A new system to hold guests accountable

[Sybe]

When you welcome guests to stay in your space, it’s essential that they respect your home, follow your house rules, communicate promptly if issues arise, and avoid creating a mess. So, we’re introducing ground rules for guests – a new set of enforceable standards that all guests must follow.

If a guest breaks ground rules, they get a warning the first time. If the issues persist, they'll be suspended and, if necessary, permanently removed from Airbnb.

You’ll still be able to write any additional house rules for guests to follow. And if a guest violates any of your house rules, we’ll support you if you need to cancel the reservation early. 

Read more about it on the Resource Center.

[Jenny]

Thanks for highlighting your concerns here, @Huma0.

You know we would never take the decision to restrict someone's access lightly, however in order to keep this thread on track please drop one of the OCM team a private message if you'd like to discuss this further.

Thanks

Jenny

[Stephen1004]

👍

[Laurelle3]

@Stephen1004  it is good to see your thumbs up for our past contributors @Gillian166 and @Huma0 who can see/read articles but can't contribute any more. 

I enjoyed reading their interesting input that was informative but sometimes they gave their heart felt feelings which could be close to the line.

I am wondering how long the punishment is for.

I miss their experience with Airbnb ideas and reading how the new rules can affect us as hosts.

[Huma0]

@Gillian166 

I believe the articles are very deliberately phrased vaguely with key information/details missing, because if they claimed the situation clearly, hosts would be able to see that we have been left completely in the lurch and vulnerable, and there would be an uproar.

[Sybe]

@Gillian166 You can report either through the new reviews process or by contacting Customer Support. In the Resource Center article there's an example of this, where the guest leaves the carpet dirty and the Host can report the issue either by giving a low cleanliness rating or by contacting Customer Support. 🙂

[Pippi1]

I don't think the new review process is working well. I have had 3 guests recently who have left lots of rubbish (taking the rubbish out is a house rule), left the place dirty or refused to leave on time. Only in the one that I said I would not host again has the overall review been marked down from 5 to 4.5. With the other 2  I left negative points and comments. Air BnB has given them a 5 star review (including the one who refused to check out on time). I didn't give them 5 stars. Air BnB should also take host safety into account and how this is placed at potential risk if they show the bad guests what we have said in our reviews.

[Michael1186]

I seems that the pre-booking message has been removed. I no longer see the option to set a pre-booking message. I first noticed yesterday that new bookings often didn't have any message from the guest. Why was this done?

[Huma0]

@Michael1186 

It also appears that the filter to require guests to have verified ID has been removed and the requirement for 'recommended by other hosts' is now 'good track record', whatever that means. It says that guests who have RECENTLY broken Airbnb policies or a host's house rules will not be regarded as having a good track record. So, how often does their slate get wiped clean?

[Pippi1]

I am not comfortable if guest IDs have not been verified and only found this out through reading this thread. I have deleted Instant Book for safety. I may lose bookings but it is unacceptable that unverified people can book instantly. Any thoughts?

[Huma0]

@Pippi1 

I suspect that Airbnb will argue that it is now requiring ALL guests to be verified before booking, so there's no need to have it as a IB filter.

However, what they mean by 'verified' is rather vague and it does not necessarily mean government ID will be verified. If you read the article on that, you will see that the wording is deliberately vague and mentions "we may" ask for this or that, not "we require". 

Also, it says that usually official name and address are sufficient for verification, which I find worrying, especially as it does not mention anything about guests having to provide PROOF of that name/address.

I turned off IB earlier this year but, if I hadn't, I would certainly be turning it off now due to these changes. I would also recommend that all hosts, whether they use IB or not, take Airbnb's verification process with a big pinch of salt. I am not sure it's worth the paper it's written on. Do due diligence and screen/vet guests yourself, to the best of your ability. I know that is not much as the system doesn't give us a lot of detail to go on...

[Pippi1]

Yes my IB is off as of 5 minutes ago. Too risky. I recently had a situation where the supposedly verified guest has absolutely no internet presence and I believe may have been using a different name. It appeared that their travelling companion was a recently  convicted criminal. After much pleading, Air BnB assisted but there appeared to be zero verification of the guest's companion, and doubtful verification of the guest. This was before these latest updates.

[Elizabeth2846]

Can someone explain to me, what is IB? Thank you 

[Emilie]

Hi @Pippi1,

Thanks for your comment! I just wanted to let you know that we've shared more details on this here: 

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Airbnb-updates/Details-on-Airbnb-s-update-to-instant-book-settin...

More specifically, the following info might be of interest to you: 

• In the top 35 countries/regions on Airbnb, the “government-ID required” option has been automatically replaced with the new multi-step identity verification process, and removed as an Instant Book setting. Learn more about Airbnb’s verification process here
• Hosts outside of the top 35 countries who previously selected the “government-ID required” option can now require Airbnb’s multi-step verification process. Learn more about Airbnb’s verification process here

I hope this helps!

Emilie

[JoandJoe0]

You mean the process that doesn't require a government ID, but only "may" require it?

[Gillian166]

@Emilie  just a quick question, is a profile photo now a standard requirement for all guests? Just had a guest query that with me, she couldn't book until she had a photo. 

I seem to remember I have ticked ✓require photo (and it's a bit concerning that she is questioning this, given I've since googled her and she runs a biz, with fb and insta and pics everywhere), but is the photo now a standard requirement of all guest profiles?