I don’t understand this guest’s review. He left an Overall Rating of 4 Stars but gave 5 Stars on all the Feedback categories.
How does this make sense and will Airbnb do anything about it if I ask?
Thanks in advance,
Jimmy
You got the - everything was great but you aren’t a 5 star hotel rating - no, Airbnb won’t do a thing as this is the guest experience!
I really wish they would use cupcakes or ticks or smilies or even hearts to remove the preconceived ideas of 5 stars!
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Thanks for the heads up.
New at this hosting thing, eh @jimmyorangecounty?? Your question has been asked hundreds of time here. Nothing to be done; sorry.
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Sometimes you give 5 for everything but whole rating is 4, it’s ok I think
Jimmy, most of us have had this at one time or another. It’s easy for guests to be delighted with every aspect of your hospitality but something beyond your control has meant that they haven’t had a ‘5 star stay’.
For example, I remember saying goodbye to a departing guest and saying that I hoped he’d had a brilliant time and he said “well, no actually. You see, I had a call yesterday to tell me that my mother had died.”
As it turned out, he was obviously too busy with arrangements when he got home to take the time to leave a review but I could imagine him doing something like your guest - everything was 5 star but ‘the stay’ wasn’t. I know, it’s bonkers but it happens.
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Yeah, fairly new, been hosting since last year.
Misery loves company I guess. Not sure why it’s comforting that this didn’t only happened to me.
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You self promoting old bag 
Back on topic, we once got a four star review because the place was better than the pics. We’re under promising and over delivering petal, don’t you get it? Which she obviously didn’t.
That was our first and we’ve had a handful over both apartments now so it really only bothers me for about five minutes, where I rant and curse and wish plagues and pestilence on the guest and hope their first born becomes a parking warden etc. Then it’s next!
Which reminds me of a song 
Enjoy!
JF
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Hey, that’s a big part of the value of participating in hosting forums, Jimmy. Not only do hosts realize that others have had the same thing happen, we come to realize that whatever bad or outlandish situation we may encounter, you can be sure there’s some other host out there who’s had something happen that makes our issue pale by comparison. 
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That’s happened to us a couple of times too. I expect it will happen a few times more as time goes on.
Our first one though had me laughing (and a bit freaked out) because there was an assault in the street in front of our place, between two guys in wheelchairs (the neighborhood has since dubbed it wheelchair jousting and are considering adding it as an event to the monthly block parties) one stabbed the other in the neck with a pen, cops were called and the guests were upset (with good reason). I was grateful they left us 4 stars overall (5 on everything else).
They say they are alerting guests for inconsistent reviews like this, I have no clue whether or not it’s actually happening…
If guests who pull the whole ‘5* categories but 4* overall’ are getting the “are you sure?” message, then pull the trigger anyway? Shoot ME!
There should be an IB setting to filter out these idiots! I don’t want them!
One-off review alerts
We’ve added a step to the review process for guests when they give a host an inconsistent overall rating. For instance, the guest may have given 4-star or higher ratings for all the categories (cleanliness, accuracy, etc.), but then give an overall rating of less than 3 stars.
The new pop-up screen asks guests: “Is this right?” And goes on to explain that they rated their overall stay lower than they rated it in specific categories. It gives guests an option to either change the rating or ignore the alert.
https://www.airbnb.com/resources/hosting-homes/a/making-reviews-more-fair-for-hosts-93
Good to know, I wonder if my guest saw that pop up and still went with 4 stars.
@yecatsr @jimmyorangecounty My understanding is that they only get that pop-up when they rate Overall 3 or less after higher ratings on the individual categories. They don’t get the pop-up if they rate 4 Overall.
And lets face it- a guest who rates a place 3 or less is unlikely to change that rating because of the pop-up, unless they hit 3 or less by mistake.
The fact is that Airbnb tells guests that 4*s is a “Good” rating. The only way guests know that it isn’t, as far as how Airbnb applies the ratings to hosts, is if hosts clue them in to that fact.
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I know there has been discussions about “ratings guide” but the longer I’m hosting… the more I’m thinking about inserting the “ratings guide” page in my house manual book. Not sure how many people read through it but it could be just subtle enough than posting the “ratings guide” on the wall or something.
I’m planning on inserting this rating’s guide I just drafted into my house manual. Like I said on my previous message, inserting this in the back of the house manual is just subtle enough. Not sure how comfortable I would be hanging this up on the wall. I’d appreciate any feedback you guys might have.
I like yours better… it’s short and straight to the point. Thanks for sharing… I’m going to use yours if you don’t mind.
Oh please do. Please note the formatting is nicer than the mere text provided, and in color. If I recall correctly, we probably used the Lato font (it’s one of our favorites).
And I am pretty sure that mine is merely a stolen and modified version from someone else here - like @HH_AZ. Check out his posts - he’s got great house rules and other sage advice.
Oh - and do consider cameras. It seems that they may come in handy with your situation at some point. We will certainly add them for our new stay that will be opening probably next month.
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Thanks again, and I already have outdoor cameras and the Ring Doorbell. But sometimes, I think it’s better not to know or see… just sometimes…
Wish you the best with your new listing… especially during our quarantine.