Strengthening our commitment to community standards

Airbnb
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Strengthening our commitment to community standards

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Hosts around the world have told us how much hosting means to them—personally and financially—and how rewarding great guest experiences can be. On the flip side, a bad experience with a guest can be frustrating and, in rare cases, even disruptive. We know these moments can meaningfully impact you and your time, money, and local community.

 

You’ve also given us feedback that you’d like us to hold the entire community, both hosts and guests, to the same high standards. We agree. That’s why in early 2020, we’ll be rolling out enhanced guest standards that set higher expectations for a trustworthy community. 

 

Establishing stronger guest standards

Our new Guest Standards Policy will clarify what Airbnb expects of guests, with the goal of ensuring that hosts can consistently have more positive experiences. When a guest doesn’t meet one of the standards outlined in the policy, they’ll receive a warning with education around how to be a better guest. We’ll track and weigh infractions (based on their severity), and repeated infractions may lead to suspension or removal of a guest from the platform. 

 

These guest standards build upon existing policies we already have in place to address the more serious trust and safety issues that result in immediate removal from the platform. We’re enhancing our system to better monitor for guests who engage in less serious misconduct, so that we can educate and take appropriate action against those guests. 

 

By setting clear standards, staffing teams to take action, and putting technology in place to track noncompliance, we expect to improve overall guest behavior and increase community trust. 

 

So what are the standards?

The new guest standards address some of the most common concerns expressed by our host community, and support our broader efforts to address parties that are unauthorized or disturb the community. Beginning in early 2020, the new policy will cover these five scenarios:

 

  1. Excessive noise: A disruptive level of noise, like loud music, prolonged shouting, or repeated pounding or stomping. It does not include complaints about minor or short-term disruptions (like a loud phone call) or noise that can’t be avoided (like walking up and down the stairs).
  2. Major cleanliness concerns: Anything that requires excessive cleaning after a guest checks out. This means extensive amounts of trash, debris, or food strewn throughout the property. It does not mean minor messes (like food left in the fridge or bagged trash left next to a trash can) or anything that could be considered part of normal wear and tear or turnover (like unwashed linens or a dirty kitchen).
  3. Unauthorized guests: When more guests stay overnight or visit the space than the host has authorized for that reservation.
  4. Unauthorized parking: When a guest or one of their visitors parks in an area that the host designated as off-limits, or when a guest or their visitors exceeds the number of cars that the host allows to park at the property, as set out in the listing description.
  5. Unauthorized smoking: When a guest or one of their visitors smokes inside the listing and the listing description prohibits smoking (this includes the use of tobacco, marijuana, e-cigarettes, etc.).

 

The new Guest Standards Policy kicks in when it’s been determined that a guest has engaged in one of these behaviors. Hosts may report a violation, and we’ll also accept reports of excessive noise through our Neighbor Reporting tool or from local law enforcement. 

 

What you can do 

We encourage you to clearly outline what you expect of guests in your House Rules, listing description, and messages to your guests. It’s particularly important to specify your rules around parking, extra guests, and smoking so we know if it should be considered “unauthorized” under the policy. When a guest fails to uphold these standards, it’s important to begin by addressing the issue with them directly—this is often the quickest path to resolution. In all cases, be ready to provide evidence that demonstrates a rule has been broken, whether that’s photos of excessive trash left in your space, an emailed complaint from a neighbor, or some other documentation. 

 

What comes next 

The second phase of the rollout will include additional scenarios we know are top of mind for you, like late checkouts, late check-ins, and unauthorized pets. Our goal is to roll out these additional standards later in 2020. Over time, and with your feedback, we expect to cover even more situations that are important to you. 

 

Your top questions, answered

Over the past few weeks, we’ve spent a lot of time talking to hosts and collecting feedback on this new policy. We’ve addressed a few of the top questions below.

 

 

Why are you rolling out guest standards in phases? 

These new standards represent a significant change for the community (both hosts and guests), and we want to make sure they’re working as intended before we expand them. Rolling out the policy in phases lets us carefully experiment with the standards, education and warning systems, processes, and technology systems we’re using. We aim to gradually expand and refine the policy to address other challenges that are specific to certain groups of hosts as well as different property types. This will be a journey, and we appreciate your input along the way. 

 

What happens if I report an urgent safety incident while it’s occurring?

If you or your property is in danger, you should always contact local authorities first. We already have policies in place to handle severe safety issues, like assault and violent threats. Violators of these policies are, and will continue to be, subject to immediate removal from the platform. We’re also in the process of rolling out an Urgent Support Line that routes hosts directly to agents who are specifically trained to handle these kinds of calls. The goal is to ensure your call is handled quickly and consistently, so you feel supported every time. 

 

How will I be supported when I call in with an issue about a guest in one of these scenarios?

As part of the new policy, hosts can request penalty-free cancellations for the remaining nights in a reservation when a guest has violated these standards and the situation cannot be resolved. And as always, if there is any damage to your property as a result of one of the above scenarios, you can file a claim under our $1,000,000 USD Host Guarantee.   

 

Why aren’t you enforcing all of my House Rules?

Initially, the new Guest Standards Policy will focus on the House Rules that hosts have told us they care about most. We know there are lots of other scenarios that hosts include in their House Rules and listing details. And while these scenarios are important to you, they may not be relevant to all hosts (e.g. rules around whether shoes or certain types of food are allowed in the home). Although these more personal rules aren’t covered by our new Guest Standards Policy, you can help set the right expectations with clear communication—sometimes a respectful reminder can be enough to resolve an issue. 

 

Keep the feedback coming

You've been telling us we need more robust guest standards to make our community stronger. We expect that, over time, these changes will improve guest behavior and your experiences as a host. We’re pleased to take this critical step in our journey to improve safety and reliability for our hosts. There’s still a lot more work to be done, and we appreciate your ongoing input. 

 

The growth of our community, and the trust we’ve built, could not have happened without your partnership. Thank you for all you do, and please let us know if you have any feedback in the comments below. 

754 Replies 754

@Brenda821  There’s not a big difference between regular rental and Airbnb rental income. If you rent on your own, that’s when you have more control. If you don’t like someone, you don’t sign a rental contract. I find that with Airbnb anyone is allowed to walk into my home, loaded with Airbnb protection regulations, so they “feel” they can do anything they want. Yes, that is a scary thought. I would advise anyone to read these 400 posts before they rent out as an Airbnb host. It’s an eye opener. And I am glad we talk.

Hi Brenda:  Just to balance your impression, I have hosted over 450 guests and only had (1) that disrespected my property or did not comply with house rules.  Overall Airbnb has reinforced my positive views of humanity.  

 

These posts are educational to read as there are things to be aware of and ways to protect yourself.  As Airbnb has grown exponentially there is absolutely more issues.  

 

Good luck!

Sherri

I've been a Superhost for nearly ten years. I've had a number of great guests and some questionable characters stay my place. For the most part I enjoy hosting but Airbnb can no longer manage what they've created for temporary home stays. The mediation between hosts and guests is Airbnb; they're an impersonal facilitator for both parties to transact. They don't  care about who stays in your home, as long as payment is received. They only care about how many more hosts enroll and how many guests book. The organisation is immune to our suggestions for policy changes. For example, there are approximately fifty-thousand hosts in New York City and twenty-five thousand hosts in Brooklyn alone. The abundance of hosts prompts insulting algorithms to suggest, "reduce your nightly rate to as low as $35/night". Really?  A guest who solely shops for price, not for quality is not the type of person I want in my house.  I've reduced my prices by half over the years and I have found the less I charge the quality of the guest is compromised. I'd rather have an empty bed than reduce my nightly price to make my home more competitive. I've said to Airbnb management, they have enough hosts but they  keep adding to an overpopulated host market. They need to have more oversight for those hosting, especially for illegal residences.  NYC is trying to eliminate Airbnb from operating and the hotel industry uses bad hosts and guests as examples for why home sharing should be expunged. When a huge selection of cookie cutter hotels are available the hotel industry sites examples of illegal homes and inhospitable guests. When a  disrespectful guests checks in to an Airbnb and their behaviour is intolerable, even criminal, it's shocking to both  the host and other amenable guests. However, the City uses the rare example of bad behaviour to stop all Airbnb's from operating. If there was more oversight by Airbnb, from both sides, host and guests, perhaps the company would gain respect from the community. I don't have a solution for Airbnb but they created an essential market for both hosts and guests; the company can certainly figure out how to mange both parties better. Airbnb needs to fabricate an algorithm to make suggestions to the CEO's of the company to better mange what they've created. 


@Doug130 wrote:

I've reduced my prices by half over the years and I have found the less I charge the quality of the guest is compromised. 


Absolutely!!

Giuliana142
Level 10
Toronto, Canada

Aaaaaaand when you accept a guest who will be using your place for sex & drugs & alcohol and so on, you are automatically advertising for all the rest, that Airbnb is the place to be when a guest wants to be an animal. You shelter and encourage misconduct.

The brut (guest) who succeeds at your home, spreads the news to all his delinquent and mischievous friends “HEY PEOPLE, GO TO THAT PLACE, YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH ANYTHING THERE”.

So many hosts are concerned about their reviews and superhost status. How does that compare to your personal reputation and dignity? Any thoughts?

Just because you’re a good person doesn’t guarantee you’ll be appreciated. 

My advice is that a host has to be present in the home while they’re renting and watch every guest’s move. What you don’t like, you don’t need to live with.

Sheri1
Level 2
Silverthorne, CO

I had a great experience with a guest that made me VERY uncomfortable. The person booking the room turned out to be an employer of a local contractor, and the person staying was someone entirely different. The guy wouldn't look me in the eye, and they were very misleading about who was actually staying when they showed up. There were other elements that presented danger I won't go into.

Airbnb did the right thing and called the man who booked the reservation and asked him to leave the property, which he did within a few hours. I never went back home until they were gone and changed my door code immediately. I didn't have to get the police involved or anything else which was great. If they had not agreed to leave, I'm not sure what would have happened, but I am forever grateful to know Airbnb has my back. 

 

@Sheri1  Sounds like a horror story. Not sure what was so great about it. It should never had happened. People, hosts, are trying to be too polite, I noticed. Sweeping under the rug serious consequences.

Giuliana142 ... yes, it was scary but I felt like Airbnb did what they could given the situation. I mean, the people who booked lied and no one would have known that until they showed up. Given the platform it would be impossible to fully vet every booking to know if they were going to do something like that. The thing I DID change (now that you mention it) is NEVER to accept a booking who hasn't provided their ID and been verified, and if they JUST joined the platform and anything seems fishy or out of the ordinary, I decline the booking. My safety is my top priority and the money is not worth taking a risk on someone or a situation that feels wrong. 

You make a good point that sweeping something under the rug is not a good idea!

Sheri, if I wouldn’t go through a calamity of my own, I wouldn’t be able to relate. I hear ya, and thank God that things ended well, for both of us.

I am starting to realize that risky business is not for me. You have a very wonderful listing. I hope you get great guests from now on.

My listing sounds very restrictive. If none of my house rules seem strange to a happy go lucky guest - he/she might just book.

Lynne320
Level 2
British Columbia, CA

I just had a guests who were so drunk and disorderly, security guards repeatedly tried to remove them from the pool and grounds . I called Airbnb to let them know that I was asking them to leave and a "case manager" asked me to give them another chance. They had already had several chances and I was worried about damage to my apartment not to mention, totally disrupt the other residents on the building. Small children were scared to be in the pool with them. He wanted me to take photos and videos. Seriously?

The case manager assured me that I was insured with Airbnb. I laughed so hard! I had a guest destroy a granite table--left it shattered in pieces and had to fight to get reimbursed. It took weeks of filling out forms and having frustrating conversations. That guest was from Argentina, I am in Canada and the condo is in Mexico. And I, like others commenting here, got my first bad review.

Back to the story:  I told the case manager that I don't have a month to fight with them and get everything replaced. Plus I have other rentals immediately. It is high season in Mexico. In the end our Security guards called the police on the drunk guests after I was unsuccessful in my attempts to get them to leave. Five Federalis in full tactical gear and balaclavas with machine guns drawn, cleared the apartment, and went looking for them on the property (as they were hiding) and escorted them out.  The guest wants her money back because she didn't break any rules and only had "one beer." Airbnb is reviewing it. So messed up.

Pete2721
Level 2
Los Angeles, CA

 

Hello!

 

In reading all of the above posts, the time has come to stop Airbnb from giving Guests the power of the bad review to shake down Hosts into not collecting money for breaking rules or damages... or even just shaking us down for a refund just because they can.

 

https://www.gopetition.com/petitions/stop-unfair-reviews-from-guests-on-airbnb.html

 

Also, please pass along if you agree!

This is a great idea, but I am unfamiliar with this particular platform.  Can you tell me your vision about how this works?

This is a great idea, but I am unfamiliar with this particular platform.  Can you tell me your vision about how this works?

Sherri0
Level 3
Bend, OR

In the past four years I have received 417 reviews from guests visiting from  37 foreign countries and ALMOST ALL of my guest experiences have been positive. I have been a Superhost for 18 quarters in a row.  I have worked hard and earned every positive review I received.  I offer the following advice to my fellow hosts (see first)  and to AirBnB (see below.) 

 

Fellow hosts:

 

Attracting Good Guests

 

I believe my success can be attributed to several things:  prompt response to all inquiries, an attractive profile and pictures, and a more than fair price compared to offerings around me.  I have in my profile the type of guests that I am wishing to attract.  I do this, I believe, in a positive and uplifting manner...example:  "guests will find a welcoming host in a warm and cozy atmosphere to use as a home base while visiting Bend.  Diversity Appreciated.  Open-hearted folks encouraged to visit."  

 

I do not have legalism language in my house rules but I do believe I set proper expectations. Example: "RESPECT and POSITIVE ENERGY REQUESTED! All are welcome and will be treated with the utmost respect. I am a coach and a healer, so maintaining a clean, clear and uplifting space is important and your assistance is appreciated. Communication is critical to ensure we both have a great experience with one another. Please let me know if you have any special needs or requests."

 

I arrange my schedule to be present when ever guests first arrive. (My best insurance policy.)   I practice "radical hospitality" and weave in my expectations in person (because they do not read)  in a warm and friendly way.  

 

Addressing issues immediately:

 

If I do have an issue with a guest I address it up front in non-aggressive and positive language.  I generally start with "I want to ensure we both get good reviews after your stay.  I have a request:  (I try to put the request in win/win language/i.e.  My home is very important to me and I am hopeful you can appreciate the loving care I put into providing a beautiful space for you...please don't leave wet towels on the floor that can damage the wood floors.  Yes, I do check on guest rooms during their stay.  It is my home after all.    

 

Review guests honestly 

 

I only had one negative guest experience  out of 450.  The review I left was honest: "This individual is better suited to stay in a hotel as she did not respect my property and did not follow house rules." 

 

AirBNB is not a property management company

 

I realize that by living on property I have a better chance of having a positive guest experience.  AirBnB is not a property management company and cannot offer you the level of service you would get if you paid the fees typically charged.  They are not set up to collect proper deposits and screen guests properly.  Bottom Line:  You get what you pay for.  I do know AirBnB off-site hosts who do a great job by being in good communication and setting proper expectations, but I believe it is a much steeper hill to climb.

 

To AirBnB

My thoughts about the declining culture, sufferable levels of service and the Future of AirBnB

 

Having been a business coach for 25 years, I can honestly say I expected a declining level of service and responsiveness as AirBnB grew into the global monster that it is today.  I also feel discouraged as a host for many of the reasons others have stated :

 

  1. Constant encouragement to lower prices to ridiculous level is disrespectful.  It makes me feel like all you care about is getting the money and you disregard what it takes for us to provide excellence, especially when the risk is ALL OURS.  Your stated care and protection for hosts feels mostly like smoke and mirrors. 
  2. Another example of disrespect is when I do block out dates (which is rare) you constantly harass me to open those dates.  They are closed for a reason...please respect my ability to make my own best business decisions.  
  3. Service and knowledge levels in call centers has seriously declined, even though I supposedly have access to the superhost hot line, it does not appear that way.  Getting prompt service and knowledgeable staff WOULD BE POSSIBLE but would take a greater commitment and investment than you are apparently willing to invest, especially as you have grown.  (EXAMPLE:  It took 3 calls  and several hours of my time to get a guest a refund I felt they deserved when the price you quoted got magically increased when the actual booking took place.  Three different agents could not understand why I was fighting for a guest when it would take money out of my pocket.  Their communication skills were poor and their ability to understand was painful to experience.)  Four years ago your service was great.  Now, it's not worth my effort to call...more evidence I am "on my own."  
  4. One Big Beef:  Your $1,000,000 host and guest guarantee are a sham and I'm pretty sure everyone knows it.  Perhaps you could partner with a real insurance company and be able to be more upfront and have more integrity.
  5. I went to both of your AirBnB conferences (Paris and LA) and found them inspirational and educational.  Too bad you discontinued that benefit to hosts.  Especially bad that you just slunk under a rock and never addressed the issue openly.
  6. In my own long term planning I am planning to leave AirBnB at a certain point.  All good things tend to come to an end, and I anticipate when you go public the AirBnb culture, the main reason I hosted on AirBnB originally, will be crushed by the requirement to provide quarterly profit to stock holders.
  7. I am taking the time to write something to you that I doubt you will ever read, based on my past experience on the Community Center boards, that have NEVER been properly managed.  The degree of negative comments that are being shared on this thread alone make me wonder why you increase your negative press and do not have proper staff monitoring or responding.
  8. I do wish to express my gratitude for the opportunity I have had during the past four years.  I have met wonderful people, and now have friends around the globe, that I cherish and am pleased to call my friends.  Thank you for having the vision to create a cultural phenomenon that, for a while, truly did "change the world."  I hope when you make your billions when you "go public" that you continue to make a difference and give back to the same degree that you were blessed by good fortune, good timing, and some extremely talented people you hired initially to help you grow.  

 

 

Kristin906
Level 1
Canton, MA

Thank you for continually improving the process, I hope that you will revise the "cancellation punishment" for owners.    I was encouraged almost pressured by the  site to allow automatic bookings, so although my rental has very strict check in/check out rules, the system failed and let a person rent for only a few days (we have a 7 night minimum).   I  was in touch with the person (who was inquiring about a rental a year in advance) and explained the situation and we were very cordial and understanding, unbeknownst to me, my whole page was flagged for MONTHS saying that I had cancelled and then Airbnb was going to fine me for "cancelling" a reservation.   After over an hour on the phone, I was able to get this removed and also removed the instant booking feature from my page.   Very aggravating and probably cost me rentals as I was unaware of the punishment!