Question about verified home review

[Sherry39]

Has anyone completed a "verified home review " yet? I scheduled one today and then halted it when the "reviewer" wanted me to demonstrate that our door keypad access number worked and then wanted to record the contents of my silver ware drawer! Too big brother-ish for me. 

[Helen350]

@Sherry39 Crazy. - You're a Superhost with 98 reviews. - Is that not verification enough?🤔

[Debra300]

@Sherry39,

Prior to signing up for the review, were you provided an example of the types of things that would be verified?  Did it say anything about confirming the functionality of listed features and verifying that the items described in the listing details?  

[Mark116]

@Sherry39  We did it a few weeks ago.  Our person was pretty laissez faire, it was more of us pointing out items we thought were important, e.g. here is the fire extinguisher, here is the first aid kit, etc.  We haven't heard anything from Airbnb since the review.

[Sarah977]

@Sherry39  OMG, the contents of your silverware drawer? What are they afraid is in there, dead snakes?

So screwed up that Airbnb has time for this, yet hosts' and guests' urgent messages go unanswered for weeks.

And why aren't they verifying the listings that have reviews full of complaints and low star ratings, rather than the ones with pages of great reviews and obviously happy guests?

[Larry339]

We had the verified review, and it was a confirmation of listed amenities, as well as confirming the listing description was the same as your actual space.

[Tony-And-Una0]

Hi Larry

Your place looks amazing.

I had a look at your listing and can't see that Airbnb is flagging up that it has been verified.

Seems strange that they would do all this and not advertise it on the listing.

Am I missing it?

Tony

[Larry339]

@Tony-And-Una0   Thanks for the kind comment. Verified is a new filter for listings, and as I understand it, they are rolling it out later this year. 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Sherry39 I'm struggling to see what Airbnb did wrong. Is there any harm in them checking things work and that silverware is provided? My guess is they choose random things to check in a listing - some admittedly more sensible than others.

[Sarah977]

@Mike-And-Jane0  Sherry has 108 glowing reviews. Don't you think if she didn't provide silverware that guests would have complained about that in their reviews? Additionally, she rents a private room in her home. Asking to see the contents of her silverware drawer is absurd and invasive. 

That Airbnb seems to have the time and resources for such ludicrous nonsense when they can't even answer the phone anymore- yes, there is everything wrong with this.

If they are going to spend time verifying listings, they need to start with the ones with low ratings that guests have had a lot of complaints about.

[Cormac0]

@Sherry39 

I agree with the idea of a verified review, but as usual the devil is in the detail. 

question:

Do you mean cutlery of silverware?

[Liane514]

I also had a “verified” video review of my place. They said they will add badges later this year to places that are verified (like the superhost badge). I gave them a video tour of my space and they verified every single amenity. I only see it as a good thing. 

[Super47]

@Liane514

How did they go about verifying your address?

And did they say why they can't just add your badge now? 

[Liane514]

I started the video tour in the driveway and then entered the house, but I am not sure if the address was verified, to be honest.

Ya, I asked for the badge pronto, but they said they are rolling out the program at the end of the year and they will be displayed then.

[Emilia42]

@Super47 Penelope, I would imagine that they won't add the badge until a large number of hosts have completed the verification. I haven't been contacted to schedule any verification yet and I would feel at a disadvantage if other hosts in my area received the badge months before I was given the opportunity.