No wonder guests don't leave reviews

[Carol354]

We have had a rash of guests either give us 4★ overall or not leave a review. Our review percentage is now down to 80%. I hadn't bothered checking my progress for a while but I think I had roughly 90% of my guests leave me reviews previously. My husband always asks our guests to review - his wording is "it helps us & it helps you."

After being guests ourselves on a NZ holiday I think I know the reason for the change.

We stayed at four different Airbnbs, each for one night only.

Here is what came up when it was time to write my reviews..

"How was stay?"

Stars now have an explanation - & 4★ "good" will look good to most guests. No explanation that aything under 5★ will hurt a host.

Next "was anything extra special" this is where the "sparking clean" & "extra touches" comes from on our listing page. These are little emoticons - checking them the work of a minute.

Next is where it gets a bit loaded. "How did stay at ****'s compare with your expectations." The final one technically met my expectations as this is a very well known Airbnb but surely that isn't as good as "exceeded my expectations." so I checked thatinstead.

"Then private note."

Then individual star ratings (this is a long way from the overall rating)

The first 2 Airbnbs had "tell us more about ****'s place which was a 3 page (!) optional checklist of what was offered at each Airbnb.

Then finally the most important thing - the review.

The final 2 Airbnbs had the checklist afterwards. I didn't bother filling out for them. I'm on holiday after all.

Then an offer to get $30 off next trip.

Airbnb, this may be fine for guests that are just going to one place but not for travellers using muliple Airbnbs. I was actually relieved when I used other accommodation options, so I didn't have to go through all this!

[Eric670]

I might be an idiot host, but I can't find how to review a guest looking at the Airbnb website. I've looked at thousands of websites, but for people that are situated in California, probably close to the smartest programmers in the world, their website sucks big time. How do you leave a guest review?

[Carol354]

Hi Eric

Airbnb sends me an email reminding me to do a review & another email when the guest does the review.

[Hattie4]

Thanks for posting to the community for discussion Carol. I too had a slew of 4 star ratings, and less reviews over the last couple of months.    Ratings that were 4 stars were given in the context of something like 'Nice place, but the location doesn't really suit my particular needs'.  We can't change our location, but it absolutely needs to be accurately described.

Rob, your page to include for guests to read is really helpful. I simply made a screen shot of your table and pasted it into a word document.   That's a great comparison table of what the rating really means, and I agree that most guests believe they are being helpful to a host by giving a 3 or a 4 review with their honest recommendations.  

I hope that with this nicely written paper for guests to read, guests will consider giving any specific, personal recommendations directly to the host, which of course is always weclome!

[Yolanda8]

No, No; we're all missing the point here..... -look at the Chinese experiment; "Social Credit Scoring"..... it's being done everywhere; how others judge U is now Ur new "Score".... no matter how falsly....

-watch what will happen ... -eventually whether Ur allowed to travel, to obtain communication & travel services, buy goods & services; will all depend on U individual "Social Credit Score"; how others judge U....

-this all started with Social Media; but the end purpose is far more Nefarious than any of us can yet imagine.....

-this might all sound like a "Conspiracy Theory".... -but if U google this; Ull learn the truth; large communities in China have already instituted this practice & withdrawn all "cash" from the system; in these places; ppl with a low "Social Credit Score" are resigned to staying in their homes alone while others avoid them; not allowed to use mobiles, not allowed to travel, difficulty obtaining food......  -it's coming !!

[Rebecca181]

For years hosts have been asking for the review system to be revised so that is more fair (and less harmful) to hosts and less 'guest-centric in nature. Finally, they revise it: We must now be reviewed by 50% of our guests to maintain our Super Host status. AND, Airbnb creates a review template that rivals Tolstoy's 'War and Peace', resulting in guests balking at having to be put through such a tedious process whilst on vacation. 

Thank you, Airbnb!