4 g-dam stars - The Endtimes are upon us

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Just had to come in here, and stomp around, and act bitter about a novice Airbnb guest giving us a nice review with 5s for sub categories except for location (a 4 there–what, don’t like the desert?), and a nice handwritten entry in our guest book, and then a forking 4 stars overall. Our 5-star streak lasted over 123 ratings in a row over 19 months. Then review #124 was 4 stars. She didn’t communicate at all during the stay and didn’t indicate any negatives in her review. We were her first Airbnb stay. We’ve hosted plenty of inexperienced guests and some with 4.5 star averages. Never really had any issues. We knew this day would come. Now our listing shows “4.99” It’s the Endtimes fer sher!

I’m pretty sure it’s the ol’ “I thought a 4 was good!” syndrome.

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This says it all.

Well, you had a good run.

On the plus side, there’s the theory that a ‘4’ star (or less) here and there make the ‘5’s’ more credible, that otherwise it’s ‘too good to be true.’

Welcome to the club!

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Thanks, Glenn. Nice club you have here. Which way to the bar?

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First sentence of a review from a guest that gave me 4 stars on location (although 5 overall), “I loved that it was tucked in the middle of a neighborhood and having a garage to park in was great”. :rofl:

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You were way overdue for a reversion to the mean.

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They don’t have to even “think” it. Airbnb tells them 4*s is “Good” on the review forms.

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Great response to Glenn! We’ve all been there, sadly enough… The review I got that dumped me to a mere 4.99 was about dogs & donkeys that are clearly spelled out in our listing. But as they say, ya just can’t fix stupid!
I opted to follow sage advice given on this forum, & not respond to his review. And yes, his whiney review was soon buried under many stellar reviews. Hang in there, & we’re glad to hear your vent- we feel your pain!
Carry on, & listen, Grasshopper!

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Haha, never a truer word, we’ve got 5’s across the board apart from the overall 4.99 given by a newbie whose 4 came on our hundredth stay, along with his glowing review that never even mentioned dogs or donkeys. The most annoying thing was finding a hole he’d burnt in our rug using incense and we decided to let him off and not mention it thinking we’d be kind since it was his first stay - we were bloody fuming when his review came in.

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I’m sorry this happened to you. I understand your frustration. I once read here in the forum that if one leaves a bottle of wine for the guest, it’s an automatic 5 stars review.

After reading that, I started leaving a bottle of wine but then a year later decided to leave a welcome basket instead.

I keep my fingers crossed in hopes of five stars but I know sooner or later I’ll get the dreaded 4 stars review.

It must be so frustrating to get five stars on all categories and then 4 stars for overall experience. It truly makes no sense.

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Firstly, congratulations for maintaining a straight 5 for so long, you must be a brilliant host. I just got a 4 overall from one of the very few guests in the “never again” zone (completely and utterly filthy, 13 guests and 1 dog) she was only on her 2nd Airbnb stay and most likely thought 4 meant very good, I agree with others who have said this
I bring up the “location” score issue with Airbnb help centre each time it happens, about twice a year. I strongly feel that they should only be able to downgrade if the host description of the location isn’t accurate, eg describing an area as quiet when they know there is noisy student accommodation next door. We are 1 street from a beautiful sandy beachfront as well as less than 5 minutes walk to shops and pubs and open countryside…if they want a view of the French Alps why not book there instead?

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Yes, it’s outrageous. Yet we get “supportive messages” if we get a 4 suggesting ways to improve our service

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I leave a very good welcome basket…I did consider the wine possibility but then thought this could be an absolute nightmare for some guests eg the first arrival in a large group (we have a house than can easily accommodate 14 and have had 25) could be an alcoholic in recovery

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That’s exactly why I switched to a welcome basket. I thought the wine might be a bad idea if the guest (like you just mentioned) is an alcoholic in recovery. I think guests really enjoy the basket. Several of them mention it in their review. Now I have to keep doing it because potential guests have probably read the reviews and now are expecting a basket.

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Your post made me smile and wince at the same time. I felt better for you once I read you were headed to the bar :smile: (((HUG))) feel better.

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One must really keep things in perspective. I’ve wracked my brain trying to figure out how to “fix” this. But my admittedly out-of-practice Zen Buddhism teachings started clanking around and I realized I had to let it go. I was only contributing to my own suffering.

Thanks for the hug!

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Interesting point…there is a fabulously expensive Airbnb in our small town, all 5 stars…I do sometimes wonder if it’s for money laundering, we have had quite a few fake shops and cafes in town over the years used by drug dealers

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I received a 3 star for being to far from Seattle.
Our listing we are in a rural setting. Located between Mt St Helens and Mt Rainier.

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I do sometimes wish I had enough money to require laundering.

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The only money of mine that gets laundered is when I forget to check my pockets for loose change before throwing the clothes in the wash.

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SO annoying…when I last spoke to Airbnb help about this amongst other things they said they did agree that it’s an unfair category but were too far down the hierarchy to have any say in it being changed

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