Party policy updates, Superhost status extensions, and more in Catherine’s latest Host Update

[Airbnb]

If you watched the first Host Update from our new Global Head of Hosting Catherine Powell, you’ll know that we are working on rebuilding our business around hosts, and giving you more transparency along the way. 

Today, we’re sharing Catherine’s latest Host Update with you. In this video, she discusses important priorities and insights for hosts at Airbnb right now. These include how Airbnb is handling parties, active steps being taken to support Superhosts, and why it can pay off to commit to higher standards for cleaning. 

Once you’ve watched the video, we’d really love to hear from you. Please let us know what you’d like us to cover in future Host Updates with Catherine.

Thank you.

[Graham-and-Nicole0]

Hi Joe. For the benefit of all other hosts would you please let us know how you got on. With kindness… Graham

[Mariaclara19]

My concern about a  experience with a fake host , put me  to think if I will continue with Airbnb .

this lady was a realtor in Miami and  her job was  To sub rent through  Airbnb apartments   For other people in Colombia.

as probably you know ,The insecurity in my native Country is very high and dangerous. And I was so worry to put the other owners of the Bilding  in danger, because my hosting.

this  lady contacted   me as the guest who supposedly  rent the apartment.

I check her credentials and she was approved  by Airbnb but because she rented to other people I did not know who they were and this people don’t even was register by airbnb . I realized because they had different last name

And when I got suspicious and checked her reviews people was referring her by the owner but some said she was not the owner.

.

 My cuestión is :how  to  improve  the security check  of the guest and be more reliable ?

and how you will penalize those people to abuse the system?

thanks fir reading this.

[Catherine-Powell]

Hi @Mariaclara19 ,

Thanks for sharing your experience here, and I agree that we need to work on improving guest standards and ensuring that agents are not able to use the platform to book on behalf of unknown guests.

We are working on improvements in this area, and I look forward to sharing more with you in the coming weeks.

Best, Catherine

[Lisa1395]

I applaud efforts to curb the party abuse & violations but am saddened that it took a pandemic to finally have it announced as Health, safety & security issues of our homes, self & others. It has always been an issue that is not okay because it’s disrespectful to owners & their homes period. We are the end casualty with extra costs of damage & time after these parties and more still needs to be done to help us prevent them atleast for those of us who would like to not allow them. Thank you for FINALLY doing something and hope you do more. Good old fashioned vetting of renters helps us & still more needs to happen before I initiate Instant Booking atleast until  there are stricter policies of protections in place. Thanks for the right step forward 

[Paresh3]

@Catherine_Powell

I am afraid I do have some real issues with your Superhost status requirements, and poor support. Despite having 'earned' that status a second time in July 2020, I found the support poor and no different to previously. Furthermore, despite your move to waive the criteria as long as one has a 4.8 rating or higher and over 90% response rate, I am astonished that my own status has been removed in October 2020. Bearing in mind that due to covid, I only had 2 bookings in July. After the granting of my 2nd superhost status in July, my only guest review was a 5*, so I cannot see how my rating could have dropped below 4.8 between July and the October review period.I have raised the issue with your support staff, but they are as poor as ever. My latest chat states the rating had dropped to 4.7? My current rating is 4.8, which it was back in July 2020, three months earlier. How is it possible that with a 5* rating the total could have come down? It seems to me that whilst you claimed the occupancy and stay criteria were waived, in reality they still appear to be taken into account. There appears to be a disjoint between your rhetoric and the reality. Could you please explain? The chat staff member was also not aware of your policy statements and asked me to send her a copy of your update. I asked her to copy you into my chat, but not surprisingly that was not done. I have very little confidence in this process.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Paresh3 there are reasons why, even with one 5* review you might have dropped below 4.8 for the last year.

If the reviews that have 'fallen out' of the current year were all 5* then any 4* or lower reviews that haven't fallen out of the year will have more effect on your current rating as you have only added one 5* review.

Secondly your current rating is probably the rating since you started hosting not the rating for the 12 month super host period

Finally your 4.8 rating could be 4.75 rounded up to 4.8 or 4.84 rounded down to 4.8. If it is the former then the super host standard may not be met.

Shame that Customer Service couldn't explain the above to you but hopefully this helps understanding if not acceptance.

[Paresh3]

@Catherine_Powell, @ Catherine_Powell

Whilst I am directing this comment to Catherine Powell, the apparently new Global Hosting Head, why is is that her name does not appear when typing the address.

With a hope and a prayer perhaps you will actually read this.

So far your support have demonstrated a lack of ability to respond to my issues.

I have been getting random, and inconsistent replies from various staff members, and I don't seem to be able to get a proper credible, rational explanation, which is disconcerting.

As a superhost I found the support was still lacking, despite airbnb stating there would be a dedicated help for superhosts.

Achieving a superhost status is also a mystery.

I was granted that in July 2020 (for the 2nd time), having achieved 4.8 and over 90% response, etc. 

Now logically if you waived the number of stays and occupancy criteria in March 2020 and I only had one guest 5* review in July AFTER I was already a superhost, I would expect that my rating then should be on average higher than 4.8 for October. But apparently, I have had various of your support colleagues give me inconsistent and incomplete explanations. The latest is that the review periods are for the previous 12 months. So even if that is the case, and all things being equal, there were no negative feedbacks, only 2 guests staying and one of them giving 5*, and the other had on a previous stay also given me 5*, it is inexplicable how my rating average can actually FALL to 4.7 in a matter of only 2-3 months! The only explanation I can find is that the rating criteria are STILL taking into account the other criteria that you claim were waived. According to my profile I have a 4.8 rating which also contradicts what your staff say. So what do I believe?

I am REALLY trying t o undertstand this.

Can you please clarify?

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Paresh3 I realise I am not @Catherine-Powell who is probably too busy to answer but if you want to understand what is likely to have happened then I explained it to you above. If you want to just rant at Catherine Powell then you need to be careful how you type @Catherine-powell and then select her from the list that pops up.

[Paresh3]

@Mike-And-Jane0 

Thank you for your reply. If you read my posts above you will note I did type the address in two formats as it is not clear why I get a No Match.  The reason, as I have clearly explained, is her name does not appear in a list, despite following their hint. This is not a rant, just an effort to understand the process, and I have been getting differing explanations. I also note that you have commented on another of my posts which was repeated unfortunately. I am finding my way navigating round this platform and this community, and I am sure we are not all experts like you.

I am also not sure why you feel you have to defend or apologise for Catherine Powell, but thank you for your help. I have tried many times to find her on a list typing @, but only get 4 names popup, so not sure why that is! Perhaps there is some address or contact list that I have to add people before I can write to them, but this needs further investigation.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Paresh3 When you type @ then a short list of names appears. When you then start typing the name @Catherine-powell her name comes up in the list and you can click on it.

Anyway - Do you understand why you have lost Superhost status?

[Paresh3]

@Mike-And-Jane0 

Many thanks for your reply. 

I have finally had a detailed breakdown from the latest support person, after quite a few attempts, with an explanation. 

As for the address, as I said when I type the @, I only get a pop up list of 4 names, including yours. That is why I also tried with no space between the @and the name. Airbnb automatically add the space when you type the @.  I can only conclude that I have to ADD the relevant person as a contact somewhere, before I can message them. I note that the other 3 names on the popup are people who have commented on some previous post I had, which is also probably why your name appears. So it is not straightforward.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Paresh3 as you start to type the name @Catherine-powell the list will change until she is on it. You don't need to add her as a contact - just keep an eye on the list as it updates

[Katie]

Hi @Paresh3, thanks for posting here, and I'm glad to hear you have had a detailed response from Support.

Just to clarify, it seems that you are typing a '_' rather than a '-' in Catherine's tag. If you make sure to use the right one then the option should appear 😊

I hope this is helpful for future reference.

[Feeli3]

It is amazing hosting by  Catherine and every thing can understandable and easy to contact with there're  services

[Leah153]

@Catherine-Powell  - Thank you for the update.  In regards to the new Party Policy updates, we just received an email from AirBnb stating the following:  "The listing(s) may contain advertisement or promotion of unauthorized party or party-friendly space(s)", which brought to my attention to this new policy.   Reading the comments in the Community I understand the problem with unauthorized parties and I appreciate the efforts that AirBnb is putting in to help hosts prevent these incidents.  I, however, am coming at this from a different perspective. 

The house that we host on AirBnb is on a parcel adjacent to our primary home.  The house sits on 40 acres and we have an additional 70 acres on our primary parcel....so we have some space.  We greet EVERY guest in person that shows up to our AirBnb....after all, we live right next door....we are the neighbor and want to make sure we know who is coming into our property and neighborhood and we want to be clear on the house rules and our expectations.  With that said, the Party policy references "unauthorized" and "disruptive" parties and events.  We have been hosting for over two years and we state that we allow gatherings, with prior approval, and usually include an additional fee, so people have skin in the game, so to speak.   We use the term gatherings, not parties, and the families that we are attracting are those that need a place for 10-20 people to come eat and socialize after a funeral or celebration of life (extremely common), a place for an out of town Mom to throw her local daughter a baby shower because no ones house is big enough, a baptism for a new young family, etc.  Offering these opportunities adds value to our listing and we are able to do it responsibly because of our situation living next door and having the space to offer these gathering options without disturbing a neighborhood. 

I understand that we are peanuts in the Airbnb world and as a large organization rules have to be one size fits all, but if there was a way to apply for an exception or waiver to allow pre-approved gatherings, based on our listing, history, reviews, Superhost status, lack of complaints, etc....it would be extremely beneficial to our listing and I would imagine there are a few others out there that could benefit as well.