Rating System - suggested improvements

[Stacey69]

I get the concept of Airbnb's rating system.   I like the fact that we can publicly reply and rate our guests as well.  However, I think that the owners are at an unfair advantage as it's not clear to guests that anything less than a 5 star review is actually a negative review.  If you are going to use that much weight on the ratings, the questions need to be a lot more clear.  Plus the questions should make them consider the price they paid, the accuracy of the actual listing, the location that they agreed to stay in.  I’ve gotten negative reviews on the “accuracy” of my listing due to small maintenance issues (i.e. the air conditioner was making a loud noise — that doesn’t mean that I lied on my listing!  That just means that they need to contact me, so I can get it fixed.  Something that worked yesterday may not work tomorrow - that’s life, but I do the best I can to fix any issue as quickly as possible - clearly guests don't understand this question).  Or I’ve gotten less than 5 stars because of the location or because the building is older (which was clearly explained in the listing and obviously reflected in the price — so it’s completely inaccurate for them to rate me less because of it). 

Suggestion to Airbnb:  clearer questions and examples on how to rate and answer.  Be more clear that this is NOT your typical 5 star hotel rating system.  Some of my older listings are comparable to a 3-star hotel.  They are updated and in a nice neighborhood, and I do a great job as a host -but the building and public spaces are older.  The location is a little further from the main areas in town.  I’d give it a 3 star if I'm rating the property itself.  But I also price it as a 3-star stay.  So - on Airbnb's scale it should deserve a 5 star rating from each and every guest!

This is the issue:  Airbnb guests see the ratings as an analogue to the hotel industry, where one star is your typcial flea bag motel, 3 stars is OK, 4 stars is a very fine experience, and 5-star ratings are for the most over-the-top luxurious experiences with 5-star ameneties. 

One more thing:  I've noticed that the most critical reviews are from those that get the best deals via "price tips" and "special offers" -- I'm really starting to second guess the value of those price tips or the quality of renters they attract. 

Suggestion:  Make guests rating public from their profile!  Give the owners a chance to check a guests' history of ratings so we can see if they are this type of guest who complains about silly things.  Most owners are going to give their guests good reviews, so those are pretty worthless in my eyes - especially if they were quiet during their stay.  The true test is how they rate their hosts!  I would love to see how many of the people who were hard on me were equally hard on every place they've stayed. Some people just like to complain!

[José70]

This is not the hotel industry and "location" is much more subjective then views and beaches. Let's say you book a room 2 min away walking from some place you need to go. Great,right? So...location was perfect for you,right? So... 5 stars! Now, let's say that you book a house 5 minutes away from the historical downtown you are dying to see. Only problem is... the house in on the top of a hill,so you always need to climb to get back. Great,but not so great? Ok...then... 4 stars! The ratings don't reflect luxury, but expectations. Only way to deal with that is having a complete and accurate description of your listing, so that guests know what to expect. Hotels are not 4 or 5 stars because of guests reviews, they have to follow certain rules by a range of authorities to be classified as such.Airbnb stars are something completely diferent. Is the rating system perfect? Far from it! But when people start rating airbnb listings using the same value criteria as if you were rating a hotel room... it's just wrong.Wish you all the best! 🙂

[Gloria5]

I agree 100% with your post. My prices are the lowest in my area, yet I get my listings blocked by airbnb for low ratings. Currently I have a listing blocked and the rating is 4.4.  For example, low rating for "location" because I'm not near the beach, no where in my listing does it say that I'm near the beach and you have a map you can view before booking.  I recommend that airbnb places different categories on the filter for example "Luxury", "Comfort" "Basic" and host can use these categories to let their guests have a notion on what they are booking. Luxury will include hand made soaps, 3000 thread cotton sheets and breakfast in bed. Comfort - you get cable TV, cotton sheets, juice and toast prepared by the guest. Basic you get clean sheets, towels and a bar of soap. People have too many preconceived notions on what a 5 star place should be and its unrealistic to expect 5 star accomdations when you are paying $30 bucks a night. 

[Alan195]

I agree with Stacey 'anything less than a 5 star review is actually a negative review' and that definately should NOT be the case!

But I do believe the guests are rated as well - cannot the hosts see this rating and check before accepting? (I do not host, I am a guest only)

[John784]

Agreed: Airbnb's rating system kinda sucks. Bad.

As a HOST: Every time I sign onto my dashboard I'm greeted with the warning that "You’re at risk - Your account could be suspended if you don’t focus on improving to meet Airbnb hosting standards."

I know of no other realWorld system in which a score of 4.5-out-of-5.0 (i.e. "90% positive") is the cutoff point for threatening someone with suspension. Do you?

Clearly:

* airbnb's rating system is a mystery to all of us
* airbnb claims that they have "hosting standards", but nowhere are they defined in terms of the rating system on which they're supposedly based, so ...
* those who do the rating don't know to determine the value or implications of your 1-2-3-4-5 rating

As Stacey correctly points out, most of us in the realWorld reasonably assume that a 4-star rating is 'pretty darned good'. Only in airbnb's fantasyWorld is a 4-star rating the basis for suspension.

Okey dokey. Let's make the rating system simple:

1. Unacceptible
2. Needs improvement
3. What I expected
4. Nice
5. Excellent

The baseline (3) is "What I expected"

Below that (1, 2) is the basis for finger-wagging

Above that (4, 5) is the basis for reward

Transparency : Label-the-Table

The ratings have meaning

and implications

and they're unambiguous

to everyone

Now you've actually crowdsourced some Wisdom

rather than just collecting numbers

Case Studies, etc
the UX Craft
the Ideas Blog

[Alan195]

I like the 5-increment rating idea with 3 as the baseline or "What I expected".

I am a guest only in AirBnB, but find the ratings system utterly crap.

[Jen152]

I wonder if this is something that could be communicated to the guest when they check in, as part of your 'welcome'. Maybe a brief explanation of how the star system works as well as a request to let you know if something during their stay would cause them to rate you lower, so you could address it. I doubt that some guests realize how hosts are expected to always provide 5 star reviews.

That said, for me as a guest personally, I always take the time to read reviews before booking to see if people who left less than 5 stars had silly complaints. Sadly, not everyone does this.

Just wondering if hosts communicating this to guests would help, since Airbnb seems unlikely to do so. 

[Rebecca181]

@Stacey69 It seems to me that the rating system is used in a 'willy-nilly' manner by Airbnb to manipulate the host and determine whether they will be successful on the platform or not. Also, they do not use a 'weighted average' when calculating our 5 star averages. For example, if you count the 'overall' rating score, guests are asked to rate hosts in a total of 7 different categories. I have 2,315 five star reviews. I have 14 'less than 5 star reviews'. Yet, my 5-star percentage is 93%. Doesn't seem right, does it? 

Now, taken differently: I have 70 total 'Overall' reviews. 65 of them are 5 star reviews. Five are 4 star reviews. I have NO 3 star reviews. But because Airbnb is not using a 'weighted average' to perform their calculations, I have a 93% average. 

The fact they chose not to use a weighted average, and chose not to calculate our overall performance on those six sub-categories, tells me that the review system is designed to benefit Airbnb, not us hosts. This is just my personal opinion, of course.

[Michael956]

I'm sure Airbnb is very aware of the thousands of host complaints about its five star rating system.   They won't change it because it serves their purpose of frightening hosts and keeping them on their toes at all times. 

[Vanessa451]

I agree Stacey about rating guests. They don't understand how much it affects your bookings. Just because you haven't looked into the freezer to make sure it's empty. Or wiped every glass spotless like they do in bars. The tea towels are new and fluff comes off them!! I didn't mind the complaints but giving a low rate is a bit much. I would like to let others know this one is very picky.

[Hajra2]

I think Airbnb rating system is a bit unfair. I have had good reviews from all my guests, except 1, who didnt bother too even read the listing and arrived with totally different expectations.

She was very poor in responding to or acknowleging any communication to the point that she didnt want to even communicate her expected check in time so arrangements could be made to meet her or provide guidelines for self check-in and this was also mentioned in her review.

She flooded my bathroom by leaving a tap open and didnt bother informing me until I made courtesy call to enquire if she had settled in fine. I had to go in to uplift the soggy carpet and even that was a complaint.

Yet, Airbnb uses this unfair review to constantly prompt me to increases my rating.

Another fact is that many guests unfamiliar with Airbnb dont understand the star rating and believe that 5star applies to a 5star hotel like establishment.

This system needs to be reviewed so that hosts who endeavour to be completely accurate , transparent and detailed  in their listings are not unfaily compromised.

What do other hosts think?