My account has been closed

[David126]

This is partly to say goodbye to all the other Hosts I have interacted with and also give you a heads up. Firstly thanks for all your help over the last 3 years.

I listed on ABB 3 years ago, firstly with one room, then added 2 more and finally a 4th a month or so ago.

I have had around 1,000 bookings, 700 reviews and 400 5 star reviews and my rating was 4.7.

Superhost

Had one extenuating circumstances single night cancellation 18 months ago Burst pipe.

Use instant Book from about a month after I listed, I accept Dogs etc so no issues with any of ABB policies.

I have been super busy this summer, not sure when the last time was I had a night to myself,  and last weekend was our main event in town.

Most days I get a booking, but a lot of people book a week or 2 out and of late I have not had much availability.

A week ago a guest told me that she could nto find me on the AirBnB site, everyting was working fine from my end, I logged out and searched and could not find me either.

So I contacted ABB forst through the Help function , they were very responsive, congratulated me on all my good reviews etc etc, could see there was an issue bit would need to refer it, this went on for a few hours and they could get no feeback from the team that would handle it.

Couple of days later I tried Twitter, similar deal, your Manager will contact you by email.

Yesterday I tried agian, went through the same thing.

In the meantime I had Guests stay, I was paid, reviews done. All was normal.

Then I received the standard we are closing your account and not telling you why message I have seen many times on here.

Fortunately I am pretty easy to find with a Google search and most of my bookings have already contacted me and I have made other arrangements. I knew I was exposed mainly using one provider, ABB was the only site I used, I have friends, people I know stay with me. direct

I had also looked into what to do going forward and have now put the wheels in motion.

Why, well I do not know, I can think of only 2 reasons:

- My participation on here - but that seems unlikely, but not impossible.

- There was some technical glitch on my listing that disappeared me from the search function and it was easier for the person to just delete my account than sort it. I am inclined to believe this which is of course a sad indictment.

I am realistic, even with all my booking ABB probably made $2,000 a year from me, I am hardly of consequence to them.

Fortunatley this did not happen in June, I can deal with this as things have dipped, the Schools have gone back and to be honest I need a breather, has been a long summer.

My Guests were told ABB had cancelled the bookings, there were given the standard 10% credit to be used for another ABB booking and their money back. But not why.

I told them I would honour the price but without the AirBnB fee. I will be increasing my prices.

[Stay-Asheville0]

AirBnB has lost their way. 

[Colleen47]

David that is awful!!! I’m glad you have found a great niche and will continue on. How will you get the same traffic as Airbnb? Were you already getting guests from other places? @David126

[Kenneth12]

Any updates on this situation? 

[Tony134]

Everyone should read the EU link earlier, they make very fair requests of Airbnb, stating clearly what Airbnb is doing contractually now is both not legal and not fair.

http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-18-4453_en.htm

Again, in US, we call these actions Bad Faith in general.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_faith

[Oomesh-Kumarsingh0]

@David126 Could your great success be the reason behind the removal of your listings? I have done some research and looked for other hosts from Como,CO.I was surprised when i found that there were less than 200 listings in your area.Most of them have an average of 20s review and the one with the most reviews has only 117 which is almost 4 times less than you.I have also notice a lot of new listings who do not have any review yet.I am starting to think would Airbnb delist one host's listings in order to favor new commercial to take over your market.For them it is more profitable and productive.They called it the sharing econony right?

[Susan17]

@Oomesh-Kumarsingh0 They already have a way of dealing with that Oomesh. In saturated markets (most markets nowadays!) where there is a constant influx of brand new hosts to serve (including commercial operators), longer-term, highly-reviewed hosts are being routinely and regularly "ghosted" (hidden from searches) by the algorithms. (The longer you're around, and the higher your ratings, the more frequently you get ghosted - although Airbnb will tell you it's seasonal dips, or increased competition, or a glitch etc etc)

This is, of course, to ensure that the newbies/commercials will have the best chance of amassing a large number of bookings in a short period, thereby locking them into their perceived "partnership" with Airbnb. So in David's case, at least, it's unlikely that the closing of his account was related to increased competition in his area.

[Rebecca181]

@Susan17 @Oomesh-Kumarsingh0 I check my listings daily, and the reason I do this is that anytime I have changed my booking settings so that they are not in line with Airbnb's preferred settings (Instant Book with few or no guest requirements) but ARE in line with my need to feel a sense of peace and security in my own home, my two listings suddenly 'disappear' in searches. The minute I change my settings back to the way they were (requiring Government ID only) my listings magically and instantly reappear. I have done this many times over the past few months and it is always the same. Hosts that do not go back to check and see if they show up in searches after changing guest requirements might not have any idea they no longer show up in searches. And no, it is not my browser and not because I need to clear my cache / cookies, etc. And, it is definitely not my imagination. 

[Oomesh-Kumarsingh0]

@Rebecca181 The reason why you cannot find your listing when you apply the special recommendation filter and Gov ID on is simply because when you try to do a search without being logged in the filter prevent unregistered users as well as users that have not been recommended by any host from seeing your listings.

[Rebecca181]

@Oomesh-Kumarsingh0 I already checked on this with Airbnbhelp on Twitter. It was my understanding that the listing should still be seen, but that someone without previous positive reviews  and/or who was not logged in would not be able to Instant Book  - They would see a 'Request To Book' only. In fact, I experimented on various browsers and on occasion was able to see my listings with the 'Request To Book' versus 'Book Now' button on it when I switched to requiring previous positive reviews. So there is a lack of clarity and consistency here, it seems to me, but I do appreciate you response!

[Oomesh-Kumarsingh0]

@Rebecca181 Then it seems like Airbnb is doing this on purpose and making successful hosts listings disappear in order for new hosts to obtain bookings quicker.This is probably the reason behind David's case.

[Rebecca181]

@Oomesh-Kumarsingh0 Correction: If indeed listings are being hidden, it would benefit new hosts who do not use the guest requirement settings when agreeing to turn on the 'Instant Book' feature - We hosts who actually screen might be seen as being 'difficult' and non-compliant and therefore not as highly valued. But of course, listings might just be disappearing due to yet another 'computer glitch' (a common theme around here).

[Oomesh-Kumarsingh0]

@Rebecca181 Airbnb's purpose is to make sure new listings gets booked asap so as to hook the new hosts to the platform.They really do not care about older hosts who are already hooked to the system.Just like drug dealers looking for new potential junkies.No wonder the glitch word is so popular these days.

[Rebecca181]

@Oomesh-Kumarsingh0 Yes, you're likely right. Each new booking likely incites the release of endorphins and dopamine and before you know it, you are dependent on the Airbnb "Candy Man". 

[Oomesh-Kumarsingh0]

@Rebecca181 I call it the Airbnb addiction.Way more addictive than any narcotic product 🙂

[Emilia42]

@Oomesh-Kumarsingh0, I do not think that is ture because I get request to book messages all the time from guests who do not meet all my requirements. I have instant booking on but with a goverment ID set. Those guests without goverment IDs can still see my listing.

[Oomesh-Kumarsingh0]

@Emilia42 I was not only talking about government ID requirement only.I  have also mention the filter for guests who have been previously recommended and reviewed by at least a host.When you select the following one only guests who have been recommended by a host can see your listing.

[Oomesh-Kumarsingh0]

@Susan17 Concerning the level of competition in David's area it looks like it's increasing rapidly.I have seen many new listings which were mainly houses offering many rooms.So i will not write this possibility off the list of reasons why his listings were removed.

[David126]

@Oomesh-Kumarsingh0

Occasionally I would look to see who else had listed, actually a friend of mine did.

Within about 10 miles last time I looked I was the only one doing rooms, the others nearby were all stand alone listing, whole houses/cabins usually with a minimum stay. absentee owners who had the cost of employing cleaners etc.

So very different to my business. Many of them are well back from the main road and may require 4 wheel drive etc to get to if the weather is bad.

I have also has people stay with me who needed to extend their stay but I was booked and have used other places, they came back so I was never concerned about direct local competition, saw that as more the bigger Hotels in the area, most I had was 4 rooms. I will have 8 next year.

[Oomesh-Kumarsingh0]

@David126 That's great news to hear that you will double the number of rooms next year and i wish you all the best for the future.

[Susan17]

@Oomesh-Kumarsingh0 

Don't hold your breath there, Oomesh!! The mods are waaay too busy creating other cajoling posts, attempting to coerce "valued superhosts" into signing their own execution warrants by "lending their expertise" to help Airbnb to recruit/retain squillions of lovely fresh, breathless, clueless, starry-eyed newbies (sooo much easier to mould and manipulate than those feral old-timers) 

Besides - timely, helpful, informative responses to controversial/challenging/urgent host issues, is not something they *do* in the Airbnb CC... 

Never mind all that "Live like a local" and "Belong Anywhere" jazz - it's all "Out with the old, in with the new" at Airbnb these days. Remember kids - commitment, dedication, years of loyal service, hard graft, exemplary track records, top-class reviews and stellar ratings don't count for SH*T with this company. And if anything ever showed up - in glorious technicolour - how hopelessly out of touch Airbnb truly is with its existing "treasured host community",  and how utterly disrespectful, dismissive and contemptuous Airbnb *really* is of the hosts on whose backs their fortunes were built, it's this post below... the not-so-subtle digital one-finger salute to us all...

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/Supporting-new-hosts/td-p/798020

Seriously Airbnb, would ye get up the yard...