Unjustified 3 Star Rating

Esther13
Level 6
Doylestown, PA

Unjustified 3 Star Rating

I recently received a 3 star rating with 4s and 5s in the sub categories.   The guest had no issues with the accommodations. The entire review was "Thank you".  This should not be possible.  Yet, it is and Airbnb refuses to remove the review even though it makes no sense and serves no value. Both my super host status and my listing are in jeopardy.  I am now left to stereotype this guest to avoid future re-occurrences. Any booking requests from a guest with this profile will be informed that I have been experiencing problems with guests fitting their profile.  They will be asked directly if they will be engaging in this behavior.  If I do not get the assurances I require, they will be declined.  I am venting here because Airbnb makes such self destructive decisions.  It makes no sense that a guest can destroy a host and/or their listing without justification due to nothing more than ignorance on understanding of how the rating system is used against a host.  It is easy to program a check in the rating system to prevent people from giving a low overall rating with high ratings on sub categories.  Hopefully, while we are waiting for that to happen, a competitor will arrive on the market.  One can only hope and pray.

36 Replies 36
Emilia42
Level 10
Orono, ME

@Esther13  Apparently such a "check" does exist, It just obviously isn't working as we would like.

 

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Airbnb-Updates/Making-reviews-more-fair-for-hosts/td-p/958608 

 

 

Your guest, Roland, will never see your response. Unfortunately, other potential guests reading your reviews will. I would call Airbnb and ask him to remove your response. That will hurt your listing more than the 3 star review.

Emilia, that check is not sufficient.  It is a suggestion.  The check should prevent an overall rating lower than any sub category.  It should require that the guest "justify"  such a rating.  If it isn't reasonable, it shouldn't be allowed.  In this scenario, the over all rating is a lie.  The lie should not be accepted if it can't be backed up.  There is no excuse for the lack of push back on the part of airbnb.  What purpose is served if a guest says their experience was not so great but doesn't let anyone know why?  Can the next guest benefit from this and make a more informed decision?  Can the host improve an unknown defect?  The only thing that will happen is that future guests will see the low star rating and assume that something is horribly wrong; so bad the person couldn't even mention it in the review. So they pass over your place; why take the chance.

 

 

Future guests will not see the low star rating. No one would have known that this guest gave you a 3 star except that YOU told everyone in your rely. Why would I pass over you place with a simple review that says "Thank you." That looks like a good review to me. However, I would pass over your place after reading your entitled reply and for fear for being "profiled."

You are lucky. A guest could rip your home apart in their written review but still give you a 5 star. THEN a guest would pass over your place.

My place will be passed over because the overall star rating is low.  It is the first thing people see. At least if someone rips your place apart, the next guest can decide if such criticism is something relevant to them. I want everyone to know that a particular guest gave a 3 star while having no complaints.  That is intentional.  And I want to be passed over by those who fear my profiling.  How else do I get around too many declines?

Linda108
Level 10
La Quinta, CA

@Esther13   You have 6 listings and over 280 reviews so a 3 star is not going to have much impact, certainly less than your reply to Mr. Thank You.  However, I gather you are trying to make points about the review system that have been made multiple times on the forum so you have many who agree with you.

 

Now I have a single listing and less than 100 reviews total.  I have maintained a similar level of business no matter whether there is 3 rating or 4 rating or 5 rating.  What makes a difference is that my guests frequently take time to elaborate positively in their reviews and potential guests are impressed, so they tell me.  My point is I am focussed on the quality of my hosting, something I can control, not the "quality" of the guest in terms what I think they might rate me in a review.  Waste of time IMO and that takes away from my enjoyment of this business.

So very well put @Linda108 

Linda, you are comparing apples to oranges.  Its not the rating; it is the dishonesty; its the abuse; its the game playing. My goal is not to get glowing, detailed reviews.  My goal is not to get all the business I can.  My goal is to provide quality accommodations to quality guests. When guests game and abuse the system at my expense, I become determined to stop it from happening to me.  I am not going to shrug it off.  I am going to learn how to prevent it from happening  again.  Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me. 

Paul154
Level 10
Seattle, WA

@Esther13 

Yes, guests are unfair and we all understand your disappointment. We also understand why your wrote the PUBLIC denouncement of your guest.

Now...

Ask Airbnb to remove your response to Guest's review. Your response does NOT accomplish what you want. 

1. It accentuates that you got a 3 star review.

2. It accentuates that you would rather attack a guest for leaving their opinion, rather thatn choose to be professional and let it go.

3. It publically shows that "Thank you" isn't good enough for you.  Prospective guests will wonder "What? Was host expecting a testimonial dinner?"

Alon1
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

 
 re: 'We also understand why your wrote the PUBLIC denouncement of your guest.'
 
I must confess my comprehension stops short of Esther's final comment in Response:  
 ' I will be mindful of this experience before accepting anyone with a profile similar to yours.'  
 
- Guest's profile solely states: 'Tall, bald - look young for my age ' 
 
Consequently, it seems we can only adduce Esther will avoid tall, bald young looking men.
Mystifying....
 
 
Last week I received this Review from a young Chinese lady:
 
  Alon is a great host. He is very accommodating and communicates well. His home is two minutes from the tube and other places like a park and grocery stores and restaurants. We enjoyed staying at his Airbnb and talking with him and the other guests.
 
Consequently, it was most surprising to find the Review accompanied by a 3 Star 'Overall Experience'. More so given 4 stars for all 6 categories, except 3 Stars for Value.
 
I was left to reflect twofold:
 
a) Not even acknowledged good communication could elicit a 5 Stars for this category.

 

b) This guest's first visit to London transpired as a one week shopping expedition. She works in finance and is plainly a materialist. We had nothing in common and I found her dull, but a perfectly fine guest.
 
What Response could I possibly leave?
  It crossed my mind to mention that in context of her Review I found her Ratings perplexing, and that it ended a sequence of 27 x 5 stars Reviews for this listing.
 
But what purpose would it serve? 
Cindi0
Level 7
Bowen Island, Canada

I agree with the above comments. As hosts. we must take the high road. A guest can say things that offend us, and we can only say, 'thank you for your feedback; I'm sorry this was your experience and the home did not meet your expectations". Or whatever... I have been livid with a couple reviews. Fortunately, one of them was more the private review rather than the public one (I have cats, she complained there was cat hair. Of course there's cat hair! Even after lint rolling and vacuuming. If this is not acceptable, don't book a home with cats).  As a user of Airbnb for travel, I read the reviews and if I saw a host respond with indignation or worse, I would not book it. I recently gave a friend, a host, some feedback on her response to a review, and she had it removed.  Remember the wise words of Michelle O: when they go low, we go high. 

I am not livid with the review.  I am not offended by the comment.  I am livid and offended that airbnb lets guests abuse and game the system in the process of a "review". If airbnb had done the right thing in either preventing this from happening or removing a useless review, I would not have to take matters into my own hands.  You think it is fine to say "thank you for letting me take advantage of you" and you would not stay at my place because I pushed back.  Perfect!  That is exactly what I want! Airbnb's standards work for their benefit.  My standards and pushing back get me the results I want and that is what it is all about for this host.

 

By the way, Michelle O also said "This is the first time in my adult life that I am proud to be an American."  I stopped listening after that.

I am mystified by the "game" this guest has played and how he has "destroyed" you as a host.  Perhaps I do not have the full picture of what this guest did to cause your ire other than give you a rating of 3.  @Esther13 

 

Also confusing is that you deny you are "livid" with the guest and blame Air BNB for allowing the review to stand.  Other than remove a review that states "Thank you" are you looking for Air BNB to consider outlier reviews to not count in the host summary.  If so, I believe there is some discussion about doing just that but I don't think it has been implement as yet.  

 

As I stated before, you are not alone in your concerns about the review system however it appears that many host do not agree with your plan to "profile" guests.  But bottom line is that it is your business so your rules 😄

You just have to learn to not care about hanging onto Superhost. I run a single apartment than can be booked as a whole or as two seperate rooms and I get uneven ratings between the two rooms despite the conditions being the same. Go figure.

Alice595
Level 10
Concord, CA

@Jessica384  Statistically the ratings of your two rooms are not significantly different from each other.  One room has 11 reviews while the other one has 10 review. For such a small number of reviews, one 4 star in one room will cause the difference between the two rooms.

 

@Esther13 Indeed for Airbnb hosts, there are only two ratings: 5 and non-5. 1 through 3 are used by some guests to retaliate their hosts. 

Irina145
Level 2
Trubschachen, Switzerland

Dear Airbnb.
Please change evaluation criteria!
There are many ways to make a review properly and erlich and thus avoid false information. Add details or photos for negative reviews, so that hosts have a chance to defend themselves.
regards
Irina