Does Airbnb send undercover quality control?

[Maria11831]

I think that Airbnb send these quality control people  at least once a year -they are really similar  and you could tell that there is something off and that  they will downgrade and undermine your rating but it is too late once he is in  your property. The platform actually exploits your efforts and hard work by undermining your rating thorough such undercover guests because then you have to compensate these negative scores with much more bookings and positive reviews - you drop prices, you add extras but nothing is enough. There is no conspiracy here- pure capitalism. I am furious because this happened to me last year but now my last guest made even more damage to my rating without any explanation or complain. I was always available and was waiting for him an hour before the official check -in -then he gives me 3* check-in rating; he used a 30% off promotion in a 160sq. m downtown apartment and put 4* on value and location. He gives me 4* communication, when I was always available.This has never happened to me before (except of a similar but not so brutal case last year) and I am sure that this guy was a profecional saboteur. I recognized the trouble once I layed eyes on him. I wrote to the airbnb support but surprise, surprise - nothing happened. I am truly disgusted. 

[Fred13]

"Many of the most entrenched complainers are entitled people who, among other things, believe they are entitled to discounts and to paying less. They are over-valuing their own needs and under-valuing the needs of the host. It’s a kind of selfishness, or it could issue out of the profound self-centeredness that is related to Narcissistic Personality Disorder, or it could just correlate to the narcissism of a person with inadequate feeling development or ability to put themselves in anyone else’s shoes."

Annie. Non-phycologists tend to use the short version - ^^^ is an 'a******e'.

[Ann72]

@Fred13  🤣

The non-psychologist in my head says that and worse!

[Anna9170]

@Maria11831  You have an excellent rating, why so much desperation from just 4*? If we go so crazy because of the rating, there is no point in doing it))). 

[Maria11831]

I am good at making a storm in a teacup 🙂

[Anna9170]

@Ann72  Dear,  a little disagree, you do rent a completely different class. I'm not saying that "hellish elite". 😂 But it makes no sense to compare Zara and MaxMara, for example.  This is a different segment of the market, and discounts for those people who are willing to pay 500 Euros for two nights (yes, taking into account cleaning and fees) will be negatively perceived as if they were idiots or there is some kind of scam.
The situation at the housing market in the inexpensive segment is completely different, because it is focused on another client, and on another psychology. 

[Ann72]

@Anna9170  I think this is what my grandmother used to call a "back-handed compliment" 😂 But I'll take it 😘

But I don't quite understand.  You're saying that people who can afford a more expensive place are insulted by discounts?  Or that a discount at that level of pricing indicates there's a scam going on?

To give you more context, the psychologist did go on to say this, which is in line with what you're saying:

"When you are offering a Dodge Caravan rental and charging prices commensurate with a Dodge Caravan, you’ve escaped the problem of the host offering a Toyota Corolla rental to a guest who wants to pay for the Corolla but actually get a Dodge Caravan rental.

"For hosts who really do only offer the modest Toyota Corolla, regardless of how clear they attempt to be about the limitations of their listing, they are likely to end up stuck with some whiny guests who will ceaselessly seek to get more for less in life."

[Helen350]

@Anna9170 -Hmm... Not so sure about the other psychology.... MY cheapskate/coupon/bargain hunters who made it clear they only stayed cos they had a coupon were staying at my bottom end of the market private room.... £30 a night for 2 + dog! -  OK, almost  everyone who stays with me does so cos it's cheap, - but the rest of them appreciate this!

SAME psychology in all budgets & markets I reckon!

[Anna9170]

@Helen350  
In the budget (!) segment only such psychology, I agree.
Moreover, Europeans do not consider savings to be something bad, they bring some coupons to the store to the cash register, another coupon after that and the final coupon, a discount from another discount ... And if the seller in the store does not match 2 cents at the final bill, they remove everything from the basket and start the process again. At this point I feel a little ashamed and want to leave 🙈🤣

[Anna9170]

@Ann72  No no, I know what you're talking about, but this is not a compliment with the inside or back of 🙈😂
Look, there are Birkin bags from Hermes and there is a queue to buy them. Try to give a discount on this bag - all potential buyers will leave you, they will consider it a Chinese counterfeit, scam. This audience pays for some beautiful picture that they can afford, high-end hotels from the same theme, you watch their lookbook and it excites you some dreams, and people are willing to pay for it.
At the same time, there is a sale in Zara, when for the first hour in the online store is bought out almost all and queues to the entrance before the opening, and everyone is happy, they were waiting for it.
All names and matches are random, and in general I am a fan of Zara))).
And I'm not raising the issue of pricing in our crazy world now, I'm talking about market and customer segmentation. Who your guest is, for which audience you work financially and psychologically - this determines everything.
Overpricing also leads to problems with guests, because if you try to become Louis Vuiton when you're basically H&M, it doesn't end well. It's very important to spend time and understand your place in this coordinate system.

[Ann72]

@Anna9170  Oh right, yes, I totally get the Chinese counterfeit analogy.  And btw I live near the best Zara in NYC, so next time you're in town, we've got some shopping to do 🙂

Agree 100% that you have to be sure the value you're delivering is commensurate with the price.  

Hosts can also consider that they are defining their customer by the price they set.  It's not the only way of defining a customer but it's one of the factors (along with description, location, use, etc.).  If they set out to attract the budget-conscious traveler, they need to understand all that entails.  When they set out to attract the vacationer who doesn't want to think about a single thing except relaxing, they have to be sure everything is in place, sorted out, in working order, etc. etc. etc., so there's not a wrinkle during the guest's visit.

I work in book publishing and everyone thinks it's a snap to write a children's book.  How hard can it be to write an 8-page book about a talking puppy, right?  But in a successful children's book, the vocabulary, the number of words on the page, the characters, the story's complexity, and the drawings all have to work to target a specific age or the whole thing falls apart.  Hosting is similar, and that's why it requires frequent tinkering and adjustment.

[Anna9170]

@Ann72   

Oh, value and price do not always correlate. There are also atmosphere, soulfulness, some small "little things". All this creates value, but it is difficult to transfer it into money. 

When comparing prices with competitors, it will not stand out, it can only be understood when you come to the place and feel something that can't be written in the list.

Sorry about the off-top, since we are talking about children's books... Have you read books about "Olivia" by Swedish writer Jan Falconer? He made illustrations himself. There is a complete primitivism, two lines per page, simple illustrations, but such humor that it is impossible to break away even for adults) 

Ahaha, and if you are in Barcelona, we will certainly walk through the best Zara, after tapas.😎😂

[Ann72]

@Anna9170  In an earlier draft I did write that only the host can know the true value of their own listing, and therefore, they need to take more than their competitors' prices into consideration when pricing their own listings.  The mythical 100+ factors in the ranking algorithm don't take those evanescent qualities you mention into account.  They don't even take acreage into account.  I know those qualities and I price accordingly.  Hosts have to do everything possible to show how they value their listing so they'll attract guests who value it in as similar ways as possible.  A host who offers something to a budget business traveler has to understand that traveler's needs and show through the listing that those needs are given value in the listing.

Those Olivia books are GENIUS.  And you see what I mean.  I'm sure there are people out there who think it's easy to pull off what that author has pulled off.

PS:  Of course the best Zara would be in Barcelona - forgive my American chauvinism - and with tapas?  Dreamy.  Count me in.

[Anna9170]

@Ann72  I understand very well what talent it takes to make so cool and so short and so voluminous... suggest renaming this topic  to "Olivia fans" ...😂
About valuing yourself (and your home) - of course I agree, but sometimes life makes unpleasant adjustments. Life has divided into before and after last year, and now it is impossible to plan anything. The market has fallen, a huge number of objects (even terrible) led to the dumping of housing, and outside the high season it is useless to fight against it. Hey, 2020, go to hell already. 😥

(Ha-ha, and about Barcelona and tapas and zara it was not a joke, suddenly you will really be in these places...💃😂)

[Ann72]

@Anna9170 

[Huma0]

@Ann72 

Very good points. There are many Airbnbs is very close proximity to mine but I've only come across one so far that is comparable in its offering. It's priced almost double, which would make me think I am seriously underpricing mine, BUT it seems to be far less booked up and without seeing it for myself, well, I just don't know what advantages it offers over mine.

I had some guests staying who needed extra room for a friend who decided to travel last minute. I didn't have the extra room, so directed them to this nearby Airbnb which was the closest match to mine and still available. I contacted the host first to let him know I was referring them.

Well, they very much enjoyed staying at the nearby Airbnb that was twice the price of mine for a similar set up/quality as far as I could tell (the only major difference being that it had one shared bathroom and my place has 3.5 shared bathrooms). Despite that one being nearly TWICE the price of mine, they gave me 4 stars for value.

Go figure. I have no idea what made that place so much better value at twice the price, but I won't be making that mistake again, especially as the host never referred anyone to me in exchange.