Incorrect Review Entered by Guest

[Lisa7463]

Hi all - Yesterday we received a review that looked incorrect because they gave us 5 stars for all of the individual categories, but a 4 star overall rating.  I sent a message to the guest and inquired how we could improve and they replied and said it was an accident, they meant to give us 5 stars.  This was very frustrating, because up till then we had a 5 star rating and now we are showing as 4.96.  I don't mean to sound petty, but we're in a competitive market and I'd like to rectify this if possible.  Does anyone know if it's possible to have the review updated?

[Huma0]

@Lisa7463 

You used to be able to get a rating changed (if the guest requested it), but I think the policy on that changed. However, the guest can request to have their ratings removed. The review will have to be removed as well though.

[Lisa7463]

Thank you.  I thought that might be the case.  I just have to decide whether to suck it up or bother the guest to ask them to remove it.

[Huma0]

@Lisa7463 

I think you have to make a judgement based on how the guest has communicated with you thus far, and if it's something that they would be okay with.

Just to warn you though, the time that I had a guest request her review be removed (this happened about a year ago), it wasn't as straightforward as it should have been because she was told initially by CS it wasn't possible, and that's not the case. It is written in the review policy that it is possible.

[Lisa7463]

Good to know. Thank you for the additional context. 😊

[Anne-Marie79]

No idea if it can be updated, but this has happened to me a number of times. I get 'sparklingly clean house' and 'amazing host' and so on, with 5 stars all the way through, then an overall 4-star. 

One person I queried this with told me she has never given 5 stars to anyone in their overall review.

Another one told me that she had seen a spider in one room so marked me down for that although they had a great time (she was staying in a 150-year old weatherboard farm cottage!).

I've stopped asking now, as Airbnb never came back to me on any of my queries about things like that.

[Fatih13]

Unfortunately some guests are so insensitive they don't know what they are doing. I have experienced the same situation in the past.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Lisa7463 I would just accept the review and be glad that you are no longer chasing perfection. The difference between 4.9something and 5 will not have any effect on your bookings.

[Kathleen710]

This is what I don’t agree with.  I’ve had quite a number of reviews that people have done the same thing to me.  It is very disturbing when the average end up being near or a 5 and they give you a 4.

With all of the technology that goes into Airbnb platforms, one would think that the guests could rate the host on the stars and a program could give you an overall rating on the categories that are reviewed.  I even had someone give me 4’s and 5’s and left a 3, which does not even come close to a 3.

The overall rating that a guests puts in should not be there in my opinion.  Let the program put the overall rating after the rating for the categories have been completed by each guest.

[Rene-E5]

Yes some guest can give u good vibes in front your face & you will think everything's cool .& when u saw your review it can be really unsettling.. when u did everything possible to make them feel like its the best decision they made than being stuck in a one room hotel with very little space...Smh🤔

[Fred13]

In time, given enough reviews few hosts stay at the 5-star level for a myriad of reasons, guest mistakes being but one of them, confusion another, etc. I doubt potential guests place more emphasis on stars (specially in the 4.8 - 5.0 range) versus what past guests had to say.