Paranoid about hosting

Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

Paranoid about hosting

Along with everyone else, I are seeing an ever increasing number of negative posts.

I want to help but these days on the Community Centre we seemed to faced with an ever increasing number of hostile posts.

 

I have seen my fair share of adversity, I have had to watch my wife Ade go progressively downhill, I am slowly loosing her to MS.

Two years ago I had to sit across a Neurologists desk as he told another of my girls she has MS....what th, this is 'Groundhog day'!

But it is not all bad, you do get to turn your life around and make the most out of it when faced with these challenges.

Ade and I have travelled to just about all parts of the earth, and we never would have done that if it had not been for the MS! We needed to do it while we could!

Kate and I....wow we have shared some moments.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FO39w91qntI

I never would have done that if I had not had to deal with some serious challenges that have come my way.

 

I love my hosting, sure the odd little ripple appears on the pond every now and then, but Airbnb has been a wonderful part of my life and my life would have been so much the poorer had I not gone down this path!

 

We must make the best of our hosting and I hope I can inspire a few good stories!

 

Cheers.....Rob

 

43 Replies 43
Nutth0
Host Advisory Board Member
Chiang Mai, Thailand

Hi @Robin0 , I'm near 2 years of being Airbnb host. I do read a lot of your post when I visit the community. I also have a positive experience. A negative story can happen but still manageable and let it go. I now start Airbnb experiences and it makes me a life again. So I do want to encourage other hosts to try to do Airbnb experience too. Love your video, Feel like you are so young at heart! I done a Paragliding in Nepal too that feels so great.

 

Cheers ....Nutth

  

Sandra126
Level 10
Daylesford, Australia

Hi everyone. Very nearly all my guests are delightful. Love hosting. But the forum is indeed full of questionable things, I guess because when you have a problem or are fed up is when people turn to it. But hey @Robin4, at least the old one ''WHERE'S MY EURO?" is never asked anymore since we started getting paid in fractions. :):):):):):)

Where's MY euro? Just for nostalgia, thought I should ask it once more.

Paul1105
Level 7
Cleveland, OH

@Robin0

Overall my experience with a Airbnb has been wonderful.

I've truly enjoyed it.

I never had a guest that wasn't true pleasure to host and I've had quite a few.

I presume you're referring to my post about the odd experience I recently had.

In balance, however, I haven't had any bad experiences other than this one. Thanks for the reminder to keep things in perspective. 

Although the situation that happened to me was so strange I wanted to share it. It's not about paranoia, rather...

Well I just don't have an explanation. And either does anyone else. Yet.

Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Paul1105

Hi Paul, no I wasn't refering to your post, I too have had an odd experience or two!

But I guess it's human nature, the only time we want to get things off our chest is when something has gone wrong but, over the past 2 years or so, the theme of the forum has gone from asking a question to, demanding an answer.

There is another site called 'Airbnbhell' and I would be so disappointed if the Community Centre went down that path where the only posts are critical ones where nothing is witheld.

I so appreciate what @Lizzie  and  @Quincy do in introducing experience topics, but I would like to see something aimed more at humour, heart tugging, something we could have a laugh or a cry over to re-attach ourselves with our human side! 

I would love to see a 'What is your funniest experience in hosting' page.

I would love to see a 'What's the most profound thing a guest has ever said to you' page......a 'What is the dumbest thing a guest ever said to you' page.

 

There are so many lovely stories out there that give us all a good feeling, give us ideas on how to be a bit better, how to better understand and handle people.

 

Cheers.....Rob

Agree with you @Robin4. After reading your post, couldn't help but picture the Community Centre page one day having a Reddit vibe. Imagine that! Funny, abit of drama, heartwarming but mostly random wholesome fun (of  sharing memorable hosting experiences on airbnb).

Victoria567
Level 10
Scotland, United Kingdom

Hi@Paul

Its really just called having the unfortunate experience of having a rogue guest at worst, or an entitled pain in the stump, or any variation in between.

 

 

Sandra126
Level 10
Daylesford, Australia

Ah but @Robin4, we turn any topic into humour! Don't need a designated one, they seem to go that way sometimes  just because because.

And THAT is why I am on the forum, mostly.

Alexandra316
Level 10
Lincoln, Canada

@Robin4 I have seen that with my own positive topics, like my recent one about gifts from guests, there are generally a ton of people who want to share their positive experiences. There are 45 comments, and lots of great stories. I've always felt like things are pretty positive here, on the whole, and I like that moderation is barely needed because people are generally kind to one another. It's surprising. As others have said, many people only come here because they need help with a problem or because they're frustrated with Airbnb, so I'm kind of surprised it's not more negative.

 

By and large, my guests are great. I've hosted more people this year than I thought was ever possible, and I've met some wonderful people. Being a host is mostly wonderful, with the occasional hints of madness. As long as we can keep our senses of humor over challenges, I think it's all good.

Lizzie
Former Community Manager
Former Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

I love this topic @Robin4. 🙂

 

I think here in the CC, there are lots of different reasons for why we come together.

 

As a community we are here to support one another, an ear to listen and work through things together, which inevitably means there are going to be negative discussions. This is never nice to see,  but lots of positives can also come from these and just knowing there is someone else who cares is a big thing. 

 

For every negative experience shared though, there are thousands if not more, positive experiences happening (when you think about it millions of trips are going on as we speak), but like many things it is easy to sometime overlook the positives and that is not just in the CC in it can be in many things in our lives.

 

I think there are lots of positive things here in the CC and one of those has to be the fantastic group of friendships we have built together and there are many many great personalities here. Many great stories and humorous discussion have also been shared – I mean where else are you going to find a topic on avocados next to one about gifts your guests have left (your post in that thread Robin has to make anyone laugh).

Plus, all the amazing feedback you give on product is really helpful and we are seeing the different teams respond more and more to what is shared here. 

 

However, I agree we can definitely get more of balance with both positive and negative discussions. 

 

I have a few things I am thinking about at the moment, but we all have the power to help with this, this is our community, and we can shape and build on the amazing parts we already have! (I feel this is the part when the Rocky soundtrack should kick in).

 

It would be great to hear ideas everyone has for creative positive topics we could do here in the CC. Perhaps things you would like to see more of, perhaps more thoughts on the series we have and additional ones (I think community stories could be a great one), we also use to have a discussion where each day we would pop in and say hi to each other and share things we are doing called Good morning, good evening and good night (perhaps we might like to rekindle something like this)...the world is our oyster.

 

What do you think?

 

 


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Hi @Robin0,

 

I'm late to the party, as usual. Cracking on with our new 'Sea Suite' which entails converting the villa garage and 2 disused water tanks into a 2 double bedder. So, banging,painting , hammering ( and a wee bit of swearing) squabbling, redesigning when an idea goes wrong & so on, is taking up all our free time, yet need to finish tout suite to get ready for photos etc ... Quite daunting, really, although loving every minute!

 

Just loved the video, Rob , it 'blew us away' and so scary to us wimps. ' Flipping Heck!', I said , 'Panagia mou ! ' said Vassilis. Your white face said it all. Loved the music too, so upbeat. What a wonderful memory of sharing this experience with your daughter, Kate.

 

Must have hopefully blown a whole bunch of negative/confusing emotions away.

 

Keeping things in perspective as Paul and Lizzie mentioned is so so true.

 

Thanks so much for sharing this , Rob.

@Βασίλης-and-Ann0

Hey, greatest of luck with the Sea Suite guys....I am sure you will do well with it. And I know just how much hard work is involved Vassilis. I am 9 years into a 10 year project here and I am not even half way! But mate, maybe you are a bit more competent than I am!

 

That video was a few years ago now! At the time, Kate was going out with the guy she was strapped to, and he talked her into doing a jump! We went across to Monarto (about 40Kms from here) one afternoon to see Kate do her jump, but she didn't get to do it on the day...weather conditions deteriorated. It was a hot overcast afternoon and you could see the thunderheads gathering! I saw what was to be the last drop of the day.......I watched these tiny little specks in freefall for what seemed like forever and then the sails opened and I suddenly thought.....'hang on, I need to have a share of this fun' so, we were both re-scheduled for the next Saturday! Saturday came and it was blowing a gale....Da*n, cancelled for another week. The next Saturday it dawned clear and still so, down to Monarto again. This time it was on! People say..."didn't you feel scared", and I have to say up until the moment I sat in that open doorway with a sh*tload  of nothing between me and the ground, (12,000 ft).....no I didn't. Lets face it when you have someone strapped to your back who has done it 1,800 times before, it sorts of gives you a bit of confidence you will live to tell the tale!

Next second we were in the air, and I realised, this, is, what, I, was, made, for! This was the most fun I have ever had in my life. I cannot describe the total exhilaration of freefalling. The only physical thing I was concerned about, we each (both Kate and I) had a photographer, and I could feel my cheeks flapping like a set of elephants ears in the jetstream....and I thought, 'that's not going to be a real good look'! That was in the days when I still had some semblanse of a sense of vanity! 

A minute into freefall Dave pulled the cord, my legs shot up past my head like a pair of canon shells and we settled into the gentle floating phase of the jump. Dave gave me the control cords, one for each hand...pull down on the left one to go left, the right one to go right, both of them to go up, let them both out to go down....it was so easy. Kate and I revolved around each other in a large circle and shouted wild exclamations to each other as we slowly decended back into our mundane lives.

 

You have to do this once in your life Vassilis. I have had enough challenges to realise, this is not a dress rehearsal for something to come.....we are in the here and now, and I am never going to let an opportunity pass me by!

 

I have to apologise for the editing. I put together bits of Kates video and bits of mine hence the disjointed music breaks and the sudden ups and downs in altitude readings....

 

And also, apologies for using Van Halen with their 'Jump'......it just seemed like an appropriate song choice!

 

Cheers.....Rob

Fred13
Level 10
Placencia, Belize

Love to see a topic along the lines of: "What have you learned of human nature as direct result of getting into hosting" That may prove interesting, and informative.

Monica868
Level 1
Harlingen, TX

There are negative posts possibly due to deceptive practices, especially related to refunds.  If your intent is to not refund someones money if they do not cancel within two days of booking, you need to state that clearly.  Rather, there are persons giving the impression of a 48 hour cancellation notices, a 50% refund period, and a 14 day refund period, when actually there is no such thing in practice.   

@Monica868  It is clearly stated on each listing what the cancellation policy is for that listing. You need to read the listing. There are 5 types of Cancellation Policies each one with different rules. Flexible, Moderate, Strict with 48 hour grace period, Strict 30 day and Strict 60 day every listing posts which one applies to their listing, so there is no deceptive practices.