Star ratings

[Carol8]

Air bnb should not have a star rating unless they disclose what the stars were for exactly, after all unless you receive all 5 stars we want to  know who & why they left the less than perfect rating. We can not improve if we don't know what they feel we need to improve on. Seems like a no brainer!

[Deborah0]

I agree -- and I think the whole star rating system is overrated.  I rate it 3 stars, sometimes 2 for the grossly inaccurate ratings that some hosts get.  Such as the story where a guest gave a host a 1 star rating for accuracy since, as he explained, "your place is so much better than you described it."  Or where a guest gives a host a 2 star rating because they didn't include the breakfast, that they never said they would provide.  There is just no way to ensure that guests or hosts give accurate ratings -- (but since host's ratings of guests dont' show up on guest profiles -- our ratings of them are pointless. ).  I vote for throwing out the star rating system, and simply relying on reviews, which I think work much better.  Reviews are transparent whereas star ratings are not.  And reviews have accountability - -- since there are names and faces attached to reviews -- but people can give star ratings anonymously (a reader doesn't know who gave what rating), so there is no accountability to the star ratings given.  Not a good system.  

[Mary-Ellen0]

I agree whole heartedly.  As a new host (6 months active hosting) I find the rating system grossly inaccurate in a very negative way as it ends up for me as a host.  People say things that are just not true or not reflective of the over all situation.  My house is literally immaculate.  Last two guest (as often happens) ended up damaging my pots and pans, had to replace things and someone MELTED my counter top by putting a hot pan on it directly from the stove which will require total replacement(wonder how that damage claim against the insurance will go?).....baked a spilled lasagna into the bottom of my oven for the week they were there....(6 hours scrubbing/oven cleaner x 2.....and still not all able to be removed), and had a group of about 10-12 in my house for a week including non-renters doing laundry....my rating: 4 stars and the ONLY thing noted on the cleanliness is that they found 'dust bunnies' on the hand towel in the Master Suite.  ARE YOU FRIGGING KIDDING ME?!!!!!!!!!!!  I washed, folded and place the towels there a few hours before they arrived.....

The weather was bad (VT) so I gave them my garage door opener and allowed them to park their car in my garage that has a direct entrance into the house.  Review:  the key doesn't work well....meaning the lady had trouble with the key which works JUST FINE....and she used the garage entrance that doesn't require a key but never mentioned my willingess to let them use the garage etc etc.....so frustrating.  The rating system needs serious review and deep overhaul...with host input for changes.   I assume this issue is ongoing so I'm not expecting any change....

So after all this these two guests said NOTHING about the general cleanliness of the house, the fact that they damaged my pans/oven etc etc....or any of the many things I did above and beyond to make them comfortable. This has been a constant issue in both large and small ways yet people just seem intent on focusing on the negative because of the way the review system is set up....  We as hosts have no recourse.....thinking about not using Airbnb due to this issue as the reviews do not reflect the actual situation in many many ways.

I assume if you tell the truth about people you'd never get any bookings because you'd come across as surly and negative.  Thoughts?

The flip side is I always give a great review to guests.....I expect the same when I literally bend over backward for them every time, that is about to change in a big way because people just don't seem to understand the effect of the rating system.  Lastly, I hate the O MY GOD response from ABNB when you don't get a 5 star rating.....

[Marina8]

Me too! Due to those stars I am almost ready to quit airbnb at all. All my reviews are great, but then people put 3 and even 2 stars at time and I do not know why! For most of our guests airbnb is a totally new experience and they do not know how to rate as well. How can they put 2 stars for the location if I describe it so carefully and with so little advertising to make clear that they are not going to stay in the middle of town? Well, if they know that they are not staying in the middle of town, how can they complain about it?!!! 

And the airbnb system is so non-transparent that we as hosts can't even trace the stars to know whom to ask later (I have noticed that I start seeing stars much later than the review).

[Tora-Birgitte0]

I agree completely. I think also that some people dont give 5 stars as they think 4 stars means very good as well. As a result I actually have started to message the guest after they have checked out to give me a 5 star review as airbnb penalises host for getting less than 5 stars. I say that if there were any issues please contact me before leaving a review. This happened after i had a family from Australia staying and i did everything they required plus more and she gave me 4 stars without any reasoning.  Her review was in fact very good and she had nothing to improve and gave me 4 stars probably without realising how it would potentially affect me!

[Punam0]

Agree. Those automated messages from Airbnb when you dont get a 5 star rating is patronising! They havn't seen our home so how would they know if the guest is being overly picky. 

[Tora-Birgitte0]

I just read some of your reviews as well and they seem so completely unfair. I would say my only bad airbnb experience in terms of hosting annoying guest was a family with elderly people. I mean these people just dont think about the fact that they are in someones home and not in a hotel... I try to just ignore these people now and not accept them. and if you do get another annoying review just try not to let it affect you 🙂

[Katherine50]

I have a question from the guest side- my host told me they are close to a SH rating and although I have only stayed in one other SH place, this place feels lacking to me. It is mostly cosmetic, things like old glue stuck on sills, rusted garbage can that the foot pedal doesn't work, fans unbalanced making a noise, touch up paint on wall doesn't match texture, scratched tables, tables surface bubbling from prev moisture, old stained pillows on couch, no screen on one window, etc. This doesn't affect our ability to enjoy the beach, am I being too picky?

[Jenni17]

Yes you are being too picky! Families open there homes to guests to give a more enjoyable experience without the costly price of a hotel and tourist fees. Leave a kind note before you leave letting them know of suggested improvements rather than giving a poor review. 

[Sue-Ellen0]

I think it depends on how the place was described in the listing. If it is as described, then you picked a place where you should not expect a lot (except perhaps great access to the beach, for example). There is such great variability in Airbnb’s listings that you can’t compare apples and oranges

[Teresa7]

Hi

I have received some 3 star ratings for cleanliness. From guests who I continually picked up wet towels off the bedroom carpet even though there was adequate hanging space available. And another who didn't changer her clothes fo 3 days??? And another who I did their clothes washing for them.

As there is no guide for guests to know what each star means then the ratings are actually useless. Airbnb take note!! Your emiails regarding star ratings are quite offensive

I enjoy hosting out my place  and have a 3 week trip in Italy planned very soon. Overall it's a great way to find accommodation.

The star rating system is flaweed and useless. Thank you to all of you who have expereinced the same problem and took the time to post it here.

Cheers Teresa

[Michelle50]

Stars for Hosts/Listings are not clearly named, or described- I keep getting low stars on "Location". I am clearly listed as being outside a major city, but they seem to be rating how close I am to the city, rather than the "neighborhood described" in my listing- but now Airbnb has their own "Neighborhoods" so they can't rename it that.  What about prompt text = "How well did the listing describe the surrounding neighborhood the home is in?"  (Of course, this relies on guests actually reading the listing, which I constantly find they did not.)  Right, how can we change something that is rated low if we have no idea what was perceived as low?!  I don't even know if all guests have to use all stars- I've had repeat guests who love my location, but then it says "your last 2 were lower than 5 in location" - so which last two?!  Especially if someone rates you low, its not really comfortable, or reasonable, to expect that someone will bother to reply and tell you what they didn't think was 5.  At least they bothered to rate/review you at all- I've had over 50 stays in a year, but several happy/repeat didn't bother to rate/review, so I am still trying to emerge above the arbitrary SuperHost line after unhappy people, or people who didn't know what they were rating, left less-than 5s.

Stars for Guests seem to be completely useless- I've stared every guest and never seen any stars or ratings on any profile- so why make us do it then not use it, and why penalize/not-reward hosts for stars that guests are doing incorrectly and not have any system for Guests?!

[Jay17]

This is a problem that needs to be fixed. I have had perfect ratings, except for two who I know were complete assholes, since last September. In the last month I've had 3 guests that rated me less than 5 stars on overall and a couple other section. Something is wrong with this system that we can't track who is rating what. How are we, as hosts, suppose to improve if we're working in the dark. This is absolute bull$hit. And, there should be a way to request reveiw changes if mistakes are made. I don't need my reputation marred by some guest that thought they clicked 5 stars and mistakenly clicked 1. Fix this.

How does somebody that gets the address when they book rate a location less than 5 stars? Are they expecting the place to move to somewhere else between the time they book and arrive? What a fu¢|<ed up system. Do any of the dip$hits at airbnb read any of this?

[Tora-Birgitte0]

I agree. how can we report suggestions to airbnb does anyone know?

[Sara265]

No, but I absolutely agree with this flawed rating system and we should be able to give this feedback to airbnb.