Superhost status taken away incorrectly

Peter1854
Level 2
Walnut Creek, CA

Superhost status taken away incorrectly

I am a host that has 2 premier properties in California, one for 2 years the other for 1 year.  I work hard to keep the properties at the 100% level. I bend over backwards to satisfy my guests.   The lowest review I have ever gotten was a 4 star.  I have been a Superhost for over 1 year.  Now, first week in January, I was told that I lost that status.  I looked at my standing - it said  the following: 

 

Overall rating for me  4.8  Target 4.8, Cancelation rate - 0.0  target 1.0, response rate  100% , target 90%, stays hosted 9, target 10 ,   combined stays 100 nights  over 3 completed stays    194nights over  9 stays - target 100 days over 3 stays  - based on this, I should still be a  Superhost ??   

 

When talking with airbnb they said i  lost it because I had 9 stays not 10 ?    That does not add up - the stats indicate that you either have the 10 stays or the 2nd option of 100 days over 3 stays - which I have.  NO one form Airbnb has replied to me about this.

 

What I think is  happening is that I have complained about some things lately.  ONE of the issues I complained about was that when I block dates out,  i have been receiving  requests to book dates in the block, its happened 3 times. I reply to the prospective guest to apologize and I tell them that date was booked on other platform, which is the truth.  I am thinking Airbnb is noting this information, that I have booking on other platform and therefore penalizing me for this, could this be true ?    I know that they use "AI"  on their platform to harvest data for their benefit, maybe this is part of it?   Does anyone have similar experience? 

Any  thoughts on how to handle this?

Thank you,

Peter

12 Replies 12
Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Peter1854  Superhost is based on an algorithm which takes into account only those stats you mentioned. It has nothing to do with you complaining. 

 

Are you sure that you hosted 194 nights in the 365 days prior to the Jan.1 assessment? Or that you had at least 100 days booked on 3 bookings? I think perhaps you have to have had at least 100 days booked over the course of 3 bookings, not be able to count days booked over 9 bookings.

 

And did a couple of your guests not leave reviews? Because I count only 7 reviews on your profile for the latest assessment period.

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Sarah977 

 

It was my understanding that the 100 days need to be from three stays or more, not that you had to have 100 days included in only three stays. The wording on the stats (when you click the ? button) is:

 

"You could meet this criteria in one of two different ways, depending on whether you hosted longer or shorter stays:

10 completed stays between 1 Jan 2021 and 31 Dec 2021
- or -
100 nights over at least 3 completed stays"
 
Based on this, I can't see any reason why @Peter1854 did not achieve Superhost with the stats he stated. 
 
Besides which, according to Airbnb, the requirement for minimum number of stays/nights does not come back into affect until the April 22 assessment, so that's not a valid argument for him losing Superhost status.
 
"If you’re a current Superhost, we’ll extend your status at the January assessment (through April 1, 2022) as long as you continue to uphold a 90% response rate or higher and at least a 4.8 overall rating.

Current Superhosts will not need to meet our usual criteria regarding the number of stays or cancellation rate until the April 1, 2022 assessment."

 

@Peter1854 

 

I would go back to CS and remind them that the minimum stay requirement is not part of the January 2022 assessment. Here is the relevant article:

 

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/resources/hosting-homes/a/the-latest-updates-to-superhost-assessments-257

 

@Huma0  I agree, I always assumed it should just be 100 days over at least 3 bookings- if it was 9 bookings and at least 100 days it should still qualify.  

 

I imagine this is just a case of a clueless rep who only read half the policy. 

 

But aside from the clueless rep, why would Peter have lost Superhost? Every assessment period it seems like there are hosts who lost it, when all their stats look good.

 

The bummer is, I think Airbnb refuses to correct it if it's a glitch, insisting they can't- that the computer bot is in charge.

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Sarah977 

 


@Sarah977 wrote:

the computer bot is in charge.



I was trying to find out about this recently, i.e. when the guest who left the 3* review asked for it to be removed.

 

Here's excerpts of the conversation with CS:

 

Me: Also, will the ratings adjust in time for the Superhost assessment? If they do not, will my Superhost status be reinstated when they do adjust?

 

CS: I cannot say with 100% certainty but yes, your ratings should be adjusted by January 1, 2022 . If not, it should not have an impact on your Superhost status.

 

Me: Sorry, just to clarify, when you say it should not have an impact on your Superhost status, do you mean that I will keep my Superhost status even if the stats do not update by 1st January?

Or, did you mean that the current rating (before the adjustment), which is 4.7, will be used for the assessment?

 

CS: Your Superhost status should not be affected by the current rating as it should be adjusted by the assessment period.

 

I let it drop at this point as my question, i.e. what happens if the rating is not updated in time for the assessment, wasn't being answered. I had been told by the previous rep that it can take up to five days to update, but the review was only removed three days before the assessment, which was why I was asking.

 

It did review in time, so I never found out if CS were able to change the assessment or if the answer would be "computer says no".

Peter1854
Level 2
Walnut Creek, CA

Thanks again for your input  🙂   I looked a Superhost evaluation again, this time on pc instead of smartphone.  I don't see where the number of reviews are required, but it does  mention them

on one of my properties,  I have not been getting any recent reviews, and not sure why,  I haven't requested them, perhaps that is part of issue ?

what I do see is the accepted reservations - I'm a 78% and  should be 88%  i think I would have been at 90+ % if  I didn't get requests to book for dates that I had blocked out prior to the the requests.  this has been an airbnb issue since i clearly blocked the dates and still, I got requests to book on those dates

 

Hi I am a potential guest. I love your one property but can a person with a walker get in - lip no higher than 1.5 inches. I hope I am not breaking a rule by asking.

@Gayle156  You aren't breaking any rules, but if you don't "tag" a poster here, they will never get a notification that you have asked them a question. 

 

If you click on the profile photo of a host here, that will lead you to their profile page, where you can see thumbnails of their listings, then click on the listing. 

 

Then, if you want to ask a host a question about booking with them, and the property's suitability for you, use the "Contact host" button in their listing to send them an Inquiry message.

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Peter1854  The number of reviews don't count towards Superhost, I just looked at the number of reviews you had to see how many bookings you might have had in the previous 365 days from the January assessment. But if all the guests didn't leave reviews,  then that's not an accurate way to assess how many bookings there were.

 

Declining lowers your Acceptance rate, but that rating doesn't factor into Superhost. 

 

I've read a few posts on this forum lately where hosts said they were  getting requests for unavailable dates. I don't know if that's a tech glitch, or what.

 

 

 

Peter1854
Level 2
Walnut Creek, CA

Thank you Sara and Huma for this information. very helpful

I  contacted CS to discuss, they acknowledge the  extension of Superhost evaluation extension to April 2022 Extension.

 

they also acknowledge that they have had many hosts complain about guests being able to request a reservation for blocked dates, they state they are aware of this and looking at this issue

 

I am waiting for CS to update me on my superhost status.  I will update here when I know more 

 

Best Regards,

Peter 

Peter1854
Level 2
Walnut Creek, CA

I just received response from Airbnb about my Superhost status.  I am no longer a Superhost

they said, sorry, I didn't attain it because my rating is  4.7 which is to low needs to be 4.8 out of 5

With respect to the Blocked date issue, that is I have blocked dates out on my calendar, but I still get a guest request to book for blocked date. I gave Airbnb 3 examples of this with details of by blocked dates.  Airbnb's response was sorry for inconvenience, you have the ability to block dates.  That's it !   IT leads me to believe that they don't care about this issue, so now it's my problem.

 

To me, I think the rating method is actually unfair and the bar to high.  The reason is that it is really based on guest reviews, guests have their own ideas of what is great, some think that a 4 is great and that no one can achieve a 5.  The low numbers i got were primarily for guest check in for Palm Springs. In Palm Springs, I am required to ID the guest, have them read the good neighbor brochure, then sign the PS Guest log, the rules are very limiting and many guests do not like this.  I believe that I am rated low on check in for this issue.    I'm told some hosts don't make guests read or  sign this, but they are not following the rules as laid out by Palm Springs. I don't see that as an option.

 

@Peter1854  This is why you shouldn't get hung up on caring about Superhost status. If it  were just based upon things that hosts had control over, like answering guest requests and messages in a timely fashion, not cancelling reservations, etc, then it would be an indication of an excellent, reliable host who guests could book with with confidence. 

 

But as long as the overall star rating is used as a criteria, which plenty of guests don't even understand in the first place ( the ones who said they had a great time, praised everything, then leave 4*s) or give hosts a low star rating because the host called them out for unaccceptable behavior or refused to kowtow to their unreasonable demands, then Superhost isn't an indication of being a great host at all. 

 

Airbnb pretends that our ratings are a direct reflection of whether we are good hosts, but in many cases, they aren't at all. 

Peter1854
Level 2
Walnut Creek, CA

Sara,

Thanks for your insights and professionalism.  I appreciate you comments and agree

The enclosed below is a copy of my reply to Airbnb regarding Superhost status :

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

I understand your position. I respectfully disagree with Airbnb on its determination.
the Fact is the grading system that you use depends on how a guest wants to rate me. Now, added to that, I have to deal with grading for things like declined reservations, I have had recent reservation requests that I had to decline because of flaws in your platform, which I provided specific proof of to Airbnb. I have no control of your system offering reservation dates that I blocked, the response received from Airbnb is just sorry for the inconvenience, I don't feel that is a complete response.
I only get qualified to be rated if I do all qualifier touch points virtually perfect, including things like declined reservations. Then I am graded solely on the guest rating system.
The fact is that guests have their own idea of what a grading system is. I have had guests that feel that a 4 is great and that no one can earn a 5.
Your platform continuously changes and moves in such a way that guests and hosts have less and less control or power. When you do offer something feeling like control, to be able to rate the other party, then the guest or host feels some sense of power and therefore compelled to exercise what little they have been given to their satisfaction.

It is your platform, you insure your ultimate control.
The public sees what is happening, that is why there is a move away from centralized, controlling platforms.
Smaller more agile, customer responsive, speciality sites are coming to the market to provide alternatives. I think this trend is important to understand and is something that Airbnb should address to remain competitive.

Please know I remain a professional full service host and manager, My goal is to provide the highest quality property and services available to everyone. I continue to be committed to world class hosting and upscale quality properties. I am no longer focused on Superhost status. At this point I see it as flawed, inaccurate and therefore substantially invalid.

Thank you for responding to my concerns and your communications with me.

Peter