Sad farewell to AirBnB

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

Today is the day we say goodbye to AirBnB as hosts. Over three years ago we began hosting on this site and while there were issues, we were very happy with the guests who came our way. Since the arrival of Plus and the dramatic increase in hosts in our area, we went from 99% of bookings with AirBnB to our current state of 0%. That is despite being superhosts, etc. All of our bookings now come from other platforms and we are very pleased with the quality of guests and the reliability of their platforms, plus their telephone support if there is ever a problem. 

We will be staying as members as we like using AirBnB as travellers - good luck to everyone, thank you for your advice over the years and here are the top four things we have learned.

1. Be welcoming to your guests, remember they may be as nervous as you - they will appreciate a smile and warm welcome
2. Don't undersell yourself as you will get the wrong type of guest
3. Hosting in your own home is tiring so remember to take a break occasionally
4. Try see your property/guest room from a guest's perspective - what would you change or do differently?

[Ricardo85]

@Gerry-And-Rashid0

What others plataforms are you using?

Ricardo

[Annelene0]

What is Plus 

[Cathie19]

Gosh 😱 @Gerry-And-Rashid0, that’s very sad news. You have been an honest contributor to the CC forum. I have taken your advice on occasion, and value your insight, experience and authenticity.

Never say never, and don’t say goodbye. Let’s just say, “I’ll  see you around sometime.......”

I had bookmarked your place in case we head off to London in the near future, but if you disappear off the platform,  I won’t be able to find you. 😢

Remember, if you feel like calling into the CC for a chat, we’ll be here! 

Take care and I wish you both a bright 2019 STR future.

[Marie21]

@Gerry-And-Rashid0

Honestly sorry to hear you are leaving ABB, those last 4 months been extremely quiet for everyone in Europe as well as others part of the worlds. I honestly enjoy reading ur comment as they are always well balanced and helpful through the years, I even register with Uplisting because you advised it.

I hope u will give another chance to AirBNB knowing that spring is around the corner and business will certainly pick up by then.

[Alon1]

@Marie261

re: 'last 4 months been extremely quiet for everyone in Europe as well as other parts of the world.'

I wonder on what basis you make your statement? Have you seen facts and figures to support this statement. Alternatively, is it your impression drawn exclusively from the Community Centre forums?

If the latter, then please consider that only a fraction of Airbnb Hosts engage on these forums. 

I can best speak for my area in London, as I frequently peruse the other listings in my surrounds. Few if any of these Hosts participate in CC, yet I can glean by their calendars that they are chugging along quite nicely. 

Moreover, prior to the CC, when there were localized forums, there used to be a very good one for London. It was called London Hosts Community Hub and provided a far more comprehensive and diverse picture of the overall situation in London.-- Airbnb replaced the local forums with 'Cities'. The London site is quite lacklustre and is no longer of much interest to anyone. There are few posts, and often no posts for weeks on ends

However, many of the Hosts who participated on LHCH do not participate in the global forums; and again I can still see that quite a lot of these Hosts are evidently doing very well.

Personally, over the past 4 months I've had one of the busiest periods in 6 years. However, this is made up not only of new bookings, but quite a few returnees, the odd referral and recommendation, in addition to a couple of people from Spare Room. But this is the way I cultivated my approach from the beginning, not to rely exclusively on Airbnb. It was folly to do so based on a system whereby Hosts are entirely dependent on Guests contact. Thus in 2012 when Airbnb office in London was very accessible and the few employees set up regularly meets, along with visiting employees from San Francisco, we used to be asked for our ideas and feedback. I suggested introducing a reciprocal posting-board, whereby Guests could advertize their visits and Hosts would be able to contact Guests to invite them to consider their options. (My idea was taken from Spare Room which operates this two-way interaction).

The response of Airbnb employees was 'great idea, we'll certainly consider it.' The visiting employees from SF even said they'd take it to the boardroom over there. But I never heard again from them.

[Robin4]

@Gerry-And-Rashid0

I am so sorry to lose you guys, you have been one of my rocks over the past three years, you have always given me and many others great advice......I regard this as a sad day.

Of course I wish you every success, I feel frustrated that wonderful hosts such as yourselves are being lost to this platform....I can understand why and that doesn't help.

Good luck Gerry and Rashid, I have you to thank for much of what I have achieved and......I would still like to think I could shake your hands one day!

Cheers......Rob 

[Mark116]

@Gerry-And-Rashid0  Sorry to hear that, but I can't blame you.  Our bookings are down also, and we have fallen to the bottom of the search results despite being superhosts now many, many quarters in a row, with great reviews, high acceptance rate and 100% response rate.

I'm also intersted in what platform you chose as I suspect we will finally migrate ourselves somewhere else, as I can feel my blood pressure rise with every request now that comes from a blank slate, no profile, no details, no thing.

[Emma271]

Same situation for me her in Brisbane, Australia Mark - great ratings 5 stars etc & we've had 2 bookings this year... same time last year I was flat out & the listing became a full time job for me.  Who do we contact?? 

[Janet480]

Having a similar issue in the Detroit area.

[Beth340]

Similar issue in northern Wisconsin. Reservations are down from last year. Typically slows way down in winter but February fills in. Time to search new platforms?

[Susan1028]

Likewise.  I’m surveying other platforms and am very pleased to see host services and mutually protective documentation and deposits not even introduced on this platform.

[Giovanna238]

am also interested in what platform you chose. I  presently have a claim against a guest with a blank slate, no details nothing just that she is from the UK that destroyed my remodeled condo. Throw up, urine and worse on every single cal king and Queen new comforters, sheets towels ect.. They broke my garbage disposal by allowing their kids to throw toys and plastic knifes in it. They broke my pump on my 2 year old washer by throwing cal king comforters and 7-8 large towels filled with throw up. I am discusted and annoyed. Please share other platforms. I just gutted my condo and spent 50,000 on upgrades so my guest feel comfortable. 

[Kevin940]

Hi,  

I'm in Perth Wa and new to Air BnB, whilst I have had a good response initially and have had some lovely guests, I too now get requests from a blank slate, no profile, no details, nothing, what is everyones take on this?.  I have been declining these as gut feeling tells me you must have something to hide if you are not open to creating a proper profile.  I have had couples from Taiwan asking if they can stay for a year!?  that was a definite decline followed by another from a single man who messed about so much I declined him.  There should be a rule which states you must have a proper profile.    

[Suzanne-And-Thomas0]

Hey guys, so sorry to hear you’re leaving this platform - much success on the other platforms that still do work well!

We have a similar experience: we were basically booked out since we started a few months ago, and then, from one day to the next: no more bookings! 😞 While planing a trip I noticed that suddenly only AirBnB Plus listings show up. I still haven’t figured out how to get regular listings to show in the search results - except, when using the map.

I hope this threat is monitored by AirBnb, and they realize they made a mistake. But, maybe, this is what they want: get rid of those who do not want to pay to become airbnb plus by simply starving them out... Who knows... Corporate America makes weird mysterious decisions...

We listed our home on another site as well, but prefer the airbnb crowd a lot! Especially the feature that hosts can review guests as well - it makes it less stressful when somebody comes who already has stayed somewhere else and was deemed ok... On the other platform all we get is a name and country of origin...

Anyhow: let’s hope AirBnB changes their attitude again!

Good luck and much success...

Thomas (and Suzanne)