prominent in website 'search'; and there is a category in search for 'Superhost', ie. if Guest wants to lodge with SH.

 

However, in respect of London the special status is virtually meaningless, because there are about 80,000 listings, so a general search is likely to yield one's listing(s) about as much as the proverbial needle in a haystack. -- For the past few years since Airbnb has mushroomed in London, my bookings are virtually limited to those narrowing search to my specific area, with best i.e. most productive results for those using the map facility. The map does not distinguish between SH and other listings, and a general search within the area often shows my listings on the first few pages. I assume it's because I've been hosting for a sustained period, and have 100% Response Rate within an hour, and almost 100% acceptance rate for bookings, also because I don't do Instant Book, so that I only accept those whom I'm happy to accommodate following inquiry.

 

In sum, for London, location is evidently key, which makes it ironical that Location isn't considered relevant for SH status. (It's understandable in that Guests are responsible for choosing location).

 

Furthermore, in my case, having had some 400 bookings, and with over 300 Reviews, Guests hardly need the further assurance of an SH badge. -- Indeed, it's worth adding, that the vast majority of Guests are clueless about SH! 

  So SH status seems to be of worth almost exclusively only internally to Airbnb who sought to introduce an hierarchal structure a few years ago; while the only ones who seem to  really care about it are the Hosts who hanker after it....

   For example, on another post about a month ago, 'The Magic is Gone', the Hostess who posted the thread stated she would only want to book a listing from another SH host.

   I responded by inviting her to peruse my listings and reviews over 6 years, never having obtained the SH status, and asked if she would consider to book with me?

  She did not respond to date. In case, I receive the SH status next week, I will probe her again! 

 

=======

 

ps. In case you wish to ensure the recipient of your comments gets notification, please use the @ sign when a drop down menu appears for you to chose the appropriate profile and name. This tag then shows up in Notifications, under bell icon, top right hand of screen. (The tag doesn't always work, especially when a thread gets very long.) -- Without the tag, you simply depend on the recipient checking in again on the thread as I have done so now. 

 

Marjet0
Level 2
Montespertoli, Italy

Hello,

I was for years a Superhost. Now there is this new request of 10 times or 100 days per year....It is my OWN house that I let. Not just an extra house. So, I can't make 'business'....10 times or 100 days would be just too much for me. I think it is very strange the requirement of 100 days! Then I nearly can't stay alone anymore in my house ;(. I changed also my politics. I try to let more the whole house and I prefer long stays. So this year I have f.e. guests for the whole month of August. Why is it better to have 10 checkouts??? More and more I am feeling myself more uncomfortable with the Airbnb politics. It started friendly, but now I should maintain a business model...? It just don't want that! And I don't think at all that this means I can't be a super host! On the contrary.

Marjet

Alon1
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Quincy @Lizzie @Robin4 

 

COMPUTER SAYS "NO" SH BASED ON  PAST YEAR RECORD, BUT 'YES' IF YOU DON'T HOST IN THE NEXT QUARTER TILL JULY 1 = THE LOGIC OF LEWIS CARROLL
 

Quincy & Lizzie,

 
Now that the dust has settled on the latest SH quarterly assessment, I would like to draw your attention to a certain paradox or even anomaly in SH criteria, namely, significance and definition of 'Experienced'. If my account makes sense to you, perhaps you would consider to draw it to the attention of Airbnb.
 
We may initially note this thread has become a bit of a backwater due to lack of contributors. It's Lizzie's preceding thread from June 2018 'Welcoming All Superhosts'  that's proved  the rolling stone, which after the recent quarterly assessment rose to over 2,000 posts.
 
From the current crop of newly decorated SH, I've chosen three by name so my account can be easily verified: Juana (Peru), Chi (Vietnam), Nuning (France) share the distinction of being awarded SH on the basis of a meagre 9 Reviews. Given that it requires 10 bookings, It would seem to be a disproportionate low figure for achieving SH, save for the fact that it only requires 50% Reviews. Not only can SH be achieved from only half the guests hosted, the period for 10 booking can be incredibly rapid, especially for someone with multiple listings: It's conceivable in a day for a Host with 10 or more listings; alternatively, a host with just 1 listing would not require more than two weeks. While our three newbies with just 9 Reviews only took one or two quarters.
 
However, it's difficult to make the case of labelling anyone 'experienced' Airbnb Host in one or two quarters given that 'experience' is commonly equated with a significant period of time. and more specific to this enterprise doubtless  dealing with a variety of persons, cultures, circumstances and/or contingencies. 10 bookings of whatever outcome are unlikely to give a sufficient variety of experiences. 
 
In my preceding contribution to this post over two weeks ago, i.e. within the fortnight assessment period, I referred to my uncertainty at the information I saw in 'Performance'. It duly became clear when assessment showed 4.7 Average for year ending 31 March; but 4.8 for current on-going period. It suggests that a review in the first week of April nudged me from 4.7 to 4.8; and more certainly, if I maintain 4.8 till June 30th I will receive SH.
 
In any case, a comparative view of the stats initially realize an inherent paradox vis-a-vis our 3 newly awarded SH:
 
In the assessment period just finished for the first three months of this year, I had 18 Reviews, 17 x 5* Stars and 1 x 4* stars. 
  18 Reviews is twice as many as the 3 new hosts who achieved it on only 9 Reviews. 
   Though I'm literally twice as qualified as the 3 newbies even within the assessment period, the reason I'm not equal to them is obviously because my figures over time do not equate to the requisite 4.8. As mentioned my figure was 4.7.
 
Therefore let's probe a bit further back. In the preceding quarter, the last three months of 2018, I had 23 Reviews: 20 x 5*, 2 x 4* and 1 x 3*. Like the preceding quarter it would suffice in itself to obtain SH. More so when you add the last 6 months, which realize 37 out of 41 Reviews were 5 stars.Yet when I check the average 6 months ago, it was also 4.7.
  Thus two quarters in a row I had 4.7 average, and more significantly, the additional 17 out of 18 x 5* Reviews from the latest quarter were insufficient to nudge the average from 4.7. It further suggests that Airbnb Rating system is most demanding of its Hosts... till we remember our 3 SH newbies! 
 
So let's go a couple of quarters back to complete the past year.
  In the quarter of July - Sept 2018: I also had 23 Reviews: 15 x 5*, 7 x 4* and 1 x 2*.
  In the quarter of April - June 2018: 19 Reviews: 14 x 5*, 4 x 4*, 1 x 3*.
 
Total Reviews for 12 months period: 83 Reviews. That's over nine times as many reviews as our 3 newbies!: 
  66 x 5*  14 x 4*; 2 x 3*; 1 x 2*. which equates to just under 80% 5 Stars Reviews, average 4.75 for this 12 months period.
 
Yet it's even more instructive to note my averages from the date it began to be shown in its current format July 2017 were 4.5  /  4.6  /  4.7  /  4.7 to the present on-going 4.8.
We need only recall that prior to the 5* Average, the quarterly assessment was calculated in %. So that when the new system was introduced, my % average going back over four years to 2013 was repackaged and stood at equivalent 4.5* in July 2017.
 
In sum, it's taken over 300 Reviews to get me to the current point of 4.8 Average. 
  Still there is no guarantee that I will be awarded SH in July as it depends on my performance over the next three months. 
 
Though I've yet to qualify for SH, one thing for certain, it can't be said that I'm less 'EXPERIENCED' than those who achieve SH in barely one or two quarters. I'm rather clearly taking what may be depicted as the scenic route to the SH summit.
 
Many would consider this situation plainly absurd. Indeed, it evokes the BBC comedy Little Britain sketch 'Computer says "No".' Computer says  I'm not qualified for SH based on the past four quarters total; but for the next quarter assessment it says  'Yes'... conditionally, you are guaranteed SH status,,. providing you don't take another booking till July 1st! 
   It's an infallible logic that would have been well understood by renown 19th Century mathematician Charles Lutwidge Dodgson better known as Lewis Carroll author of Alice in Wonderland.
 
Confronted by this logic, what to do? Should I sit back and twiddle my thumbs for 3 months to ensure SH. Or do I risk continuing, expanding my experience, in the hope that I don't encounter the odd Guest or two who may once again derail my chances of reaching SH status?
 
The conundrum is real. For the current quarterly period I have already taken 10 bookings: .
- 1 Cancelled a few minutes after booking, applying the quite recently introduced '48 hours Grace Period'.  
- 3 have been and gone and reviewed All 5* Thus, so far so good.
- 2 possible reviews from past week are still within the 14 days deadline.
- 1 guest currently here, departing Monday.
- 3 more bookings due to arrive in the next 5 weeks.
 
My decision to keep hosting clearly indicates that I will not only continue to take bookings, but put greater value in hosting than the badge awarded by Airbnb.
 
The data and its interpretation leads to three conclusions:
 
1) The stats don't lie, but their implication is most revealing:
     The more experienced the host, the longer period and more bookings, the more difficult it is to reach SH status. 
     In my case, it is the accumulation of stats over 6 years that determine the difficulty of reaching the goal of 4.8 Average. 
    
2) The definition of 'experienced' re SH Status.
     Incorporating the term 'experienced' to the SH award isn't necessarily an accurate criteria, and in many cases is far from the truth.
 
3) If Airbnb wish to keep 4.8 Average for SH status, they would do well to consider acknowledging 'experienced Host' by a different means or category than Superhost! 
    For example, the 'experienced' criteria should be first and foremost judged over a lengthy period of say 18 months - 24 months, and within that period it should include say 100 Reviews and / or the equivalent of 365 days hosting, i.e. one year.  .
     A separate category of Experienced Host would also guard against the arbitrary nature of damaging reviews that can easily sink an SH below the surface.
 
===============
 
Robin,
 
I must confess my dismay that yesterday you simply pointed Hannah from Bondi Beach to Ute's analysis of the stats. 
[Hannah's thread 'Ratings glitch? 4.7 has not budged.' - Ute's 'Guantanamo.']
 
You relayed  to Hannah: "the information you need to work out why your rating is not changing was compiled by another contribtor. Ute, last year and you will find a full explanation on this thread that she created."
 
Sadly Ute's analysis is far from the full explanation; on the contrary, it is grossly misleading.
Indeed, according to Ute's analysis of the system "4.6  = delisted." 
Ute propagates nonsense as I'm sure Professor Dodgson would have agreed. Obviously so, given that when the 5 Stars averages began in July 2017, I was at 4.5 and further evidently operating on 4.6 or less with some 250 Reviews over a 5 years period before I even reached 4.7
  How come then I wasn't delisted a long time ago?
 
In addressing the question it becomes apparent that Ute's graphics is crucially remiss of one dimension, namely the dimension of time. There is no Time-Line or Time-Scale on Ute's graphics.
Stated otherwise as an equation it lacks the crucial factor T = Time.
 
Ute's post received over 100 replies, yet no one noticed the anomaly which is ironically well illustrated by one respondee.
The person who strangely agreed with Ute was Jeet in Pune, India. 
Jeet posted a link to an article she wrote on CC in January 2017, that is 18 months prior to Ute's thread. 
   'Here is an article that I had written a year ago when I received the first threat, I have highlighted why guests prefer to book me despite my non 4.7+ rating and why Airbnb should stop threatening me: https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Host-Voice/Airbnb-Warns-to-Suspend-my-Most-Booked-Listing/idi-p/...  
 
Jeet's article included a screenshot of her ratings at the time. 63 Reviews. Only 38% were 5 stars with overall average of just 4.2.
   The Airbnb notice crucially did not threaten delisting but SUSPENSION: 'Your account could be suspended....'
 
We can happily update Jeet's situation, as she is still hosting, and her previously threatened listing is now evidently re-titled '100 + Reviews, Whistling Palms, 2BHK, Cozy Stay'. The listing currently boasts 146 Reviews, last one this month, April 2019. One can't tell precisely Jeet's current average, but the graphic shows c. 4.5 + 
 
In any case, we can readily draw the conclusion that Jeet wasn't threatened with delisting but suspension, and thus her reaction to Ute's post is misleading as it fails to take into consideration the intermediary step of suspension and warning....
 
My experience serves to further shed a light on the issue of 'suspension'. 
Last summer I actually had one room 'suspended' for 5 days:, it was termed '5 day pause'. It occurred when the average for this listing was precisely 4.2. 
 
However, there was a significant discrepancy between the automated email pause at 4.2 and the figure shown in 'Progress' for this listing 4.4.
   It took me the best part of a month to get Airbnb to properly address the issue. Over the phone a number of CS checked and agreed but could not explain or do anything about it. In the end I visited Airbnb London HQ and one lady kindly spent 45 minutes with me. She also agreed but couldn't explain, and forwarded me to her colleague in Dublin, who spent half an hour on the phone, before again forwarding to a Case Manager I think in USA. Though he also couldn't address the discrepancy that he in turn forwarded to another department, the Case Manager did something else, he addressed the underlying cause for the pause, namely a contravention of an undisclosed 3rd Party Booking that led me to ask the Guest to leave, and the Booker to take revenge in review with 1* Rating. In the process the Case Manager further deleted two similar 3rd PB undisclosed violations from the preceding year. When the offending reviews were deleted, the average for this listing rocketed to 4.8, 4.9 and since then 5* for the past 12 months. 
   [My other listings are not at this level, but multiple listings are calculated together for SH, so currently overall 4.8]
  Since all this took several weeks, the 5 Day Pause came and went without anyone doing anything about it. Thus the Case Manager eventually declared:  'Regarding your complaint about the Pause was based on wrong figures, since the listing is already active we can not revert the time it was paused.' 
  While I was naturally aware the horse had bolted, I never received an explanation for the manifest discrepancy between the pause 4.2 and Progress 4.4.
 
I would summarily speculate that you Robin have not understood the problem with Ute's graphics probably because you attained SH status almost immediately or soon after you began hosting. In other words, you may never have experienced the gradation over time as I have, and therefore when Ute equates 4.6 = delisting, you have no experience to contest her statement. 
 
My concern with Ute is that she is a highly active member of CC but has very little experience as an Airbnb Host. 
Ute rather has a vast experience of hosting on other websites, but not Airbnb, nevertheless she promotes herself as some kind of expert on all matters Airbnb.
Ute has done a considerable amount of research from CC but in this case, she has no personal experience with the Stats, yet she influences others to believe in her analysis. 
 
Worse still, when questioned about her level of experience as an Airbnb Host, Ute considers it as 'criticism' of herself for criticising Airbnb. Her thread with an evident allusion to me in 'Critizing Airbnb' remains prominent on Host Circle.
Yet if we peruse the source thread, namely Inna's 'Fake Extenuating Circumstances', my interaction with Ute rather conveys a difference of opinion which led me to question Ute's experience as an Airbnb host. 
Ute replied in detail, but for reason known to herself interpreted it as 'criticism'. Thus while I invited Ute to initiate her own thread on a hypothetical scenario she posited, she did not pursue my suggestion, rather hastily composed her self-defence thread.
In sum, Ute's deflection in my eyes is simply egocentric and most unhelpful. Ute garners the support for her self-defence class and right to criticise Airbnb. 
Her right to criticize Airbnb was never questioned by me, only her experience as an Airbnb host to make endless pronouncements which in my eyes she's not qualified to make.
 
Hannah200
Level 2
Bondi Beach, Australia

@Alon1  Thanks Alon. To date I haven’t

come across anyone who feels this review system is fair. It would be good if everyone sent them some feedback. It needs to change.

Mary419
Level 10
Savannah, GA

I am really upset that despite having almost 5,000 reviews I am so far from the 50% of guests reviewed goal. I am exponentially exceeding other criteria due to my volume. They want professionally run/maintained vacation rentals in their inventory yet they hold managers to impossible standards with this requirement. Tons of people just stay in a hotel, are satisified, and leave and do not spend time getting their 15 minutes of fame writing reviews. This is a throwback to the couch surfing beginnings of Airbnb and totally inappropriate for the current market place. Reviews should be allowed and encouraged but requiring them on this level is absurd. Stripping me of super host for this one critieria is the most ridiculous thing I can imagine them doing, it will hurt them too not just me. My listings are a major part of a very popular tourism destination's reliable listing pool. I am somehow only at 13% of guests reviewing. Seems like possibly a miscalculation but I have 100 listings and at Dec 2018 they said I have hosted 14,000 guests through Airbnb. 

Suzanne302
Level 10
Wilmington, NC

@Mary419  This is a glitch. Many hosts are experiencing it and ABB is aware of the problem.

Dave-and-Deb0
Level 10
Edmonton, Canada

I can confirm that Airbnb is aware of this issue and are currently working on resolving it.  It is system-wide and can affect other things such as Family Collection and overall rating amount.  Hopefully it will be fixed soon.

 

 

David

Superhost Ambassador ~ Host Club Community Leader ~ Community Expert ~ Experienced Co-Host

Would you mind advising when you see that it is fixed if it is happening to you?  thanks so much!