Unexplainable 4 star review?

[Jess4223]

I'm baffled.  I recently had a guest stay in my house, who has just left me a review.  I'm a bit upset, if I'm honest.  I try not to take things to heart, but I've been an Airbnb host and guest multiple times and always go the extra mile to either make guests feel welcome, or to leave their house spotless.  As a result, I've only ever received 5 star reviews. 

Anyway, this guest just wrote a review with no sign of there being any problems - he said the house was lovely, in a great location.  Yet he marked me 4 star for ALL aspects of the stay, with no explanation on any of them. 

During his stay, there were no issues, check in was simple as possible via my key box, he said everything was great and he had a great stay.  During his stay, my communication was exemplary - I responded to his messages very quickly, I messaged him a few times to check everything was ok / wishing him a lovely stay etc., I specifically told him not to hesitate to contact if he needed anything.  So I'm baffled why my communication was 4 star?  What more could I have done?! 

What I'm most upset about is the 4 star for check-in.   

The guest asked for a very early check-in - from 9am instead of 3pm.  Me being nice, I rearranged my cleaner's day to accommodate the guest.  My cleaner kindly agreed to come in the day before instead of the day of, so that the guest could check in 6 hours early.  In the end he didn't even check in till the evening, but still - I went the extra mile to ensure he had the option.  Check in itself is beyond simple - there's a key box for which he had the code, and therefore the freedom to arrive whenever.

I also got 4 stars for cleanliness, location and value... Equally baffling.  I have a brilliant and lovely cleaner, who had just been through the whole house (maybe she missed something, but the guest did not mention).   And re. vale - for 4/5 guests I think it's about right; it's a very unusual, big and quirky house that's probably near-on half the price of opting for 2 hotel rooms.

I put out numerous treats for my guests - wine, fancy teas in a cute tin for them to keep, free Espresso coffee capsules, nice bathroom products, write little notes, I even give them use of my local family attractions discount membership.  Most people appreciate all the extra touches.  I guess this time not so much - although I just wish I knew why. 

[Helen3]

I wasn't using Air review @Lawrene0 

[Anonymous]

@Helen3  the old school method of clicking the guests' profiles also works - Jess's reviews of guests are right there. But I agree that fhd request for early check-in and the late arrival should have been mentioned - the dishonest review is worse than no review. 

[Lawrene0]

It's that icon with the hand in front of the Airbnb belo, @Helen3, just before "Jess did not leave a review" . If you didn't enable it yourself, it has somehow added itself to your browser's extensions.

[Ana2038]

In the 4 years we have been Superhost, we have had 4 people out of 300+ guests give us 5 star for every category but an overall 4 star rating. They even comment in their written review that they’d like to book again on their next visit. They’ve just made my Airbnb blacklist: nope, move along, see ya, not you again, list.

[Jess4223]

hahah, fair enough!  it is super annoying when they don't explain why they downgrade hosts.

[Gordon0]

I had a couple stay last week, @Jess4223. They got a great deal; early check-in, treats, use of washer and more. Marked me down for value. Am I grown-up enough to take the moral high ground and let it slip? Absolutely not. Here's my post-stay message to them:

Dear XXXX

Thanks for taking the time to leave a review. As a Superhost yourself, you'll know how important they are. While I'm grateful for the overall score you gave me, I was surprised to get dinked with 4* for value, especially given the 9am check-in and later check-out, as well as local B&Bs charging more than double for the duration of your stay.

If it's helpful, you can set the parameters for your budget when you search for properties. This helps you stay within a tight budget and means you'll only see listings you can comfortably afford.

Hissy of me? Yup.

NEXT!

 

 

[Jess4223]

hahah, this response is brilliant!  Love it!  😄

[Sudsrung0]

@Gordon0 

Thats something like my husband would write, Other SH can be a pain in the backside

[Anonymous]

@Gordon0 that is some advanced shade!

But "I was surprised to get dinked" might not have been exactly what you meant to say. Depending on where your guest was from, that could mean something a bit different... 

[Robbie54]

Try not to feel too upset about this guest @Jess4223 , after hosting for nearly 7 years I'm long past caring if a random guest gives me 4 stars and not explain, you just cannot please everyone. Very recently I had a guest leave me 2 stars(the first time ever!) for accuracy. I honestly thought she had made a mistake, I do not think I've had anything but a 5 star review for accuracy out of 365 reviews, but there it is. I asked why she gave me 2 stars and her reply was the worst case of nit picking I've ever come across in the 48 years of living on planet Earth. One example of her nit picking was the fact she didn't like the mattress protector on the bed. I explained it very necessary due to the many different guests that use the bed, it's there to protect the mattress in case of "accidents". I made the point that if she found it the protector annoying why didn't she take it off during her stay. She replied that she did but she shouldn't have had to in the first place lol. Unbelievable. 

Another one I have never understood are guests giving me 5 stars across the board but only 4 for overall stay, which really doesn't make sense. I've had 2 or 3 of them. Airbnb's review system leaves little to be desired imo, hosts are at the mercy of guests who can be unreasonable and who do not understand how to review properties, it's a flawed system that Airbnb have overcomplicated, as with many things.

[Fred13]

How odd.

[Jess4223]

Urgh, those types of people are my worst nightmare - people who choose to focus on one tiny (not even) negative thing and let it dominate their entire experience.  It’s sad.

I don’t care about my 4 star review when I think of it like that; a guest who marked me down when I went out of my way to accommodate him is clearly one of these people.  It’s just irritating for me at this early stage as it skews my chances of becoming a superhost when I know I was exhibiting all the traits of a superhost.

And yes, some guests clearly don’t understand how to review.  This guest had just decided it was a 4 star experience for him overall (because of some personal belongings in some cupboards), yet lazily clicked 4 for all aspects of the stay including unrelated factors like check in, accuracy and communication.

[Ross648]

Hello Jessica, , 

I'm in agreement with the others and will only add that that the best strategy with AirBnB is to do your best,  but to completely ignore the ratings system, as well as superhost category,  which is designed to make you crazy.   

It would be nice if there was an after-review process for nit-picking guests, who do not reveal this obsession during their stay, and do no damage, but in the public review write a tome on how you might improve the place, etc. etc, and then give a low rating because it is not up to hotel standards.    Sometimes it is useful information but sometimes it is just not what your place is about (for instance the above example of the owner's clothes in the cupboards).    

So you have to care, but not care.   

[Jess4223]

Thanks @Ross648 - that's a good way of looking at it.  Yes I really wish there was a way to identify nit-pickers, as there really isn't a way to know about them until after the review has been given.  It's hard for hosts to warn other hosts about this type of behaviour as it's often the review that alerts them to it in the first place.  

[Zheng49]

Well considering you have a 4.98 rating so far, you are well on your way to becoming a superhost.

A superhost just needs a 4.8+ rating btw. 

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Ontopic: Yea, recently got 2 guests with glowing praise in the comments, but just left 4* for overall.

I mean, I can understand, because I used to be one of these guys, like 5-7 years ago. 4/5 should stand for 80% which is A-. That's a very high score already! 5/5 should be reserved for perfection. And as we know it, perfection doesn't exist 😉

Unfortunately, Airbnb's review system is such that anything below 5 is.....basically considered to be a negative review by us.