Catherine’s Host Update: reviews, party ban policy, and more

[Catherine-Powell]

Hi everyone,

I’m happy to be sharing a new Host update with you, which has important news about a topic I know is top of mind for many of you—reviews—along with news from our Host Advisory Board, about sustainability and introducing a new board member. (Welcome to the board, Pam!)

We’ve been listening closely to your feedback on our review system—specifically to how they relate to our party ban policy. For reviews written from today on, reviews from guests who violate our party ban will be eligible for removal. You shouldn’t have to trade off between reporting a party and getting dinged with a negative review. We want to close that gap. 

This is just the first step. We’ll continue to listen to you and work to shape our policies to better support you and our whole community. 

I’ll be in touch again soon with more updates. In the meantime, stay well, and happy hosting!

All my best,

Catherine

[Jean174]

That being said this policy is a step in the right direction -- thanks!

My GREATER problem are reviews that are not REVENGE REVIEWS but are really UNFAIR in their own right.  For example:

One guest gave me 4 stars and said "Very nice home. Just didn’t know there was an option to have the place to yourself." 

I list the entire home and bedrooms and baths within the home as separate listings at very different price points however.  I make it very clear which you are getting -- in the listing TITLE and description first paragraph.

Huh?  How do I battle back from 4 stars simply because the guest didn't read? Very sad.

Here is another 4 star:  "More privacy" from a guest who sat outside and smoked dope for 7 days.   Thank goodness for the ability to use the REPLY:

Really? But you booked a room and bath -- at a very reasonable rate -- not an entire home. You were in a separate wing of my home with private bath. Yes, I was there, on the other side of a 24 foot living room in a separate wing, and we barely exchanged a word. Strange, I thought Airbnb was about sharing and a caring host who can give you helpful advice during your stay about Long Beach, if you are interested. I guess that was not the party atmosphere you were hoping for...

[Hugh0]

I relate strongly to the lobbying on behalf of Airbnb and then Airbnb shutting down when a problem arises. 

[Harriet4]

Christine you rock,

you should be one of the community leaders because you seem to know exactly what would cut out a lot of crazy guests.

it’s really a simple solution for Airbnb to recognize the bad reviews a party group leaves. Super hosts always get great reviews so when one suddenly appears, it’s rather obvious that a guest was not following the rules.

After 4 1/2 years of being a super host i moved and started up in a city that draws more young people. I had 2 guest groups, within three weeks of each other, who were partiers. My husband and I are in our late 70’s and live on the main floor of the house but both groups were drinking, yelling and up until 3am every night. 

When I said something to them both groups promised they would follow the rules but every night was the same. They refused to leave even when I offered to give them a full refund. 

Airbnb did nothing except sweet talk me and the bad reviews stayed. I have OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) so my home is always immaculate. I couldn’t believe the mess both groups left for me to clean up. 

I do not allow anyone to instant book who does not have prior reviews for me to read first. If they have no prior reviews  I message and find out why they are coming to my area and what their plans are prior to allowing any booking. I also send them my House rules and tell them they must reply letting me though they will follow my House rules prior to booking.

So far that has been working well for me.

[Christine615]

Update @Catherine-Powell 

Fifteen minutes after I asked the guest to please put a verified ID on his account and his city/state with Airbnb (so I can comply with local licensing) your bots dinged my phone (I am in the middle of my work day) letting me know I don't want to miss out on the piddly amount of revenue he'll generate if I let him book.

Could you fix that please? The "Don't miss out" messages are idiotic.  He would have been approved if Airbnb had done a modicum of work to verify guests (and hosts) using the platform. This is a safety issue.

[Catherine-Powell]

Hi @Christine615,

Thank you for highlighting these issues. You have done a lot for us and I want you to know I am definitely listening. In terms of the notifications, I will relay this feedback to the team to see if we can make some tweaks to the way they are triggered, to ensure that they do not send out misleading or contradictory messages. Also, your message really stands out to me - someone who has gone above and beyond for this Community and should always feel that we are 100 percent behind you and supporting you every step of the way. I'm sharing this with the team and will use it to inform many of the decisions I make going forward. Thank you again for being so honest with me.

Best,
Catherine

[Christine615]

Thanks @Catherine-Powell 

Airbnb can be the category killer if it put more resources in fixing the problems hosts like me have identified for years. The responses on this thread lay those issues out pretty well.

And thanks for listening. I'm still ride or die because most of my issues have paled compared to my colleagues. But I'm advocating for them too. Airbnb used to be so much better but has made a lot of unforced errors lately. You walked into a tough job. Godspeed.

[Gabriel25]

While I agree with the Party ban policy and proposed , I think the 16 person limit for AirBnB is too strict to make it across the board for all homes. I have a six bedroom beach home with 20 beds, 5 of these are King or queen size, and often have large families. It is customary for extended family groups (grandparents down) to meet at the beach in Latin America. AirBnB limits reservations to 16 and often people don't rent because of this.

In addition it is in a secluded beach, thus I never have any issues with neighbors.

Let each owner decide on their limits based on house capacity and if a special request to AirBnB has to be made, no problem, but 16 people limit is not adequate.

[John143]

Good job

[Inna22]

@Catherine-Powell is there a formal or correct process of reporting the party to qualify for the removal? What should be the actions on the hosts part to qualify?

[Quincy]

Hi @Inna22, hope you're well! I just found the piece below on the Resource Center article that was published here. I'm not sure if this was what you were looking for? 

"What criteria has to be met for a review to be removed?
If you have proof that a party occurred on your property, and your guest’s review doesn't contain important safety information about your space or their stay or a report of discrimination, the review could be eligible to be removed.

You'll need to provide documentation or other proof to support the party allegation, such as video evidence or a police report."

[Inna22]

@Quincy thank you. We are not allowed to have cameras inside (nor I would want to) and in Chicago if I call the police, I loose my license. I do have party squasher and noise monitor so yet to be seen if the accept it as proof and hopefully I will just never need to find out...

[Gwen19]

I find the whole review process frustrating. The shortened process doesn’t allow to flag behaviors or comment on issues. 
I had guests that helped themselves to my expensive specialty food in the freezer! I couldn’t find a way to comment on this. 
I had a guest who reported there was a bug in the bathroom. They left the window open in the bathroom, allowing the praying mantis to enter. My home is in the tropics, in a rural area. There are bugs, and you’ll see them if you leave windows open. Again, I get a warning, but no way to explain why this happened. 
Any changes are welcome that make the process fairer. So far the newer review process leans towards guests. Being able to reply to issues would help even that up. 

[Sarah977]

@Gwen19  I'm not sure what you are referring to re "shortened review process". There is no reason why you can't mention the guests helping themselves to your food in the written review you write.

[Hollie6]

Thats a start but the system still needs much improving! Guests who break things, leave late or leave a major mess and then we try and collect reimbursement (which we now have to do the day they check out or before next guest checks in) will always leave us a bad review. I don't think a guest should be able to leave a review if they break the rules or do damage. 

[Brady---Shae0]

completely agree with you. If you trashed my house or broke items you don't get to go leaving ME a 3 star review when I ask for compensation.