Should Airbnb separate Review from Rating?

[Jimming0]

On the day I lost my SuperHost status (yesterday), I checked and saw I still have 80% Five-Star Reviews !?!?   So that raised my interest in what's going on in review? Then, I saw Help page says it is an automatic rating system. So it is neither human, nor changable.... I guess may be my rating is actualy 79.99 or so?

Further than that, I just happend to have two South East Asia guests who did not write reviews for me but gave me lots of thanks in text messaging to the last minnutes. They are clearly not counted in my Five-Star Reviews.  Well, I guess that could partly be my fault, because all my previous guests wrote pretty long reviews of me & my place. And that does discourage non-native English speakers, such as, Vietnamese, or mine to write review.

So I think it is a good idea, and save people's time too, to give people the option of just rate their experience, but not review+rate. I believe many people can benefit from it and Airbnb can still capture their feeling. The rating system can also be extended to give people more items. Like Starbucks, 6-7 minor options are not too much, and if arranged properly, can also be fun and self-reflecting.

Alternatively, next time, I would recommend my guests to just put "Thank you" in review box and then go for the rating. This is probably also a good idea for share.

Best,

[Clare0]

@Jimming0, Hi there. I hear you! It must be difficult for you having people not used to the review system employed by Airbnb.  Looking at posts on Airbnb's twitter account, @airbnbhelp, I was very surprised that in some areas, (don't know which ones)  Super Host status is calculated manually! 

That said, since we are all hosts and some guests here, you should direct your suggestions to Airbnb.  Here's a helpful link for contacting them: 

https://community.airbnb.com/t5/Tips-Tricks/Contact-Airbnb-A-How-To-Guide/m-p/16165/highlight/false#...

Good luck to you and wishing all of us a prosperous 2016!

[Robin4]

@Jimming0 Hi there Jimming, yes reviews seem to make a major difference and as you said it is done without human intervention, so it's a rather clinical thing.

Jimming I have received 100% straight up 5 star reviews....... because I don't let them get away!!!

If, on your listing, you go into individual messages under your messages tab, even once a guest has left, you will notice in the top right corner an envelope indicating that you still have message contact with the guest. When the review window of two weeks is getting near its expiry I send the guest a friendly hello message and ask if they could find a moment to leave a couple of lines in the review window.

Jimming some of them are just simply too busy, what with travelling and all, and they (in a lot of instances) just forget, and this jogs their memory or, at least makes them feel guilty if they haven't done so. The only one I lost was my first guest when I was not awake up to this trick. Invariably when I do this they not only shoot back a quick 'sorry' response, but they also attend to that review. 

Give it a try Jimming and see how you go.....Good luck mate....Cheers....Rob