@Laura_CI totally agree with the comments already made here by other hosts. By far the biggest problem with the review/rating system is the discrepancy between what the guests are told the stars mean and what they actually mean to hosts. That needs to be fixed and ASAP. Hosts have been calling for this for years and what they are asking for is logical and reasonable. Why can't it be done?
While the prompt you mention is not a bad thing, I think an important point is being missed here. Sure, a lot of hosts on the CC have lamented about those guests that leave 5 stars in each category, but 4 stars overall. It seems so unfair.
However, I believe that in most cases, this is a misapprehension. What people don't seem to realise is that when a guest DOES NOT RATE ONE OR ALL of the individual categories, on the host's side, it will show that the guest left them 5 stars for that category.
Yes, that's right. Let's break it down.
- Guest A leaves 5 stars overall and 5 stars in each category. Host will see that he/she left 5 stars overall and in each category.
- Guest B leaves 5 stars overall and 5 stars in two of the categories but doesn't rate the rest of them. Host will see 5 stars overall and in EVERY category.
- Guest C leaves 4 stars overall but doesn't rate any of the categories. Host will see 4 stars overall but 5 stars in every category and be perplexed.
Why would the guest leave 5 stars in each category and then 4 overall? Well, they probably DIDN'T but that's how it will appear (and this really should be fixed. It can't be that difficult to do. Just show the guest didn't rate the category rather than show it as 5 stars).
It's not that I dislike the idea of prompting the guest to reconsider their 4 star rating, but I really think that the problem this fix is addressing is a very small one. I am certain very few guests leave 5 in each category and 4 overall (never happened to me in hundreds of reviews). It's just that on the Airbnb system, it displays as such to the host.
Sorry to keep banging on about this, but no one seems to get it. Just because it LOOKS like the guest left you 5 in each category, that does not mean that they actually did.