Calendar finally blocked for declining to participate in covid hygiene theater

[Lisa723]

Well, Airbnb finally got around to blocking our calendar. We didn't sign up for the ECP, because according to @Catherine-Powell it requires removing from our homes all cookware, tableware, and linens that cannot be rewashed on every turnover regardless of use. This would eliminate one of our listings' primary selling points, not to mention being entirely pointless according to current science-- especially with our four-day vacancy buffer between guests. And while we understand many hosts are taking the "let's not and say we did" approach to this, we won't advertise falsely.

Fortunately we're pretty fully booked through the summer and this will give us the opportunity to prove or disprove our theory that we can fill the remainder of the year with Vrbo and direct booking.

[Ann72]

@Lisa723  I don't understand what you mean by saying that hosts have committed to "rewash every pot, pan, measuring cup and utensil in the place."

The 5-step enhanced cleaning process merely says, "Wash all dishes and laundry at the highest heat setting possible."

"Wash all dishes and laundry" in this sentence does not mean "Wash ALL dishes and laundry."  The implied meaning is "Wash all dishes and laundry that one will be washing at the highest heat setting possible."  

We live in an unfortunately literal age and most people have lost the ability to read with any degree of nuance.  However, no truly literate person could possibly interpret that sentence to mean that one must perforce wash all dishes and all laundry between every guest.  I know that's not what you meant so can you point me to the part to which you were referring?

[Lisa723]

@Ann72  when the wording changed several times I asked @Catherine-Powell  for clarification and got this reply.

 

[Ann72]

Literally the stupidest thing ever @Lisa723 @Catherine-Powell.  Language shouldn't be used so sloppily and then turned into a battering ram.

[Anonymous]

@Robin4  Re:"I am sure the only reason Airbnb have introduced this Covid policy is to protect themselves from any form of legal process in the event of a Covid-19 case being positively linked to an Airbnb listing."

Call me cynical, but I don't think they can be taken at face value on this.  We know for certain that travel is largely responsible for major outbreaks and the dispersion of new variants of the virus, but it's not profitable to discourage tourism. So instead, they try to change the conversation and reframe it around a non-issue:  in this case, cleaning. 

Message received:  Go ahead, get out and take that vacation in the middle of a pandemic - it's totally safe because your Airbnb host is using lots of Lysol.

[Sarah977]

@Robin4  "it's a totally meaningless bit of programming, because it can't be policed!"

Well, that's never stopped them before. It's just like telling hosts they have to accept service animals and esas, that the guests don't need to disclose them, then they wash their hands of it if the dog turns out to be an untrained puppy who defecates inside and chews up the furniture. They can't police it, yet they require it.

[Ute42]

.

@Lisa723 

My calendar also got blocked last week for not agreeing to the ECP,  I'm in Germany.

[Alon1]

@Ute42 

What we need is a global BLOCK party. 

Maybe Airbnb will invent a badge for us.

[Sarah977]

Good one, @Alon1.

[Sarah977]

@Lisa723  I did sign up, but it's been a moot point, since like Alon, I haven't taken bookings in my home share for a year now. It's beyond absurd that someone like you, one of the most vocal hosts on this forum regarding taking COVID seriously and following the science, even voluntarily blocking 4 days between bookings with its attendant loss of income, should be blocked because of their ridiculous protocol. 

Like you, I don't like to say I'll do something and then not comply fully, but quite honestly, because their protocol is so unnecessary in many regards, I was planning to disregard the absurd parts- I have always sterilized all surfaces guests touch, have always left one day between bookings, and have no issues with wearing a mask and distancing. But putting on gloves to carry the clean bedding? If my hands are freshly washed and the bedding is clean, why would I create more PPE garbage? And I'm certainly not going to wash everything in my kitchen, some of which never gets touched by me or my guests for months.

[Lisa723]

@Sarah977 I know, my bet is 99% of hosts who signed up either never read it, purposely misinterpreted it, or just decided to ignore the parts they find ridiculous. (Any/all of which Airbnb made very easy to do.) And maybe it's silly of me not to do the same-- it would make life easier. But to me this would be absorbing and enabling Airbnb's insanity, and more importantly, since I don't do my own cleaning, it would impose liability on my co-host and cleaners, which I just can't do.

[Sarah977]

@Lisa723  I wonder what would have happened if all hosts refused to sign up.

I've read lots of guest posts where not only wasn't the host following the protocol as stated on their listing (obvious things like the host not wearing a mask to converse with them), the place was filthy and didn't seem to have been cleaned at all.

I do appreciate the reasons you wouldn't sign up. In my case, I don't really have other options like VRBO for listing a home-share. But who knows, I may never host again.

[Kath9]

@Lisa723  I'm also really sorry to see you go. It's such a shame that Airbnb are losing good hosts. I've also snoozed my listing because, among other things, I'm not prepared to wear a mask 24/7 in my own home in a COVID-free state (and no international travellers, at least none that aren't forced into mandatory 2-week quarantine). The second there is a single outbreak in another state, our state government slams the borders shut again, a strategy that has shown to be extremely effective (reflected by its recent re-election in a historical landslide victory). I also am not prepared to wash every single dish, etc. after every guest.

As @Robin4 says, the irony is that how does anyone actually know whether you've done this cleaning? Millions of hosts around the world would have just checked that box and then ... business as usual. @Robin4 , I'm interested to know whether you and Ade are wearing masks when you interact with guests? I know South Australia is pretty much in the same position as Western Australia as far as COVID goes, i.e. no cases.

Anyway, Lisa, best of luck with everything. You were on my list of places to stay when I eventually make it back to the States. Guess I'll have to look for you on other platforms!

[Lisa723]

@Kath9 thank you! We'd love to host you. We're not hard to find. 😉 Also I'm hopeful that Airbnb will at some point as the pandemic recedes silently remove this "feature" as it has so many others. They haven't delisted us or canceled any reservations, just blocked the calendar from new bookings.

[Sarah977]

@Lisa723  Maybe they will do away with the protocol or at least change it to be scientifically logical by the time your summer bookings are coming to an end. Or when they realize how many hosts will just leave the platform if Airbnb blocks their calendar, rather than succumbing to signing up.

I sure hope so- I can't see myself homesharing until I can get vaccinated and my booking season has really only been from early November through spring. So maybe by then I won't have to be a secret non- complier.

[Alon1]

@Sarah977 

I've had the first of two jabs. Still, even after the second I don't intend to host. 

We've now entered the stage of the variants and mutations, and our vax has in early tests shown  to have only 10% efficacy. So the majority are susceptible, though to what extent of severity they don't know. It's going to take months and years....

At present it feels we're governed by Rumsfeld's Rule:

"There are known knowns. There are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns. That is to say, we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns, the ones we don't know we don't know."