How about catching up to reality, AirBnB?

[Dede0]

Dear AirBnB,

Even the most clueless person in the entire country (Donald Trump) finally recognized today that "social distancing" should be extended at least until the end of April. How about YOU  considering doing the same OR (better yet) going even further than our clueless "leader". Make cancellations free (for guests) and penalty-free (for hosts) through at LEAST July 1. This pandemic isn't about YOUR company's survival, it's about the survival of MILLIONS.

Regardless of whatever you do, I will soon cancel every booking I have between now and July 1, without worrying about how you might "penalize" me. Because, if you don't relax your current overly-strict rules, I won't be using your services in the future anyway, so I don't care about your penalties.

[Robin4]

@Dede0 

Dede, I am officially becoming a tart! I am spreading myself around!

In addition to Homeaway/Stayz, I am putting my listing up on Booking.com, Expedia......I am taking back control of my hosting.

I long for the days when I started here where I felt Airbnb was successful because it did everything it could to get new hosts off to a good start, and once they did get proficient Airbnb offered the most contactable of support options. As a superhost I could talk with CX in less than 30 seconds, no matter what the time of day, Superhost bonuses, my hosting life was STR Nirvana, guests kept booking and Airbnb was what the travel industry needed......At the moment, the last thing the travel industry needs is Airbnb!

All Airbnb are doing is confusing the hosting community with countless rule changes, empty messages of support which end up in sandy, bone dry mirages. 

Airbnb are currently a liability to the STR market.

I know full well in today's talk with the CEO,  all he is going to say is he is 'putting forth a robust rescue proposal to the Washington administration' to get some financial support for the hundreds of thousands of hosts who have had their livelihoods compromised.....or in some cases obliterated! Be patient, we are here for you, this is a very fluid situation, your feedback is incredibly important to our decision making,  we appreciate all you are doing for us......and on and on!

Bull.

Hosts would not see a cent of any compensation package that might be on offer. It would go into  subsidising the company's bottom line.....maintaining its profitability in the face of a travel industry market that has disappeared.

I first saw the writing on the wall in Oct 2018 when no Australian hosts got paid for almost a month, We all panicked, not because we were not getting paid, but because the company 'stonewalled' us, gave us no explanation as to what was going on. Suddenly we were not worthy of being kept in the loop.....we needed to just keep on doing what we did and everything would be ok in the end. It was, but that's not the point. I ghosted my listing across to another platform and my success has been limited with that platform  because Airbnb comprised about 85% of my future business, dates were just not available for guests to book on other platforms. 

Airbnb have now lost that advantage, they have let all my bookings go, and from this point all those future dates are available and other platforms will now have the use of my Instant book facility, Airbnb reservations will have to submit a reservation request and as my calendar fills up, the only losers will be Airbnb.

At my age, I should not have had to do this all over again, establish myself, build up a review base, work extra hard to get those guests back. But that is the price of trusting that these guys at the top were good guys, and wouldn't tread on my toes. 

Every day I learn not to trust someone!

Hey, hope you are all ok over there Dede, the figures coming from the US just now are frightening for us. 

There is a possibility here in my state of South Australia we may be over the hump! Four days ago we had 38 new cases of Covid-19, 3 days ago we had 26 new cases! Yesterday we had 12 new cases and today we have had 7.....and we have had no deaths. FINGERS CROSSED!!!!!!

Our legislature has been good and set up some really strict protocols and, hopefully, they are working!

Stay safe......Cheers......Rob

[Susan17]

@Robin4 

"Every day, I learn not to trust someone"

There are still lots of decent, trustworthy people left in this world Rob. Illegitimi non carborundum!  :)) 

[Robin4]

@Susan17 

Yeah, of course there are Susan! I don't know whether it's just an age thing but, I hate having my illusions shattered.

Throughout my working life I walked away from many deals because, something didn't sit well for me......It would end in tears for someone! Some things are not worth being a part of.

I put my heart and soul into my Airbnb hosting because I really felt these three guys had striven against all the odds to find a winning formula, and I wanted to be a part of that winning formula. They never had this business handed to them on a plate and I truly felt they would respect where they came from.

You of course are right, there are still lots of decent trustworthy people left in this world. 

I am annoyed with myself that I did not stick with them, instead of guzzling down more Koolaid than this body of mine can handle!!

This 'clap-trap will only go so far....actions speak louder than words.....c'mon Brian, that's why I won't be watching the coming video!

Stay safe Susan.

Cheers......Rob

[J-Renato0]

@Robin4  and @Susan17  and @Huma0 and @Dede0 

Booking dot com is good and thrustworth. I tried it some time ago. Their interface and feature to manage bookings are fantastic.  The only problem is, they do not manage the payment process. It is up to us. So there are lots of bookings followed by cancelations. 

I have an account on Homeaway. Never tried it in fact. I think it belongs to Expedia group, so our listing can appear also on Expedia. 

Some time ago, before 2014, I was somewhat succesful using Trip Advisor. They have strict cancelation policy, and it is costumizable. However, some guests from Trip Advisor it was somewhat entitled or troublemaker ones. But some of them it was nice.

Since the end of 2014, Airbnb used to be the best option to me, at least before the C-Virus crisis.

Now, it will be impossibible to prioritaze Airbnb anymore.

Strict policy cancelation is very important for holiday rental and home share. We the hosts does not run a hotel with lots of rooms. We have one room on each listing. If some guest cancel, we can not afford  100% losses.

I think I will be forced to prioritaze Homeaway. It is not a personal matter.. it is business. 

I can not put my listings to let with totally flexible cancelation policy.

It pains me to see that Airbnb does not appear thrustworth anymore. 

Flexible cancelation policy is unfit to my listings.

I have to say that I am a down to earth and rational person. It is not a rant. It is just business.

Another option is Craig List. I have had some mid term or long term guests in Brazil (that came from abroad, US and UK) and everything it was good. However you have to know on how to write a contract to have guarantees. The contract it is up to the host to manage it. To me it was not a problem.

[Huma0]

@J-Renato0 

Thanks for your kind advice. I am going to look into you and respond properly but, in the meantime, thank you!

[J-Renato0]

@Huma0  @Robin4  @Susan17 

Another thing I have to say.

Airbnb is not the right platform to rent mid or long term.

Actually do not know any platform that can guarantee long term contracts. 

It must be a deal directly between owner and tenant, and they must sign a contract according to the locals laws.

So, to me, I believe that craig list is the most adequate platform to put renter and owner in contact, if us, the hosts want to let mid or long term.

[Huma0]

@J-Renato0  I am not sure that craig's list is as big a thing here as in some other countries, but I could be wrong as I haven't looked at it in a long time. It also had a bit of reputation for scams and dodgy dealings. Here in the UK, I believe spareroom is one of the most popular sites. It's easy to use, free (if you don't opt in for upgrades) and I found all of my former lodgers on there.

Right now though, there is no activity. Normally I get inundated with responses, but haven't had a single on since I listed on there a week ago. The London rental market is flooded now with cut-price Airbnbs as hosts frantically try to fill their vacant properties with long-term tenants. I don't think I stand a chance unless I list at a stupidly low price, which I am not prepared to do.

[Sarah977]

@J-Renato0  Booking dot com must be administered differently in different countries. A friend of mine who runs a hostel here in Mexico with one 4 bed room and 3 private rooms tried them for awhile. They did collect the money from the guest, or supposedly they do, but she never got paid for any of the stays and after arguing with them for months, finally gave up. She also said she got the worst quality of guests through that platform. 

[J-Renato0]

@Sarah977 

Good point!  Yes, you are right. It depends on the country where you are in. In some countries it is not available. It was my case when I used to use booking dot com.

I will log in again there to see if it is already available in Brazil now.

As for the quality of guests, I was somewhat fortunate. No serious problems.

Thanks!

[Huma0]

@Robin4 

It is hard hitting and not just financially. We have put so much into our hosting and you have been doing this longer than me! We don't just put in time and work, we put in love and that is why we have built so much trust with our guests.

I am in constant contact with former guests. I chat with at least one of them every day, if not several. Today alone, and it is only 2pm, I have chatted online with four former guests. We have a bond. I care about them and they care about me.

What Airbnb is in the process of destroying is not just our livelihoods, but our bond with guests. I have never received such angry messages as those I have received from some guests recently, all to do with refunds. Airbnb goes about PRing themselves as some sort of generous benefactor in the midst of all this panic and confusion and, naturally, guests who do not fall within their extenuating circumstances are getting very upset about it. Just go look at Airbnb's Facebook pages to see them all kicking off. There is bad feeling all round. Maybe I am being naïve, but surely all of this is going to really bite Airbnb in the bum.

[Michelle53]

@Robin4     In terms of any proposals to Washington, the first line has been to recruit hosts to start calling their members of Congress.   They are obviously too cheap to pay a lobbyist.  It falls back on hosts, yet again, to do the work, same as how we always get rolled out in our local jurisdictions every time new rules start being proposed, to talk about how "homey" things are.   Not only is all the risk and most of the liabilities outsourced, but the lobbying is, too. 

Along with all the usual "bingo" phrases. I fully expect to hear "How *you* can help [yourselves]"

[Sally221]

Have you heard about the bright idea of Chesky reaching out to our previous guests asking them to "Think of hosts" & give us some $ & gift cards.  As for the bail out,there is a provision in it just for hosts- you get to apply for un-employment if you had to cancel bookings because you tested positive for Covid. Ain't that just...petals?

[Rebecca181]

Many states continue to ban "large gatherings". Our state, Oregon, has banned groups of 10 or more through September, 2020. Even so, a beachfront property that sits a ways in front of my property had a "gathering" of at least 15, possibly 20 people that lasted for several days, violating our state's guidelines. It will be interesting to see if, and how, such state-wide policies can be enforced, and whether listing agents - including STR platforms - will (or will not) cooperate.