Airbnb Answers: Guest information and flagging guest behavior

[Airbnb]

You asked: Can Airbnb share more information about guests, like their ratings, full name, etc.? Can we get the ability to flag bad guests and make this information visible to other hosts?

More guest information

We're taking a close look at what additional information we can share to help you feel confident about the quality of every guest, every time you host. Currently, before confirming a booking, you can see a potential guest’s prior reviews and profile information (including hometown, education background, hobbies, and languages spoken). But in order to protect the privacy of both hosts and guests, we don’t share last names until after a booking is confirmed. If you don’t feel comfortable accepting a reservation with this set of information, you may message guests with additional questions. We don’t share guests’ home addresses because that information is not relevant or required to make a booking.

Every guest is required to provide their full name, date of birth, phone number, email address, and payment information to Airbnb before being allowed to book a reservation. As a host, you also have the option to require guests to provide a government ID before booking your home, which is just one feature of our ongoing effort to build trust in the community.

Flagging guest behavior

In the coming months, we’ll be adding more ways for you to report guest behavior that we might need to address. Stay tuned for more, but know that host reviews of guests remain the most powerful flagging tool for the community.

More than ever before, we’re using your reviews to signal both excellent and not-so-great guest behavior. We’re developing a Superguest program that will help you identify experienced travelers with excellent ratings. And for the rare occasions things don’t go well, your reviews will help us identify poorly behaved guests, issue more specific and strict warnings, and remove those guests who do not improve their behavior.

Be assured that when guests get negative reviews from hosts, Airbnb follows up. We make sure guests receive warnings about unacceptable behavior, and in some cases they can be blocked from booking entirely. We take the safety of you and your guests very seriously, which is why we require everyone in our community to uphold our community standards. Your reviews of guests are essential to establishing trust in our community, and we’re dedicated to taking action on your behalf to help ensure high quality experiences every time you host.

In the latest Host Q&A, CEO and Head of Community Brian Chesky answered top-voted questions during a livestream event. For questions he didn’t have time to address, we’ve introduced Airbnb Answers. Want to ask more? We’ll invite hosts to ask their questions before the next quarterly Host Q&A. We’ll keep you posted in Airbnb Updates.

[Deborah393]

By Eduard i think for privacy airbnb should be the 3rd party holding the information in case is needed , no point to reveal guest personal data apart from the comment, airbnb have lots of hosts who dont understand hospitality , people on holiday want to have fun , they normally dont behave that way and the level of acceptance of guest needs and cultural aspect must be higher, its more about the guest than host , i know many people would disagree , but its how it works in hospitality, host can give star rating and comment and so the guest. 

Eduard Please do not book my property

If you can not respect my space , my neighbours, my community , you are not welcome, you will be evicted, you can not do what ever you like in a hotel or a resourt, there are always respectful rules to comply with, get a real life

[Mary996]

Exactly Deborah! Better suited to a hotel is the expression I saw suggested when I first joined! 

Thank you for speaking for Hosts.

[Michelle-and-Matthew0]

Very difficult as a host to put an honest review of a guest up, when we don’t get to view their review before responding to the host review.  

We have a beach house that we choose to price affordably for guests (we aim for families), & we do the cleaning as we have a high standard we like to maintain (this also enables us to keep it affordable).  As such we expect our guests to enjoy our home but still respect it & provide some level of cleanup before they leave.  We leave cleaning products, vacuum, mop etc available.  Rarely does this happen.  Seems people quickly forget how clean it was on arrival & that they are staying in someone’s home - respect seems to disappear when they have paid to stay there.

[Deborah393]

Because Airbnb dosn't take the bond from a guests credit card and openly promotes this, most guets we have had from Airbnb have been problimatic , THEY totally ignored our house rules etc. the review process is rediculous , Airbnb only cares about the fees they can generate !!!! 

[Sue-Virginia1]

I had a Bogan guest, who was prepared to sleep in a queen sized bed with her father ! She critisied me for staying home all the time... & said that the house smelt of animals ! . I did have an extra dog because I was looking after a friends dog for the night ! It was raining , so maybe a few doggie smells were obvious! 

She ended up by wiping her bottom on my mattress , which I did not find until I stripped the bed ! This was a low life act !!!! I could not clean it until the next day !!  

[Deborah393]

The review process is reactive , not proactive, the damage has already been done to the property , the neighbour, the community, sorry it simply creates victims all around, thats why Airbnb is in so much trouble all over the world, they have not created a respectful community, they are simply interested in the fees they can generate at everyones expence !!!! 

[Mary996]

Oh I think that's unfair Deborah393. I really appreciate the effort Airbnb is making. Do please list your suggestions for improvement/re-arrangement.

[Cathy281]

As an experienced host and many many years in the hotel world I can definately agree with lots of fellow hosts above that a very big percentage of guests don't read any of the information. This is and has always been the same and although we would all like to see it change, alas my friends it may not ever! I call it "holiday brain" guests go on holiday and leave their brain behind (so to speak)! They have a pre-conceived idea that they are paying so a cleaner will pick up after them. I have a very short version of the top house rules posted on the front door with things like what time check out is, where to put garbage, wash up before you leave, what to do with keys and the house before you leave etc, and point it out on check in. Still the top questions I receive are those on the sheet (the sheet they never saw every time they opened the front door)! 

A huge percentage of guests think that an Airbnb is the same as a hotel, 24 hour concierge, housekeeping and help, so we as hosts just have to deal with it. If you are attached to an item, don't leave it in your place. Expect wear and tear, dirty dishes, soiled linen, garbage left behind, and contact at all hours to ask you a question or tell you a light globe has gone out. It's hospitality, it's just the way it is, sure we can endeavour to educate a good deal of guests but there will still always be the 50% that will never respect your place or book for 2 and 6 stay - it's an unfortunate human trait, talk to any hotelier they have the same issues, good, bad and downright ugly.

I meet all my guests - this 100% makes the stay smoother.  For those of you who do remote hosting, you have even more to deal with, I have hosted hosts and spoken to hosts who remote host and they all report many more problems by not being in the same town. There is a reason traditional bnb's and traditional hotels have a reception/concierge desk, so to host your property properly, you are that desk no matter how small the guests question is! If that doesn't suit you then you need to employ someone to handle your guests for you because guests are very needy, they are paying so they think that's part of it.

Airbnb does a great job, their platform is easy to use, they handle payments, the commission they take offers hosts value and so on. After all if there was no Airbnb then we would not have this platform or our unique modern day hosting experience businesses to start with. My thanks go to Airbnb for the great job they do for all hosts!

[Mary996]

Very much agree. Thanks for saying this. Was seeing the platform under attack. Is this just for Hosts this forum? 

[Dan376]

I have recently started on the site, i ve been lucky that most have been great guest...except....yep !! and it was so bad i had to take myself and my child out of the home for the night and ask refuge to a friend s place for the night!!! Also, they used the shower so much, there was no hot water left for us to use. 

And she proceeded to give me 4 stars and to tell me i needed to dust when she left windows and doors open. I take pride in the place and i actually clean it better than my own place. 

A couple of concerns this experience has risen...

First the guest has a profile picture in a group of 4 other girls.. I think there should be mandatory that the ACTUAL PERSON COMING/booking should be the ONLY person featured..i believe that if more than one person comes, we should have that info also.

Second, there should be an sms (to say the least) that Airbnb should send the guests upon check in time, reiterating the house rules and reminding them that THIS IS NOT A HOTEL..IT IS SOMEBODY'S HOME!! that is opened to you cheeper than a Hotel (and believe me, you make a mess or are a nuisance there, and they WILL let you know immediately !! with concequences)..  and sms in which they have to send a responce of acknoledgment and know that there are financial and rating repercussions. I will do all i can to give my guest respect, consideration and space ..but i expect the same!

[Mary996]

Possible good idea.... xx

[Dawn--Dave-And-Ricky0]

Totally agree with everything Silvana has mentioned. We have 9.8 review scores on other sites, put an awful lot of work into our holiday homes ( as you would all relate to) Have just had a guest who stayed 3 weeks and I saw him on numerous occasions ....when I saw him I always asked if everything was ok, he said he was more than happy and it was all lovely. He mentioned a bulb had blown in one of the bedside lamps so I offered to bring him a bulb straight away, he said not to bother as he had swapped the lamp over for the one in the other bedroom. He also asked to have his lawn cut every week as he didn’t think his (very small) dogs would like the grass tickling their tummies so my son cut his lawn twice , each time on the same days as he asked , I told him he could use our back gate to access the park at the back if he wanted to take his dogs on to the park, which I’m pretty sure he used. We have a sign on the air conditioner to ask guests not to set the temperature too low, (we have guests in the past set it to 14 degrees with all doors and windows open and caused the unit to break down)

This guest left us a review that stated that he had reported the lamp and I hadn’t done anything about it, that he couldnt use the park because there was construction work going on (there is but a long way from the house) , that he was too scared to use the airconditioner because there was a warning sign on it (no such thing), I could go on and on but cutting a long story short I asked Airbnb to remove the review and they have refused, I have sent them photographs to prove that the guest isn’t being honest and now they have stopped answering my messages because I requested to speak to a supervisor about 5 or 6 days ago. THEN Airbnb have the cheek to send me an email saying that one of my recent reviews was lower than normal so I need to “buck my ideas up” so to speak or I will slip down the rankings!

I’m sure if untruths are printed in magazines or newspapers and they are not retracted they are in trouble, Airbnb seem to be above this, it is very hard to review a guest like that without knowing what they are saying about their stay first.

Makes me feel like delisting with Airbnb to be honest, no support for the hosts who pay the commission.

[Mary996]

Terrible. So sorry.

Airbnb... please remove this Guest's review. I have seen this happen (misrepresentative review taken down) when enough of us weigh in with support. To other Hosts reading this .....Please add your request.....xxxx

[Deborah393]

Airbnb is nothing but a go between and do nothing for hostes or guests ,we do, Airbnb simply takes a profitable advantage of our hard work and supplies no support to owners / hostes, they simply ensure they generate a fee, and restrict any contact we have in vetting our prospective guests and undermine the bond/security payment. Have you ever tried to make a claim, forget it,

[Fiona232]

I worked hard to become a super host and have had 10 out of 11 reviews that were outstanding until I came across one guest who was clearly out to find fault to use it as a negotiating tool to get a reduction in price.  She used the fact that there was construction going on in the area to go me for as much as she could. I offered her a reduction in price and offered to let her for go part of her stay. She made false claims and cost me my super host status and rating dropped dramatically . I tried to ask Airbnb to remove this review as it had false claims with no evidence to prove her case, however was told that Airbnb cannot remove it. I believe that Airbnb need to address the rating system. It is discouraging and leaves hosts feeling helpless to be protected by Airbnb