In Case You Missed It: Review update, Host Guarantee & more

[Airbnb]

We’re excited to share what we’ve been working on over the past few months, from expanding our efforts to tackle inconsistent reviews (we heard your feedback!) to offering new promotional tools that can help your listing stand out. Read on to learn more.

A review update inspired by your feedback

Late last year, we announced a new tool to help address inconsistent reviews. Here’s how it worked: If a guest gave you a 5-star rating in each category (cleanliness, value, etc.) but 1, 2, or 3 stars overall, they’d get a prompt asking them if they wanted to correct that inconsistency.

We got lots of great feedback from hosts on the new tool, and some of you asked why we set the threshold at 3 stars or less—in other words, why wouldn’t a 4-star overall rating trigger the prompt if the guest gave 5 stars everywhere else? We heard you, and we’ve changed the system so that now, even a 4-star overall rating will trigger a prompt if the guest has given 5 stars in each of the specific categories.

With this update, we’re continuing our work to make reviews more relevant and useful for hosts and guests, and we look forward to sharing more changes later in the year.

New custom promotions to get your listing noticed

We recently rolled out our new custom promotions feature, which lets hosts choose their own date range and discount amount. Hosts who set custom promotions can get access to special perks, including:

• An eye-catching strikethrough price in search pages and on their listing (e.g. $100 $85/night)
• Special callouts on their listing page, and the discount clearly detailed in the price breakdown
• A spot in the emails that go out to guests who browsed their listing

If your dashboard doesn't currently show custom promotions as an option, it may be because you're in a location that isn't supported or because you've had fewer than three bookings in the past year. In the meantime, you can still offer deals to guests by setting a lower price for specific dates, or setting up weekly and monthly discounts.

Host Guarantee will soon cover damage by assistance animals

We know that assistance animals (which include service and emotional support animals) play a crucial role in the lives of many of our guests, and we appreciate your willingness to accommodate them. We also know that there are rare cases where an assistance animal causes damage to a host’s property, so in the coming months, we’ll be expanding our $1,000,000 USD Host Guarantee to cover those incidents. (Keep in mind that the Airbnb Host Guarantee is subject to certain terms, conditions, and exclusions—you can learn more about it here.) We hope this update helps bring peace of mind as you continue to welcome guests with different needs into your spaces.

As always, we’d love to hear your feedback on these changes in the comments below. We’ll continue to work on updates that help make hosting easier and more enjoyable for you, so stay tuned for more to come!

[Iris429]

I didn't even catch that. Good observation!

[Sam163]

I had no idea you HAD to accept service animals. How does this impact on the people with animal allergies that I have promised no animals have been in my apartment as per the Business Ready requirements? This is a serious issue for people with allergies - it's virtually  impossible to get all the animal hair etc out of the place. Possibly a legal problem if a guest with a service animal visits before one with an allergy. I have animals of my own on the property - what if the service animal didn't get on with them? I don't want other people's animals here for that reason as well. What if one of them was injured or died? What if the service animal jumped off the balcony of the apartment (one dog dig that at my place, another reason not to allow animals). If you say you don't want animals to visit you shouldn't be forced to, just like you shouldn't be forced to host a guest you're not comfortable with. Heads up, Airbnb, this is an inconsistency you ignore at your own peril as well as ours as hosts.

[Betty345]

Me neither, I was not aware that I had to accept service animals. I thought  NO PETS mean no pets of any kind.  Little did I know you can't refuse service animals. Do get me wrong, I grew up with dogs, I love dogs. But I also have to look out for my guests who are allergic prone. When I promise a super clean place, it means allergens-free. AirBnB  has to address this issue further.

[Waltraud--Kiana-0]

I also had no idea that you have to accept service animals! There is no way I can do this. I have two German Shepherds which are of course territorial and will make a huge problem. We do not allow the dogs inside the cottages because of possible allergies of some guests, they strictly kept outside.

So I totally agree with you, Sam163!

[Bob396]

Interesting posts. Fortunately (touch wood) I have not yet encountered the guest from hell yet. All mine have been superb couples who abide by all house rules. I am an onsite host which makes monitoring easier. As far as pets go, this is the first I have heard of hosts having no choice but to accommodate service animals!  I have a no pet policy and I intend to stick by it. To be clear I love dogs but the reason for no pets is because I have a pair of indoor-outdoor cats and this is their home too! I will never cause the cats any grief just to host someone. This is my home. I set the rules...case closed as far as I'm concerned. There are lots of other pet friendly folks who would be most willing to accommodate them.

[Dennis-and-Carmel0]

What can you you do when the booking is for one guest and then 2 show up or the other one joins layer?

[Betty345]

Politely point that out to them and notify AirBnb immediately!

[Paul6186]

I had a guest break a large 4'x6', glass tabletop covering. I took pictures. I sent them to airbnb. I asked for $1500 to replace it. Never heard another word. Of course, I should have followed up with more energy, but I did not feel like anything was going to happen. I hope this new policy makes airbnb more responsive to the host's complaints.

[Kristin108]

In NO way will I ever allow assistance animals on my property.

I am not thrilled with any rule or policy that would require owners to allow an animal. 

I have a farm with livestock, other guests might be allergic... I have a white sofa... If a guest has special needs, my property isn't suitable. 

[Sam397]

Regarding not being allowed to turn away  service animals, I had just went through this in December. My guest just showed up with a little dog and claimed it was a service animal among other things. I ended up letting the dog stay, not because it was a service animal but because it was Xmas week and they wouldnt be able to find a place and I wasnt wanting to make an elderly couple sleep in their car.

To make a long story short , never again, if it happens again they will be sleeping in the car because there will be no more pets in my house.                                                                                                                                  As far as the law itself goes, you dont have to admit the animal if its going to be a health hazard, and allergies is a health hazard so you dont have to allow them to stay for that reason.                                      When I contacted customer service about this and explained how I have family members that are allergic to pets and wouldnt be able to come in the house if I allowed the service animals, this is what their response was.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                   We do sometimes grant exemptions to hosts on the basis of allergies. In order for this to be granted, generally speaking, the following two conditions must be met:

1) There is a permanent resident of the space who has severe allergies or reactions to animals
2) There is a strong likelihood that the resident in question will interact with the guest in a shared or common area, and therefore be in contact with their assistance animals

Currently, I'm unable to grant an exemption for upcoming guests or visitors with allergies. However, if you feel that your situation might qualify for the above conditions, I'm happy to review it and see what we can do.

To me this was laughable, this CS person actually told me that my family member (who is part owner of the house) would no longer be able to stay at the house because this particular  AirBnB CS person will not give me his or hers permission to refuse service pets.                                                                                                      Bottom line is this, even though BnB may act like your listing is their property and have the final say in who can stay and who cant, they dont, you have the final say.. The property is still yours and  it doesnt matter what BnB tells you if you dont want somebody to stay at your property for any reason you can refuse to let them to stay.  Even though BnB favors the guest over the host they need the host just as much as they need the guest and they are not going to kick a host off their platform because they wont allow pets in their house. Thats my opinion anyway and if I am wrong there are other platforms out there. 

[Iris429]

I still don't think there should be an overall rating. I think the individual ratings should then determine a collaborative overall ranking. 

[Stanley88]

I think you do a wonderful job of organizing Airbnb. You make it so easy for us.

[Najy0]

I like the review update with the "4-star overall rating will trigger a prompt if the guest has given 5 stars in each of the specific categories.".

But to be honest I don't understand why guests even have the opportunity to put an overall rating when hosts can't. To me, it doesn't make sense. If a guest rates you on all the categories, then the overall rating should be an automated average of the categories rated, which is the case when hosts rate guests.

As a host, I get to rate my guests under three categories, and I don't have an overall rating to give, it is calculated automatically from my three ratings.

[Victor2137]

Very welcome changes indeed! We really appreciate the custom promotions. One small suggestion to advise guests of when they're booking; a brief overview of the star rating system. Too many people think that 3 stars = everything was average, 4* = above average and 5* = beyond expectations. In really, 1-4* are a fail on the host's part, and 5* means the property is as advertised. Do y'all agree with my assessment?

[Roelkis0]

hej airbyn. Jag är en ersättning för att betala för att betala för mitt hus. Nu är jag sen med min betalning. Att se min fråga är hur du inte är säker. av dessa betalningar har omedelbart behandlats. till flygaren skulle dessa cabesa-smärtor undvikas. Vad som händer nu med lite svar och betalning om jag hyr igen någon om möjligt vill jag ha det omedelbart. Jag måste lösa mina pengar dev mez snälla