Are You or Airbnb to blame?

[Larry339]

I view Airbnb is an incredible global marketing platform and a broker getting a fee for matching hosts and guests. They have seen exceptional growth in the 12 years since inception, and there are things that I would like changed. But as I read the community forums, it seems that some hosts blame Airbnb for many of their problems and do not take enough responsibility for their listing.

I think some hosts believe that Airbnb will do all the due diligence for a host, and if a host makes a mistake, Airbnb will do a host's dirty work.

Here are my notes that I would tell a new host.

1. A host needs to due diligence on guests before they arrive or decline the booking. Trust your spidey sense its too late once they are your guests.
2. Instant bookings without your criteria being met are annoying but get what you need before the guest arrives and cancel it if you are not satisfied. No reservation is worth the aggravation of a lousy guest or damage to your property.
3. Learn the difference between a booking inquiry and an actual booking and how you should respond. Use the search function.
4. Ask a guest why they are reserving your listing. Does it make sense? Be particularly wary if they are local; it could be their party house.
5. Use community forums and the community search function. Most questions asked by hosts and answered by seasoned hosts are here. In my experience, this is a better, broader channel than calling Airbnb. You never know who is going to respond at Airbnb and their level of expertise. Here the knowledge is extensive and tested.
6. Use the save message function and set up your house rules and share your house rules again with the guest before they arrive and ask for an acknowledgement.
7. Make sure you use outside video surveillance so you can monitor your guests and for uninvited guests.
8. Meet your guests on arrival to reconfirm that the person booking is the same one who arrived.
9. If a party starts or house rules are broken, confront guests immediately.
10. If problems arise, immediately speak to the guest. You can call Airbnb and advise them, but the dirty work is yours.
11. If all else fails, with unruly or unresponsive guests, then contact the local police.

After you have done all of the above, then go ahead and blame Airbnb.

[Larry339]

@Eduardo811 Real estate is a part of the equation; however, if it was all about a real estate transaction, why do we need the Airbnb platform? 

Also, it is not only about having a website online. I own and manage another website for a different business, and I could convert it to advertising my listing. However, it would cost a fortune in advertising to drive traffic to my site. 

We need an active online firm to host our listing to get bookings, and while we may get frustrated from time to time, I think the host receives value for the 3% service that we only pay out of revenue.

[Manasui0]

@Cormac0 

honestly speaking .. they do.. is like watching a magic show.. why is it so expensive in Vegas.. 

why the apartment in uptown Manhattan are more expensive than an entire villa in Bali .. 

Airbnb is not in the business of selling property.. they are in a business of selling a travel insurance and a personal companion. Does it matter if it looks bad?? they don't really mind about the property, just interested on presenting it.. and play the part right, by the law, and seemingly equal..

just like any one they froze from time to time.. 

they even often choose silence than polite answer for a decision..

but I also know they tried harder than the other travel platform, and try to achieve above and beyond.. the line that has not been discussed, nor crossed at the past, helping others..

every body need food, shelter, safety-ness, and warmth as love. each of us have worries, hope, fear, and dreams. we all aspire to happiness and shun suffering.. 

is also what we want not what we need.. what we want is a fluid concept that constantly change according to our current condition.. so is create - able, and is change - able, so it can be tune and program through the rhythm.. thus is still in a business of illusion.. is service business.. why do you have to pay to tell some one to do some thing.. and what governs it..?? 

is the constant demand for people to fit in to compete, to earn the place, that started the business that need to relax more and slow down..

for a well prepared magic.. is worth it.. how else you going to end up at the other end of Airbnb's rainbow bridge of prepared safe shelter any where in the world at your finger tip for a choice..

basically in any language, any religion,  race, sex, colour, bla bla bla diversity and mutation..

we all feel pain when we suffers loss and happy when we get what we want.. and that is why Airbnb is getting paid.. to help you get what you want.. with out an end some times.. "above and beyond"??

cheers

[Natalie198]

I do believe that this is a great check-list for new hosts.

However, even experienced hosts face issues with certain guests and feel left out by Airbnb. Just recently, I had to educate Airbnb CSR on their instant book cancellation policies.  I sent him screenshot of their policy and did not succumb to him insisting that it was not how it worked. He ended up calling me back an hour later and apologizing. How crazy is that?

How many of the hosts know exactly how the system works and how to work through it? How many of the hosts have the guts and desire to stand their ground?

[Larry339]

@Natalie198 I agree that Airbnb has issues, and I have also experienced frustrations getting different answers from different people. It also takes time to learn the ropes through trial and error and searches on community forums and through other hosts to sort out issues. 

But Airbnb consistently delivers great guests to my suite from around the world and provides a tidy side income for my family. All that for the 3% service fee that hosts are charged.

It's also amazing the exponential growth of the firm from an air mattress in 2008 to twelve years later, a $30 billion market valuation. I think Airbnb is a monster marketing engine that is slowing. And out of necessity, I believe they will have to focus more on what they have to improve.

I also think it's essential to pick your battles in life and with Airbnb and not sweat the small stuff. And let's face it if there were a better place to go to both hosts and guests would be there.

[Manasui0]

@Larry339 

i agree in not just being a head.. but comfortably consistently creating new improvement until every thing is off line..

life is not like school.. some one told me, the difference between breathing and suffocating in the mud is the creative mind of the head (leaders) .. we are not govern any more by rules.. but more slowly mutated by innovation.. 

happy for the ride .. the struggle is real.. it offers creative solution, where many is not any more a status quo..

[Larry339]

@Manasui0 you are so right life is a journey full of brutal challenges or amazing opportunities. It has more to do with your paradigm and how we perceive our reality.

[Manasui0]

@Larry339  Life is like a roller coaster..  the scarier it gets, the more rush pump into the vain to produce the chemical called endorphin.. not planing to die with a healthy body.. I wish to die and could say.. I had a hell of a ride.. hahahha .. well that's just me... life is a play ground.. love keep us strong..

[Larry339]

Well said!

[Linda108]

Hello @Larry339 .  I appreciate your summary of points of responsibility.  I have had the privilege of participating on this forum for 4 years and have gained greater understanding of this business far beyond my direct experience as a host.  In my former profession as a psychologist, I found that the more a person "blamed" some one or something, the greater the sense of helplessness they experienced.  Appropriate allocation of "blame" is actually  most empowering.  I agree some hosts give too much power and trust to Air BNB.  Sometimes that trust is really being naive and sometimes that trust is lack of information. 

I am of the perspective that the "buck stops here" even if the error is not mine.  I cannot believe any system will work perfectly and need to have the Plan B in place.  I am not blind to how Air BNB could be better and will always advocate for improvement.  But rather than abdicate my power with theories of how "Air BNB as the man" is dedicated to screwing the little guy, I look for how I can use what is offered here to my benefit.

Not sure my perspective is shared by many hosts, but I appreciate your approach.  I do wish there was an option for new hosts to become more educated before going live.  I also have met hosts that do not have the personality that would take advantage of such an option.

[Manasui0]

@Linda108@Larry339

why make life complicated.. the choice is simple your in or out..  you trust them or not.. there is always the big battle of the good and evil, right and left (not wrong).

why we follows fears and listen to their whispers.. It stop us to speak out, to appreciate our self, that i'm fine, not dying, just in, a lot of mess, why people is complicated.. as to accept the last step of acceptance.., bargaining always complicates stuff..  is just human.. 

not to loose but to get what we want.. and is all can be twisted..

why so serious? This is life, some times you win some time you loose..

I'm like to pay respect to the beauty of being dumb, means you can be thought.. only the empty space can be filled by knowledge, when is full is full.. period

[Larry339]

@Linda108 I appreciate your thoughtful comments. 

Virginia Satir wrote some great books on people, relationships and dealing with stress. One quote from her that I remember is 'Problems are not the problem; coping is the problem' We all use many coping strategies and blaming is a common one especially so in today's world and the effect is disempowering.

Thanks again for your thoughts.