Hi,
I am hosting on airbnb since 3 years, I am a (proud) superhost and I never had to contact airbnb due to any problems.
(That is also thanks to the initial support groups we had (now community) where I could learn a lot and read fun stories.)
I had so far very good experiences with all our guests.
BUT I jut recently started to DISLIKE airbnb!
Not because of bad experiences with guest or the system.
It's because Airbnb headquater has totally become a money making machine and the cool community driven sharing economy fairy tale is dead.
1) it started with new cancellation terms - they were not even announced to host, I had to find out myself! The explanation came later. If you want your old cancellation terms you pay more fee. Not even a hotel allows cancellation until 1 day before and refunds 100%!
2) They made most listings invisible by adding the "Instant booking" filter. So hosts are forced to accept Instant Booking if they want to be on the map!
3) Terms of Service - I have to accept to access my account?! I can't even come here to check what other hosts say about it?! I hate that king of treatment.
4) If you change terms than EXPLAIN WHAT you have changed and don't waste my time to read all the text to find out about it.
BTW, the new website looks very messy, not cool.
I provided great experience to my guest because liked it, it was fun, I like to see happy people, and that guest like my village and my apartment. And it was exciting to get reviews by the guest. (100% 5 STAR reviews over 3 years!)
Now the first guest didn't care to write a review.
A sign of change - for me.
Airbnb has become a mass product now, nothing better than booking.com
It is the first time I am thinking of actually using booking.com
Oh, and I incresed my prices because I am going to let the guest pay for the increased fees.
And if the new crowd doesn't clean up as the original airbnb traveler had, I am also going to charge cleaning fee. And no more goodies... And if other hosts wake up, airbnb's new strategy will loose on the long run.
End of rant.
PS: how can I open my own discussion?