@Laura2592 @Robin4
Rob, Thank you for looking at my profile and recognizing that I have been around a while and had a lot of experience.
I cannot abide by telling hosts like @Koa26 the unfair experiences they have should be accepted/absorbed and somehow appreciated like a snapshot in time with an imperfect spouse. Airbnb is choosing to operate exactly how they see fit. They choose to do certain things differently from their major competitor and these "differences" are becoming extreme flaws.
The reason you see me spending my time here trying to say "Airbnb, look at this, WHY are you doing this to good hosts????" is simple. I liked this business in the beginning. I still do in many ways. I was always seeking the optimal blend of platforms to fill my calendars and make money while protecting the properties. At a certain peak for Airbnb I allowed 75% of my bookings to come through here.
Now I have shifted it to less than 15% coming from Airbnb in record time to protect the income and properties of myself and my clients.
But I can hardly believe Airbnb is a lost cause when they had so much to build on. I am sticking around watching what feels like a train wreck. But I would like to know if and when the wreckage gets cleaned up.
I have great listings in a great destination sought after by visitors worldwide... I have a lot of experience allowing me to handle things wisely to achieve the income/safety blend. Frankly I should have what it takes to have the very best host experience. I take it very very seriously when a third party "partner" removes my ability to actually manage my own business.
I started renting through VRBO in 2010 and Airbnb in 2012. In the interim I tried several other sites too. My goal at all times is to have successes not failures obviously I focus on the successes or I would have gone into another line of work. But the "failures" we are dissecting here are not ours, they are the company's. Right now the greatest success of 2022 has been getting my eggs out of Airbnb's basket. But I am open minded about that changing if they actually want to keep people like me around. And all of my feedback is in the spirit of bringing things that are not working to light. So that they can be improved instead of left to fester.