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I have instant book turned on, as long as the guest has good reviews. I just received a booking request from someone that has 3 reviews, but I cannot see their star rating, nor can I see how many hosts recommended them.
This appears to be a new change, as I always check these things before accepting a booking. I wrote to ABB support about 8 hours ago, but have not yet heard back.
Is everyone else also no longer able to see if other hosts recommended the guests, or their star ratings?
The recommended part has been gone awhile but star ratings are still there, well at least they are for guests who reserved. I havenât noticed for pending guests.
If we cannot see if another host recommended them or not, why do they still ask it?
I figure someone must have given them bad star ratings or clicked that they donât recommend them, or the guests would have been able to instant book. This is frustrating.
I know that Iâm out on my own here but I only look at guest ratings and the reviews if a) I have the time and b) if I have some questions about the guests for some reason. Itâs not something I do as a matter of course but the last time I looked, I could definitely see the star ratings.
There is a browser add-on called AirReview for Firefox and Chrome that will show you the potential guestâs reviews from former hosts when you click on their profile. You can see the reviews they got from and gave previous hosts, which alerts you to nitpickers.
Thatâs my understanding. Under my booking settings, it says âguests have traveled on Airbnb, are recommended by other hosts, and have no negative reviewsâ can instant book
I got an inquiry last night. No picture of course but I can see the reviews and on the app I can see their star ratings. I use instant book and my only requirement is government ID.
I am truly convinced that the huge majority of hosts who post here are professional, totally genuine and without doubt have their guestsâ comfort at heart, ensuring that they have a splendid experience.
However, and you knew thereâd be a âhoweverâ, even here we see hosts who donât leave perfectly honest reviews about their guests. Their motives might be honorable and kind, but it means that guests who are actually three or four star guests might get fantastic reviews. So sadly, reviews canât be relied upon anyway.
I wonder what effect, if any, that has on booking rates? I have so many guests who are new to Airbnb and it makes me wonder if requiring positive reviews prevents bookings? And does anyone know what Airbnb sees as being ânegative reviewsâ?
How could it not? I donât know what percentage of my guests have no prior reviews. As time goes on more and more of my guests have reviews. And I imagine that more experienced guests are going to be looking for my place with a little higher price and stellar reputation. But Iâve had no bad experiences with people with not reviews. My âproblemâ guests so to speak, all had reviews.
Same here. Iâve had so many beginners tell me that they were a little apprehensive about their first Airbnb experience but that they are now going to use it all the time and tell their friends. (Needless to say, I pat myself on the back heartily and puff out my chest like a pigeon, with pride and big-headedness )
I find it quite fun though, showing newcomers just how good Airbnb can be. They are usually very keen to please and take the trash out, leave the place beautifully clean and so on. They are just as concerned as hosts are about getting a good review. Itâs only human nature to want a good âend of term reportâ.
Iâm on a facebook page for women travelers and every time Airbnb is mentioned someone or two has to post how much they hate Airbnb or tell the story of their awful experience. I used to try to give a counter balance but I gave up. The best I can do is to keep providing 5 star stays.
Required positive reviews may prevent some bookings, but not much⌠people with bad reviews (Iâm assuming this means that a host clicked that they donât recommend them) and with no reviews only see the option to send a booking request. I get plenty of these, and accept most of them. It does mostly let me catch some things that could turn into issues, like third party bookings or newbies who donât understand at all out the platform works.
I live in a popular tourist destination and have a unique property, so I fill up regardless.
Thatâs awesome. So for you it doesnât really matter. Whatâs tough is the people who land here looking to get more bookings at the same time they want to have all kinds of rules and requirements and hoops for guests to jump through. Thereâs a lot of folks who want the proverbial cake while eating it.