Have had a perfect 5* rating until now, got a 4*, will I ever get back to being a 5* star?

[Mariana313]

I´ve hosted all perfect 5 stars (about 12), until now, a super good review (go figure) gave me a 4*. Now i´m 4.9*

Will it ever be possible to go back to 5*?

Is 99.9% 5*- 0.1% 4 stars still count as 4*?

Will I be inperfect forever? haha...

How does this work?

[Robin4]

@Diane338

Sorry about the delay in responding, I am kichen coordinator for local branch of Meals on Wheels and duties there call me away every now and then!

Hey, I am not critcising you Diane, we learn all these things as we go along. I was a full on 'greenhorn' when I started here two years ago, took me a year to host my first 14 guests, now I consistently host 8-10 per month. This Community Centre saved me from many disasters, I am sure! There are a lot of contributors who got me going on the right track, some have moved on, some are still here, and I am so greatfull to them.

At times we make comments that might seem patronising or a bit unkind but, they are offered to help make newer hosts succesful. 

I understand fully how much that review must hurt you Diane and, there is no doubt, some guests are just plain unreasonable. I guess I am fortunate to have not come across one like that, I have never had anything less than a 4 star overall and I only ever got 1 category rating of 3, and that was for 'Value' of all things and when you see what I offer, that 3 says more about the guest than it says about me!

What I want to say Diane, this review will disappear in time, look at all your others......"This house is great value. Absolutely everything you need was provided and the check in process was easy. Definitely recommend staying here"....you can't buy reviews like that! Concentrate on the potentially great host that you are, every now and then one of these may come along, but look at it this way Diane...we are not fools and when we see a great lot of reviews like the rest that you have, and which you will build on, it makes this guest look a bit like that soldier in the Anzac Day march....he was the only one in step!

There is an old saying...'You can please some of the people some of the time, but you can't please everybody all the time'!

Take what ever hints you are offered, by that great guest of yours and from here and anywhere else and don't let one 'stinker' get you down!

We are all behind you.

Cheers.....Rob

[Diane338]

Hi Rob,

No I did not feel at all like you were critizing and I have taken all that you have said on board with grace. 

I did follow up with admin in regard to Barbara's review.  I guess what I am trying to point out here is that nowhere on my listing did I show that there were electric blankets on the beds.  It tells me that Barbara did not read my listing nor did she enquire, she just assumed that I would know exactly what her needs where.  No phone call, no email no nothing. As far as the heating goes, a simple push button operation easier than the TV remote!

I did read all her host reviews and was comfortable that the property would meet her needs, it also showed that she communicated well, so what went wrong for me she must have been having a bad week and I coped the brunt of that.

Air BNB will not support a listing in anyway if a guest wants to complain about what you don't have or what you should be doing.  No Host is exempt from a bad review.

Having said that I now have a new policy.  I will take my listing off instant book.  The last two instant books I have had (in the last month) have resulted in more drama than the booking is worth. 

I man whom I believed was a professional here for work, booked for himself only.  Again no communication and I wasn't feeling good about the reservation.  I prepared a room, followed up with instructions for the lockbox.  Next thing I get a message, hey, there is three of us here now how do we get into the other bedrooms?!  His intention was to pay for himself and shout his mates to party in my home.  I had the reservation cancelled because of his demands and his dishonesty.  I actually felt unsafe and would not enter the house while he was in there.  I have to write a review for this person which I am very reluctant to do.  

The other thing that I will do is before accepting any further reservations, will thoughly check the reviews of my pending guest.  Make sure I get the answers to my questions and not book people in just because AIR bnb thinks that I should.  I will be taking more control of my listing.

I have also followed up with my up and coming reservations and asked them to revisit the listing and please ask any questions prior to their arrival.  I have always done this however I will then send a message to confirm with them that "it seems that they are happy with the amenities" prior to coming.

As far as the electric blankets go, sorry to say not in my house!  I walk in to find all lights are one, heaters going, outside lights on,   I could just imagine my beds cooking and I don't need that stress.  

Kind regards

Diane

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[Mariana313]

I think you can't trust there will be no guest who will go crazy (or even mess up in the rewiew system), but at least they should give us a chance to gain back our hard worked status... 4.96* or 4.97*  should definetly round up and show as a 5*, that way we as hosts will make an effort to go back... 

Should we start checking not only is it a good guest, but also how does he rate their hosts before we aprove someone?? (maybe we should!)

[Maria568]

Yes , this is our only weapon check our guests ... I will reverse my instant booking too. They are some crazy people upthere and we pay the consequences .. rounding up to 5* is also a great idea Mariana .. is frankly ridiculous to have 4.96 * ...

[Amanda612]

Hello all,

I also recently incurred a negative situation with my rating review, on my profile which is some thing to think about.

I have locks on bedroom my bedroom doors, to prevent guests not paying for extra guests.

I do this because I have a very cheap nightly rate, so that I can cater to a larger market, being couples or large groups of 8.

I have  on my listing under things guests should know and under house rules, to please enter correct amount of people at time of booking as bedrooms not occupied will be locked.

I aim to have a large turnover of guests.

If I have to change linen and clean for guests not paid, it is not really worth it, especially when paying a cleaner.

Recently a lady stayed for a week and booked for 1 person.

She gave me a 4 star rating for accuracy  but overall 5 star rating.

Because she did not read the clearly stated information on my profile about extra guests she gave me 4 stars and I have clear evidence of this.

She marked me 4 stars for points being accuracy, which I find not fair as she did not read the information correctly.

I also had a similar situation with another guest in regards to wifi.

Now smack bang on the front of my profile it says 95% of guests gave 5 stars for accuracy.

Please take a moment to think about the big picture, if we keep getting guests giving negative ratings based on false information, we could end up potentially having a really bad profile, where we do not get many bookings I pull out and you then make no money.

(I wonder what the statistics could be)

Now not only that, look at all the hours AIR Bnb pay staff to have to respond to these queries from guests about negative reviews (I wonder how much money gets spent on that)

I have a suggestion why don’t you remove,  the data off the front profile page of things like 95% of guests gave a 5 star rating. 

I rang air Bnb the case manager said please forward onto our developers, as we can not do this and it needs to be changed so that we have access to it.

I also find this hard to believe and feel like I was hand balled, and that maybe they can change it but couldn’t be bothered.

But if that was not the case, then the case managers idea, is a great idea, also if you have a strict policy in place for review systems, where you need evidence from the guest doing the wrong thing, like my experience that would fix many problems. 

In my situation it is very clear in black and white.

Hosts then understand that and can prevent questions being asked to air Bnb.

I have the information on my profile and the comments the guest made based on not reading the information at all. End of story.

The other thing is why don’t you remove star ratings all together,

Or just from public review.

Just have reviews on the guest profile and private feedback to guests, this would save much time for air Bnb and frustration for hosts.

The other issue is the formula air Bnb are using to write these startistics is not quite right, it’s technically false information.

Because I have had over 30, 5 stars 

And 1 maybe 2- 4 stars, the math is not correct to say 95%.

It should be something like 99.7 etc 

This really should be fixed but just a suggestion.

If all hosts bring this up to air Bnb it might help to make a movement for a improvement for every body including Air Bnb 

[Clara116]

@Amanda612 Hey, I'm just reading your post and I apologize Im short on time. Just wanted to say...I was curious and pulled up both of the listings and they are totally beautiful. BUT.....I wouldn not stay in either for one reason..............NO CARBON MONOXIDE DETECTORS and both have gas stoves. Sorry, but recently folks have died in Airbnb's in Mexico and in the north and that would have been such an easy fix. So I personally travel alot and would never stay in a place without one. The percentages are not posted and only wonderful reviews and so don't worry about that as they are taking a small group of the last 9-12 guest and saying "the last 9 people said this place was sparkling clean".....

And just one other thing that popped out Amanda is that you don't seem to respond on your guest review UNLESS it is negative and it is posted in GREY and very glaring and eye catching. I respond to all reviews even just thanks and come again or something and so NOTHING sticks out. Just a thought you might want to consider. Wish you all the best. These listings are truly gorgeous and seems prices are way way cheap..... but, surely you know how it goes. happy hosting, Clara in Florida

[Sarah977]

@Clara116  This hysteria about carbon monoxide detectors needs to be put in context. I also have a gas stove, as well as a gas water heater. The gas water heater is outside, there is zero way any carbon monoxide buildup could occur. My gas stove, of course, is in the kitchen, but all my doors and windows are ALWAYS open when I am home, and although, of course, I close and lock the door when I go out, the windows, of which there are many,  all have security bars, and are ALWAYS open. So again, zero possibility of carbon monoxide build-up. And the guest room is actually in a separate part of the house, not connected to the kitchen at all.

So no, I don't have carbon monoxide detectors, because they would be pointless. And I actually explain this to guests in my listing info.

The family that died from carbon monoxide poisoning were staying in a condo unit which had AC, so the windows stay closed- in those situations, of course there should be detectors. 

[Clara116]

@Sarah977 well, its not hysteria - its more caution - cause stuff happens. And what I'm referring to is NOT a build up that I am talking about  but rather when there is an invisible leak in the line or from equipment failure. A possible break in the line, stuff we can't and would not know even is happening - faulty equipment does happen, and that's what I'm referring to.  Airbnb now writes in an obvious way those that don't have a CO detector so it is pointed out. So its another distraction  that could keep folks away. Just my thoughts on it  - everyone gets to pick.

[Sarah977]

@Clara116  You don't understand what a CO detector does. It does not detect gas leaks in the lines. Gas leaks don't produce CO. It's improper combustion of the gas that produces carbon monoxide and if it's an enclosed space there can be enough build up of those gases to pose a danger.

Carbon monoxide gases are odorless, which is one reason they are so dangerous. There is a substance added to gas which makes it smell, for the purpose of being able to smell a gas leak. 

That's what I mean about hysteria. People don't even understand what a CO detector does or how that gas is produced, yet assume that it's needed.

[Simon3392]

Airbnb could fix this very simply, by not allowing hosts with no smoke detectors or Carbon Monoxide detectors where cooking or heating with gas is involved. They cost nothing. 

Even better Airbnb just supply them. They save lives. 

[Alice595]

@Mariana313 Every host will have that moment when a perfect 5 becomes 4.9. At the moment, I felt the same. But the world is not perfect. So never expect perfection. Don't be discouraged as long as we have done the best we can.

[Mariana313]

You're right! I now have come to terms with my 4.9, it's kind of a relief actually, don't be disincouraged 🙂

[Susan1028]

This points (yet again) to the unclear ratings system and unjust weighting of reviews and penalties (especially in searches) against hosts by airbnb.

It's not OK, and this and other very acute issues are sending many hosts to other listing platforms, even though they dont allow any guest reviews by hosts.  Another area of review grief is the "location" category.  I recently received another 4 star for that, even though I provide super clear written, detailed and numbered directions and guided the most recent 4-star review guest in by text when they did not read them!  Comment: "hard to find"  amidst gushes about how "special" and "awesome" I am for preparing a special welcome for what they were celebrating...

Now to figure out how I can pick and move the land and buildings without losing the "quiet and secluded" ambience the guest wants...

This is our business.  We are not limited in regards to where we list.

[Caleb-And-Tanja0]

The upside is that you are the only one who can see the 4.9

[Mariana313]

You’re right! And also, as an update, it has been liberating to se a 4.9. Now I don’t live in fear, hahaha...