Where can I see ratings?

Katie---Sean0
Level 10
Carlsbad, CA

Where can I see ratings?

When I leave a review for a guest, I'm asked to give star ratings to things, but I notice the star ratings don't seem to appear anywhere. Where can I see the star ratings a recent guest gave me? Thanks.

6 Replies 6
Ian-And-Anne-Marie0
Level 10
Kendal, United Kingdom

Hi @Katie---Sean0 , If you check out "Progress" in the App theres all sorts of imformation provided including individual guest remarks and star ratings.

Katie---Sean0
Level 10
Carlsbad, CA

Yep I just found the "Progress" tab after posting. I didn't realize I have 4.5 stars overall because just one guest gave me 4 stars for something instead of 5. Does this mean I can't be a superhost?

@Katie---Sean0  It depends on how many more bookings you get between now and the next assessment, which is April 1st, and whether they all leave 5* reviews so you can get the average back up. Or hopefully you'll get it by the next assessment after that, July 1st.

You say the guest gave you 4*s "for something". That's not how the star ratings work- the Overall isn't an average of the other ratings, like cleanliness, accuracy, etc. It's a category all it's own which the guest has to rate and it's the only one that they really count for Superhost. Of course, if you kept getting 3* ratings for cleanliness, Airbnb would probably start sending you threatening messages.

Guests have no idea that giving you a 4* overall rating can prevent you from acheiving Superhost or losing it if you already have it. Airbnb tells them that 4*s is good, then turns around and penalizes us for it. So guests giving 4 * ratings doesn't mean they weren't pleased with some aspect of their stay. 

If you want to make sure that guests will be inclined to 5*, you have to educate them as to how the rating system is applied to hosts. This doesn't mean asking for a 5* review, it means giving them the infomation and hoping they care enough. Some hosts have said they'd feel weird about doing this and never would, others of us have no problem with it and neither have our guests. In fact, many of my guests have thanked me for the info and wonder why Airbnb lies to them, leading them to believe giving 4*s is fine. Most nice guests really have no intention of damaging a host's ratings.

Read through this post- https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/How-can-we-Hosts-quot-educate-quot-Guests-about-how-the-... for some ideas.

Thanks so much for all the information Sarah. There's so much to learn about how Airbnb works and I'm discovering I'm learning a lot more from these community posts than Airbnb support!

 

The guest gave me 5 stars for everything except "communication" for which he gave me 4 stars. Just that one slightly lesser rating, and the fact I only have two reviews, bumped my overall star rating down to 4.5.

 

We're doing 30-day minimum stays, and I'm finding that guests stay 60 to 90 days, so building up our reviews will be a slow process. Now that I understand the impact of the ratings more clearly, I have no qualms about politely educating guests as to the impact of their review and star ratings.

 

I've actually been taking care of online reputation management and dealing with bad reviews for 6 of my clients for the last few years. So I'm well-versed in how to deal with and respond to bad reviews and ratings. But I've never been on the receiving end until now. In the last few days I've really understood more clearly why my clients get so upset when people trash their restaurants so glibly, after they've busted their buns trying to please customers.

Ben551
Level 10
Wellington, New Zealand

@Katie---Sean0

 

If your overall rating has been affected it means that your guest gave you 4 stars for communication AND they entered 4 stars overall. As @Sarah977 said, it’s not an automated roll up. Guests can give you 4 stars in each sub category, then 5 stars overall. It sounds like your guest felt so strongly about that communication that they chose to deduct a star from your overall rating!

 

Definitely something to work on re: guest education, especially if you have long bookings.

Good to know thanks for explaining. I looked at the ratings he gave me in the "progress" tab and you're right, he gave me 4 overall.

 

He was a very difficult guest. In 28 years of being a landlord I've never encountered anyone quite like him. Although seemingly super-friendly on the surface, there was this passive-aggressive undercurrent. From almost the day he arrived he dangled the review over my head like a carrot. He'd say "I'd never leave you a bad review but somebody might, so I just wanted to let you know about [insert latest complaint]"

 

And there were so many complaints. I have no problem with complaints, I'll fall over myself to fix anything with a smile, and I did. Even though some of the complaints were about the most ridiculous things, I was always friendly and quick to address his every need.

 

Then after he left I found a ton of damages -- long deep scratches in the top of a new glass coffee table, a 2 foot gouge in a wall so deep it went through the drywall, hundreds of deep scratches on a marble top dining table, and end table broken because it was used as a step stool, a chest of drawers broken because it was dragged across the floor, and a big chunk taken out of a kitchen cabinet frame.  I think that's all of it lol!

 

I opened a damages claim, so he sent me a scathing Airbnb message saying it was all "normal wear and tear", and made clear he'd leave me a bad review if I didn't close the claim. It was carefully worded in such a way so as to not violate the Airbnb Extortion Policy. I know because I tried to get Airbnb's help, but I was on my own. 

 

So I closed the claim, and literally begged him to leave me a good review. He said he would, and he did, except for the 4 stars and a snotty private message saying I had "unrealistic expections" and I had texted him daily. I didn't text him daily! I only responded quickly and thoroughly to his many complaints and issues, and asked if he'd like the cleaner to clean his place. 

 

It's been a really horrible, upsetting experience, but I consider myself lucky to have got out of it with still getting a good review. I learned a lot and will be much more aware in future about various things. I know our Airbnb's are gorgeous, done to a very high standard, and we're extremely good hosts. We just got one of "those" guests, and I'm probably lucky I got that experience out of the way early on, to learn from.