Location review

[Sotiria6]

I received a 4 star review which said “good location for our planned trip.”

The guest then left a 3 stars on location and wrote no privacy when the flat is part of a block of flats and is locked and private so makes no sense really. 

Also the address is fully mentioned so you can’t really say that it was claimed that it was city centre ! 
I wanted to message customer care and express my dissatisfaction about the inaccuracy.

Any suggestions? 

[Lorina14]

@Sotiria6 

It’s always disappointing when someone doesn’t rate us as highly as we would like. The thing with reviews is it is a personal opinion and perhaps they thought you were more central than they realized. They should be able to know the approximate location prior and chose your place for convenience, amenities and price. Airbnb will not remove a review if it is abiding by their terms and conditions (no discrimination, defamation, etc) so your best bet is to respond to the guest’s review with a comment such as, “Thank you for your review. We are sorry that you felt our place was not as central as you would have liked. We do mention it is best to have a car to get around the city and there is public transportation x miles or x minutes from the space). I am confused about comment about the lack of privacy (only mention this if it wasn’t a private note) as our listing clearly states it is in a neighborhood with surrounding flats. If you were looking for a space with a balcony/patio with no neighbors then you would have needed to book a different location perhaps more in the suburbs. We are happy to take any feedback to improve our listing and will be sure to add more details about location to the city center and local attractions into our listing. Thank you again for staying with us.”

I had a guest a while back comment that our place was a perfect location for them but not central. I didn’t state in my write up that it was central. I said we were convenient to x town and x town and named businesses or places of interest. After that review I clarified in the listing the distance in miles and minutes for driving and walking for common attractions and said that it is best to have a car to get around in our city. I also took a look at where the guest came from and concluded they lived in a city where they could walk to everything so that is their reference point. A similar comment about location came from  someone else who lived in a city. I state in my listing that we are located in a quiet suburb convenient to x town and x town so then it’s just a matter of opinion. 

Please be sure to mention in the response to their comment about the location. It’s also good to respond to many reviews and not just the bad ones so it doesn’t highlight that you respond only to bad reviews. 

Hopefully the clearer you are in your description, the better you can manage your guest’s expectations and have better reviews overall.

[Sotiria6]

Thank you so much for writing this 🙂 I so much appreciate it 🙂 

it’s just that on her headline she says “good location for our planned trip “ yet contradicts herself by rating location 3! 
Do you think saying : 

“I am confused how you say that it was good location for your planned trip yet on the rating you are rating it 3 ? “ on a private message  

thank you so so much ! Really appreciate it ! 

[Joelle43]

Hello @Sotiria6 

I understand your frustration believe me!  I have had the same issue...

I  had to understand why I had received a 3* on location when the guest had given me a 5* overall (more importantly) so I wrote to them via the Airbnb message system saying that I was dismayed by the 3* evaluation on location and asking them if maybe I hadn't been clear enough in the description of my listing that we are 10 minutes by foot from the city center and that I would be grateful if they could provide me with any feedback so that I could improve my listing.

Their reply was instant and they were shocked to learn that they had put a 3* because they wanted to put a 5*!!  They tried changing it by contacting Airbnb and explained their mistake but they weren't able to change it😡  It takes a lot of 5* to bring up the score even by .1 so very frustrating but it is what it is as some might say😉

All the best

Joëlle

[Sotiria6]

Thank you so so much for your response 🙂 really appreciate it 🙂 

Thank you 🙂 

[Lorina14]

@Sotiria6 

Yes you can private message them to ask if there was a mistake in the 3* rating on location or if there is anything you can do to improve your listing. I’ve read here on the boards if they contact customer support and report the error as well as you do too, the review could be corrected.

[Sotiria6]

thank you so much Lorina 🙂 very much appreciated !thank you 🙂

[Joelle43]

Hello @Lorina14 

I' m not sure if you have see  my earlier message to @Sotiria6 in which I explained what customer service said to my guest who had mistakenly put in the wrong star evaluation?  Their answer was no way.  The only thing they are prepared to do is to withdraw the guest review at their request but in no way did they allow my guest to amend it once both of our reviews had been posted on line.

I experienced another frustrating moment with CS with an appalling translation of a wonderful review left in German but when translated into French said the exact opposite of what they had said in German.  Again, I was given the choice of removing this 5* overall review of to leave it as it is.

I wouldn't want to get @Sotiria6 hopes up but this is my experience.  @Sotiria6 if you manage to get it changed by some miracle, please let us all know!!

[Lorina14]

@Joelle43 

Hi, I am just letting her know that it has happened in some cases. I am not giving false information as I participate and read the boards here so if you want to go through the threads there were some cases that it has happened. I don’t know if it is a case by case or if they don’t do that anymore. It could be they changed their policies a while back or it was a fluke that those people who mentioned it had it changed. Nonetheless she can register her complaint with customer service and have the guest explain the error. It may help to ask for a manager’s assistance in this case.

[Sotiria6]

thank you so much I just messaged the guest !it may as well just be that she thought it should be central London when it clearly said it is not and she knew her event was not in central London !I have though put it in the listing that it is not central and to check the postcode in the past - i HIGHLIGHTED THIS NOW ! and highlighted again that it is a flat inside a BLOCK OF FLATS haha hopefully it works:)

THANK YOU SO MUCH for the help  both !very much appreciated ! @Lorina14 @Joelle43 

[Lorina14]

@Sotiria6 

Glad to hear you’ve updated your listing and highlighted those things so future guests are well aware. We can’t however correct for those who don’t fully read the listing though….

You can always message the guest afterwards but many times they just don’t read the messages after their stay or choose not to respond. If someone gives me a 5* overall and a lower number in a subcategory then it’s disappointing but they are entitled to their opinion. I’ve been told some people can never give a perfect review or rate highly in all categories. There was a thread a few weeks ago that a Danish person said they never give 5 stars and some guests on other threads have said the same. 

The best thing you can do is update your listing for clarity, ask for feedback privately, and respond publicly to any written reviews about your space.

Most guests will read the reviews and know the overall feel of your listing and overlook a lower subcategory score or rating. What is more important is how you respond to the suggestions or feedback and stating that your listing said it was nearby and a 10 min walk to the city center so you’re convenient but not in the busyness of the city. 

[Sotiria6]

Thank you so much for saying this 🙂 it is so very true that some people in general won't leave 5 star reviews in everything not just airbnb and there is nothing I can do to change the world really 🙂 just because I always leave great reviews on all the lovely things I see does not mean other people are satisfied and will value that we put our heart and soul in hosting 🙂

Many thanks again- I feel way more positive again and have taken all your recommendations on board!Thank you so much:)