ABB are you showing home shares the door?

[Robin129]

I'm just really frustrated with ABB's focus on absentee host facilities. 

I am a home share host. I share my home with guests. I don't live off site. I am not an absentee host. I welcome my guests into my home. I feel that ABB has regulated me, and hosts like me, to the dust bin. 

I get reminders to tell guests I have a refrigerator, iron, and all kinds of things that they might need if staying in a hotel. My guests don't wash their laundry or cook their meals. 

I'm sorry. I know I am venting/ranting. I've been with ABB a long time and see them moving more and more away from the home share experience to a more corporate hotel hybrid type stay. I joined up to share a room in my home. At first it was nice. Now, not so much.

[Normen0]

In Canada, more cities are regulating short term rentals so that full houses and apartments will not be allowed. This leaves cottages and host-in-home stays only.   I think there is a shift back to roots. Not due to the management of AIRBNB but due to the housing crisis and the fact that the majority of STRs are not paying accommodation tax to the cities, as the hotels are (as well as inconsiderate guests upsetting neighbours).  

Things are changing. Hold tight. 

[Robin129]

@Normen0 yes, regulation has unfortunately become necessary due to the bad seeds. I have always tried to abide by the health department's requirements for larger establishments, and I've always had my CPA pay taxes. I want my guests to feel that the room is clean, and that they are welcomed. 

[Debra300]

@Alexandra199,

It is interesting how there are shifts in the use of certain platforms and how they appeal to certain segments of the market.  Prior to the pandemic, our guesthouse received an equal percentage of reservations from Airbnb and Booking at about 35% each with the remainder coming from local direct bookings, and a sprinkle from Expedia and our website (never have gotten a single booking through Vrbo).   During that time, North Americans predominantly used Airbnb and Expedia, and Europeans and Caribbean travelers used Booking.

Due to government regulations we were closed from March 2020 until July 2021.  We had an immediate response when we re-opened, and 95% of the online reservations came from Booking.  It should be noted that guest demographic had equal representation between NA and European/regional travelers.  Another notable change was that about one-third of the Airbnb reservations canceled at short notice within 2 days of scheduled arrival, and previously no one ever canceled.  A high cancellation rate used to be the standard for Booking, but thus far we've had only one guest cancellation.  

[Robin129]

@Debra300 I do not use other OTAs at all. I have a direct book link on my website. I closed out my dates from roughly March 2000 through January 2022. My bookings are just coming back. Just in time for the rollout of the new search and categories that everyone is pulling their hair out over. 

[Catherine-Powell]

Hi @Robin129 and all,

Oh I love that you shared this comment. Venting is good! I assure you, our core Hosts remain the very center of our business. Thank you for all your feedback on how the platform could better support and highlight different style of hosting. I appreciate that each approach and each listing has its advantages and attracts different guests, and being able to more clearly display that would be beneficial. We value all Hosts, whether they're on-site, off-site, hands-on or use a property manager. I'll make sure to share your invaluable input to the team.

Best,

Catherine

@Debra300 @Huma0 @Normen0 @Christine615 @Maia29 @Sarah977 @Kitty-and-Creek0 @Helen744 @Anonymous @Paul1255 @Alexandra199 @Helen3 @Kelly149 

[Kelly149]

@Catherine-Powell   here's just one example of why non-hotel, unique listing hosts don't feel valued:

I received a Reservation Request last night (we are not an IB listing). The guest has not read the house rules, doesn't realize that he's "asking" to stay but rather thinks, I suppose bc he entered his cc information, that he's already booked and confirmed, and even though I immediately sent him the "here's what we need to know" message (yes, this exists as a saved template, bc only 1 out of 100 ABB guests ever reads the House Rules), I haven't heard back from him, but I've gotten 3 messages and 3 app notifications from ABB telling me to hurry up and approve. So, there are serious shortcomings in the ABB booking process for those of us who want more than just faceless, I ran my credit card thru guests. And managing on the back end, things that ABB could do better with on the front end (I don't know, go ahead and actually SHOW guests the House Rules!!) is a major time waster.

[Christine615]

@Catherine-Powell Thanks for your response.

This is more critical than you think. I’m now in California every one to two months. I just booked a hotel room for myself and my Mom (an Airbnb would have been preferable) because I can’t trust West Hollywood listings (even some in Atlanta are suspect when I’m there annually.)

I reported an investor listing with suspicious fake reviews, a fake address that wouldn’t provide checkin info to me OR Airbnb customer service on the day of arrival. Not only is it still up but the hosts (with a profile photo of NYC) has a second listing showing the same fake location. The host in Atlanta who claimed to be a busy actress but asked for money and communication outside the platform is still active. Etc……

Airbnb sends me constant reminders to use my $100 certificate and the bonus for the bad host cancellation but I can’t trust those listings, especially when I’m bringing my mom with me this time.

YOU HAVE to differentiate hosts and make it easier for experienced hands on hosts to locate and recommend similar peers. 

Although it means my host gift certificate will expire before I can use it, I gave up and booked 7 nights in a hotel. That’s a lot of lost revenue given LA prices. 

i used to write these cheerful client responses for another corporation, so I understand your approach.

But what we’re asking for is more due diligence on host vetting and a plan to give us a separate category. It’s exhausting trying to compete with all the scam investors allowed to stay on the platform. Even more exhausting trying to vett a safe place to stay when I want to be a guest.

[Kelly149]

@Christine615  It’s true. I’ve been a guest a few times and frankly didn’t like any of them. There were problems big & small and searching thru the riffraff is exhausting 

[Helen744]

Helen@744, Maybe its the location. LA can be a very odd is my observation.I travel with my son and pick mum and dad type locations and communicate with my host as best I can and have found some lovely hosts. Really . Maybe prices being what they are in that part of the world things are a little unique and extreme.H.

[Christine615]

@Helen744 its not the LA prices. I just booked a beautiful Best Western in West Hollywood and I’m paying more than the fake Airbnb I cancelled last time. A lot more. 

it’s how many fake absentee investors are on the platform and even when we report and Airbnb verifies they don’t pull the listings. I’m not spending the time trying to sort the fake hosts with phony influencer guest reviews from the real ones in Los Angeles . My local group booked Airbnb for Ireland. We just booked for New Orléans. I’m helping a new host by booking for 10 in Kansas (did same for my family last year.)

I believe in the platform but the host verification needs to improve given prior issues with guests being harmed (and now a host has been caught filming guests in intimate situations for 50+ stays)

They need a huge team on this and prosecution of these rogue hosts to show they are serious.

Why report if Airbnb just shrugs and let’s more guests be exposed?

[Helen744]

Christine @Christine615  Best western is not an Airbnb but a motel chain ,at least it is in Australia. We went to Ireland and found most bookings genuine except one which we had to leave to find another .I wonder why you seem to be doing so many third party bookings . Are you a travel agent or a host. ?Ihave not noticed any 'fake hosts ' here really . Some very bad ones in the early days .H

[Christine615]

@Helen744 . I said I booked a hotel for myself as an alternative to Airbnb after customer service confirmed my complaint re: a host issue. Now I book hotels in LA rather than screen Airbnb listings because it’s safer.

Who said anything about third party bookings?

The point is I’m not the only person reporting problems. Airbnb is suspending legit hosts for minor things but not ones we report are likely fraudulent.

[Debra300]

@Catherine-Powell,

Thanks for the tag.  I do believe that the majority of hosts would feel more valued by ABB if the company

1. stood by the hosts chosen cancellation policy;
2. removed the COVID extenuating circumstances policy (it's been two years since the pandemic started, and a person going to a location that requires vaccination and negative COVID test results to board transportation and border entry should know to purchase travel insurance or accept the risk of losing their travel investment);
3. applied policies that deter inappropriate guest actions, e.g., charge guests twice the nightly rate per 24 hour period or portion thereof for overstays, and paid it to hosts without.
4. trained CS reps/case manager to use some basic reading and critical thinking skills to confirm disclosure and genuinely contact hosts for more details when guests report violations such as on-site cameras instead of automatically suspending listings;
5. didn't appear to have a policy of delaying true resolution to legitimate claims and suspensions (why do so CS reps/case managers send messages or call during the overnight hours of the hosts location and close cases within minutes or hours when the host doesn't respond?).

[Catherine-Powell]

Hi everyone,

Thank you for giving me additional context from when we last connected. I understand why it is such an important point to consider. Again, thank you for the open dialogue.

Best,

Catherine

@Kelly149 @Christine615 @Debra300 

[Robin129]

@Catherine-Powell  - Thank you for responding to my vent. I have been away from this post, and the Community Center, for a while. I tend to check-in now and again, but not regularly.

I have for a long time felt Airbnb was leaving the home share host behind. It is now even worse with this new algorithm, and search by category. I've read the many hosts frustration over it. I lost "super host" because I closed the calendar during the pandemic. I looked at my metrics and last week saw an immediate 40 percent decline in views. If no one sees my listing the cannot consider staying with me. 

Give me/us my own category. I'm not at the lake, or beach. I'm just a house, with a room, where guests can relax, sleep well, and have breakfast set out for them. That generic "house" category is just demeaning. Call it "home share" define it as a person with a room in their home for you to stay in.

Mine is a cute little home over 100 years old. It does not have high-end furnishings. It DOES have period pieces. The guest room has a vintage oversized rocking chair, full sized bed, closet, chest-of-drawers, and a vintage dresser turned laptop friendly work space.  It's just simple, basic, restful. 

My original post is still true. While you may well tell someone up the line about my concerns, all that will happen is, "Hmm. Well. Okay. Next ...." then nothing.