COMPULSORY enhanced cleaning protocol unrealistic for many

[Belinda55]

Dear Airbnb,

Please quit your paternalistic and bullying ‘one size fits all’ policies. There are many locations in the world with little or no community COVID infections, so to coerce hosts (by threatening blocking of calendar and bookings) into complying with a global policy is both unrealistic and unfair.
There are no other booking platforms doing this! Hosts are able to comply with local regulations and requirements and do not need this heavy-handedness from you. I have been a Superhost, with a perfect record on cleanliness, for 7 years straight, and am insulted and offended by your approach. Talk about ‘biting the hand‘ ... we are now planning to prioritise other booking platforms.

[Steve-and-Sue2]

This just got a little more serious for us. Airbnb blocked our calendar yesterday after several months of threatening to do so, so no more bookings. Thankfully we went to a duel platform in November as we could not in all honesty sign up to the Airbnb cleaning protocols especially around mask wearing.

[Belinda55]

So our calendar has now also been blocked because this heavy-handed and bullying approach to Covid hygiene is NOT appropriate in our location (Australia), and we will not comply. 8 years as a superhost with perfect record on cleanliness, and I am insulted and offended by Airbnb's response. Hosts are able to comply with local regulations and requirements and we will not be coerced into complying with a global policy that is both unrealistic and unfair - talk about ‘biting the hand‘ - we will now use other booking platforms, none of which are taking this approach.

[Emma2259]

All the best to you all, stand up for your rights and freedom, this goes much deeper than just Airbnb. I’m leaving Airbnb in 10 days after my last booking is made, thanks for all the community support, along with awesome guests, it  makes it all worth it ! X 

[Belinda55]

@Emma2259  So sorry to hear that, it’s just so sad that Airbnb is prepared to lose people like you. Like you, we have had wonderful people visit us over the years. It is really sh*t being treated like this. Good luck and best wishes for the future!

[Emma2259]

@Belinda55 Thanks Belinda, that’s very sweet! but you know,  it actually feels good to move away from these big (Bullying) corporations and be more independent 🧡🙏 you take care and all the best to you too 🙂 

[Jeannet121]

I just started a new question chain, but then saw these posts, so am reposting here ... 

Hi Everyone, 

I have been hosting through Airbnb since 2013 and have been a super host for several years now. I live in a studio in the garden and share amenities in the house, where I make three rooms available for (mostly long-term) guests - visiting scholars, interns, etc.

When the advisory Covid cleaning protocol was introduced, I consulted with my long-term guests, and we all agreed we did not want to live like that (i.e. wearing masks) in our own home. When the cleaning protocol was made mandatory I phoned Airbnb and explained that although I complied with the national and local laws and guidelines around Covid, I could not commit to the requirements of the 36 page cleaning booklet. I asked if I should cancel my bookings, and they suggested I wait and see what happens.

Whenever anyone expressed an interest in coming to stay I was upfront with them and explained that although we were being careful and compliant with national and local guidelines around Covid, I was not adhering to the Airbnb cleaning protocol. By far most people agreed this was acceptable to them. 

Nothing did, in fact, happen until last week, when I received an email to say my calendar had been blocked as I was non-compliant with the cleaning protocol. I phoned Airbnb, explained my situation and informed them that sadly we would have to part ways. They explained the requirements were to 'keep me safe', but I am vaccinated and work outside the home in any case (so a degree of risk is part of my life), and my guests tend to come for longer stays (1 month or more - often several months at a time), so we are all part of a household bubble. 

I seems to me that this requirement is taking Airbnb away from the original concept of welcoming guests into you home informally as part of your household, and that these requirements makes it more into a business / more like a hotel. I wonder whether we will see a shift in those hosting away from hosts in the original sense to people who are commercially renting self-contained units or houses in multiple occupation through Airbnb. The policy feels very paternalistic to me, and I wonder if it is insurance driven ... 

I was about to retire on the basis of supplementing my income through Airbnb rentals (already more precarious due to Covid travel restrictions) and will have to reconsider. I am now trying to rebuild my business through other platforms. 

I wanted to ask how many of you are in a similar position - losing a business built up over years due to the Airbnb requirements which are way over and above the national and local rules and regulations.

How are you responding to this? I wonder if Airbnb will lose many hosts, or whether in the face of an impossible dilemma, there will be those who say they are complying with the protocol, when, in fact, they are not. 

I would love to hear your thoughts and solutions (if there are any!). 

With all my best, Jeannet in Cambridge 

[Belinda55]

@Jeannet121 

Yep, I am blocked and pretty angry about it. I suspect that some hosts are ok to have Airbnb seen to be managing things in locations where Covid levels are problematic. I also think that many have been bullied into signing up, whether or not they are actually complying, or agree with the protocol, esp in locations with little or no Covid problem. Now that most hosts are signed up Airbnb can afford to bully the hold-outs.

It’s a farce really as not able to be enforced. I live in hope that that may have to amend their approach at some point, but definitely exploring options so that I am not dependent on Airbnb for bookings.
I just also  posted this in another thread:

Ha ha, just found out I made Superhost again. I have been continuous since the start of the SH program (8 years ago?) and have a trophy to prove it. But my calendar has now been blocked by Airbnb because I haven’t ‘attested’ to the inappropriate COVID protocol (I am in Aust with no local Covid and no international travel). It sounds like a religious commitment, and I won’t be bullied into it, so bye bye Superhost and Airbnb 😞

I’ll be contacting my hundreds of guests and letting them know they will need to book via an alternative platform that is not attempting to coerce its hosts.

[Jeannet121]

@Belinda55  Such a shame, isn't it. And so very, very frustrating!  I can't imagine Airbnb will ever take the protocol away, now, as why would they? Covid is here to stay for the foreseeable, and taking such a thing away is far more difficult to justify than putting it in place ...  😞  

[Belinda55]

@Jeannet121 You may well be right. But I am hoping if not removed it will surely need to be amended. Things will change with vaccine rollout and such a heavy-handed approach may begin to seem quite unreasonable. Wearing masks when interacting with visitors when there is no Covid in the community is patently absurd. It should be enough to agree to conform to local health regulations. Other booking platforms have transparent but voluntary cleaning measures that hosts and guests can consider. There are other ways of managing this than coercion 😞

[Helen427]

Enjoy the comic strip...

@Belinda55 @Jeannet121 @Emma2259 @Steve-and-Sue2 @Melodie-And-John0 

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19290525.2.162.14

To all of you in Australia who are contemplating coming over to New Zealand, Looking forward to meeting up with you in Auckland & a long overdue welcome back!!

[Stephanie]

Hiya @Belinda55 @Jeannet121 et al,

I'd like to share a recent update on the Enhanced cleaning protocol that takes onboard the host community feedback and new learnings about the pandemic:

• COVID-19 safety requirements: With Hosts in more than 220 countries and regions around the world, we understand each of your communities are at different stages of their COVID-19 containment efforts. We're making two changes to better reflect this changing landscape:
  • First, for mask wearing and social distancing when interacting in person, we’re moving away from blanket global requirements and instead now asking Hosts and guests to follow local laws and guidelines.
  • Second, to better align with the latest COVID-19 science on transmission and to make the cleaning guidelines easier for Hosts to follow, we updated our enhanced cleaning process. For example, Hosts will no longer be required to wear masks and gloves while cleaning (but it's still recommended), or to wash every dish in the cupboard if it has not been used by guests. (Here’s a deeper look at our updated cleaning handbook). If you’ve agreed to our enhanced cleaning process already, you don’t need to go through that process again. If you’re a new Host (welcome!), you’ll be prompted to review and agree to follow these practices.

I appreciate that this thread has gone quiet as it's been some time since you raised this concern so I can only apologise for the wait.

I hope this helps moving forward but please do feel free to ask should you have any other questions!

Thanks,

Stephanie

[Belinda55]

Thank you Stephanie! Very happy to see some (evidence-based) common sense prevail at last.

[Gillian19]

@Stephanie @Belinda55  It appears we now have no more than a common sense approach to cleaning. I really don't know why Airbnb think they need to tell us how to operate every facet of our business. I'm waiting for a policyh on how to make beds next....

[Emma2259]

That’s great Stephanie and thanks for the update.. is this new updated information therefore reflected on the Airbnb app/website? because when I went it and clicked on ‘learn more’ about why my calendar is blocked it still states about mask mandates and protocol cleaning .. I guess when this is updated I will relook at it, however I think Airbnb should be quite ashamed of their deliverance  of recent protocols and how they’ve treated their Superhost and host  Community and with that in mind I’m not sure I would do business with airbnb again anyway ! However I am keeping an eye on things as they progress and appreciate the updates. 

[Stephanie]

@Emma2259 - leave it with me, I'll go do some digging!

UPDATE - The Enhanced Cleaning Protocol still needs to be agreed to but the asks and criteria are updated to be in line with your local regulations.

Many thanks,

Stephanie