@Lizzie @Farah1
I am not as concerned as some others about the lack of a photo for a couple reasons: 50% of my guests have a photo that would serve absolutely no purpose in trying to identify a person (too small, of too many people, dog/flower/mountain, sunglasses, etc) and I further verify their identity after they book. In fact, I'm more concerned about the number of guests who book and/or contact me with no more than a phone number and email on their profile. Guest profiles must be more robust to participate in IB (and saying "well just set the filters for Govt ID & good reviews" is not a good answer bc then hosts are punished in search bc the guest has a bad profile). Guests with weak profiles could be shown ALL listings, while only complete profiles may IB.
The single greatest thing that could settle my annoyance with the push to IB is the ability for hosts (with verifiable reasons) to EASILY cancel bad reservations. (And for the record, having to call CS and roll the dice as to whether or not they agree to cancel someone doesn't count)
I think IB hosts should appear in ALL searches (regardless of having stronger filters for IB reservations - see above)
IB reservations should be immediately cancellable if:
- the guest has an incomplete/problematic profile (bad/no pic, bad reviews, no narrative section)
- the guest doesn't answer host booking questions
- the guest hasn't read house rules (yes, they may have clicked the button, but we know they haven't read when they don't say/do/answer the hidden 'have you read this' section)
-the guest says they're already breaking some rule (too many people, children, pets, late/early checkin/checkout, etc)
IB is great IF the guest is responsible, HOWEVER, when the guest is irresponsible/uncommunicative then too much burden falls on a host to deal with the fallout.
When you have this much outcry from very active superhosts with some of your best product, then clearly adjustments need to be made. I want my space to be rented and I'm happy for that business to travel thru ABB but I need support from the system. If I'm going to be renting to no name random strangers, I might as well take my chances on craigslist.