Discrimination Policy

[Donna37]

I just read the email from Brian Chesky that came with the new Discrimination Policy. Sounded a lot like bullying tactics to me! I live in the home where I rent out a room. If I continue to do that with Airbnb, I no longer have any say in who comes into my home. This is NOT okay. I will no longer feel safe if I cannot have interaction with potential guests. This my home and I have enjoyed the Airbnb experience using it, but not under this new policy.

[Johannes18]

Wartburg International School Europe (WISE) Die internationale Gemeinschaftsschule in Deutschlands Mitte Dr. Johannes Hanel, Goethestr. 23, 99817 Eisenach 0049 3691/708262, hanelq@gmail.com Monday, October 31, 2016 Dear lady, dear sir: Why has an anti-discrimination policy become necessary? I feel most often discriminated because of my age. Would you please include this? I also hope that this “equal opportunity policy” leaves room for the differences in personalities. I enjoy meeting different people because they are so unequal, so unique and surprising. With a 45 year old American woman I might be able to talk more freely than with my neighbor here in the geographic center of Germany. Would you like to add such a statement?: Please appreciate each others personality with all its beautiful and ugly sides? With many thanks for an answer and with kind regards Johannes Hanel P.S. How could we work together to foster global education? Please comment the attached outline of the international school I want to found.

[Jiw0]

That's a very good point.  

But I think age descrimination is deliberately NOT included in the policy..  Because age discrimination happens all the time, specifically hosts who don't want to rent to young people, worrying about their place getting used for a big party.

So: age discrimination is clearly acceptable.  It's strange how this isn't mentioned though, in the text it gives examples of 'guests who smoke' as an acceptable reason to decline someone.  (As if guests are going to tell you that in their inquiry, or not Instant-Book..)

Smoking is such a safe example to give.  They could have just stated: "Age discrimination is A-OK with us."

[David623]

You are so right. Operate our way or get out. It's a shame to see how Airbnb is handling. I wish they'd focus on the laws that cities are passing to make short term rentals illegal vs taking these strides for universal acceptance.  Once Airbnb isbanned there will be no way to discriminate anyways so why not worry about the larger issue at play here. 

Im also concerned because Airbnb has always told me I cancel any reservation any reason. Now you can't without being considered racist or discriminatingfor 

[Sietske0]

Of course I am against discrimination, but in reaction to the new rules by airbnb I changed 'direct reservation' into non-direct reservation. And what do you think of what I had to tell a client who wants to come with his girlfriend: 'hi A, thanks for your message, and yes, you are very welcome at my place, and your girlfriend as well - as long as she does not have a Moroccan passport? For the Moroccan law forbids that an unmarried couple, if one or both of them are Moroccan, spends the night together in the same room/place. Please let me know. (if she is Moroccan indeed, you could opt for a reservation in a (cheap) hotel next by, so you can 'prove' that you are not committing adultery) So sorry, Morocco is an Islamic country and I want to avoid trouble for Nazjah, my housekeeper who will receive you, and give you the keys.'

[Helen3]

I don't know what you mean by direct and indirect reservation

Why not make it much easier  for yourself by stating on listings that in accordance with local laws if a couple hold Moroccan passports they must be married and provide proof of this.

Simple 🙂

[Tony7]

I agree - the core issue really is that guests coming to stay with a host is not an even playing field like meeting a public place .. as a host I'm inviting a total stranger into my home where I have all my personal items and many valuable assets exposed to my guests. There is a large imbalance in risk...
I have now had three very unpleasant experiences with guests which in the end cost me far more than the booking was worth due to damage and extra time cleaning / resolving the issue also quite frankly stress and distress..
I have since learnt to be very careful now accepting a booking from a guest that has limited previous feedback .. I have also learnt that unfortunatly certain age groups and ethnicities also seem to have quite different ideas of what is acceptable behavior as a guest.. and very sadly I have learned that guests with these profiles are more likely to be a problem for me as a host.. if this is discrimination then I'm sorry ! The reality is hosting is its just as risky as picking up a hitchhiker and I do need to screen the guests that are coming to stay here .. I'm absolutely opposed to racist / ageist or sexist attitudes .. and I'm usually very happy to give everyone a fair-go in a public situation ... but this is a different risk profile .. and the imbalance in risk between a guest and a host means that if a stranger is going to stay in my home then some form of screening is essential ..
So as a host, I now find myself making a judgement of the potential risk that every guest might bring .. It's quite simply just too dangerous to accept instant bookings from anyone and there is absolutely no way I would ever consider hosting in future without the ability to screen and choose who stays as a guest in my home.

[Barbara408]

I fully agree, and I also wrote that in my reply to the AirBnB email. I rent out a room in my house and it would be very unsafe not to be able to screen my guests and choose whom i let into my home. AirBnB is catering more and more as a rental platform and not the home sharing platfrom that it started out as. In my city there are many holiday appartements now advertised in AirBnB and of course for them instant book is fine.