Two for One Problem

[Kelly149]

Dearest Hosts, can you help me put to rest or better solve a problem (or tell me if you think it is unsolvable in this Covid era)??

Problem One, please tell me what you think this means:

In an abundance of caution, we are making the barn available primarily to single household groups traveling independently. If you are a group made up of multiple households or your visit to Austin includes extended visits with people outside your household or if your travel includes public transport (airplanes) then please discuss with owners to see if your trip can be accommodated (this may require higher cleaning fees or purchasing days before or after your stay as a buffer).

Problem Two: I'm not sure if it is participating in CC or the collection of guests we've had or the moving target of ABB expectations or my personal predilection to perfectionism, but such a high percentage of guests are a problem that hosting is more dread than joy. Even the money doesn't seem to outweigh the ninnys. So, ideas?? Turn off IB, turn off listing (this may happen on ABB in a week when I don't sign Cleaning thingy, but we'll still be on Vrbo), shorten listing, lengthen listing, take less guests....

I look forward to your suggestions!

[Emilia42]

@Kelly149 Keep us updated. I was strongarmed into signing up for Enhanced Cleaning. But it will be interesting to see if Airbnb does block calendars and delist hosts who haven't signed up. (All while showcasing the listings who tout reviews of maskless hosts and dirty kitchens.)

[Kelly149]

@Emilia42  I'm just so annoyed with the vague-ness of it... and the overreach....

So, if I'm cleaning before or after a Vrbo reservation or for my own family's use then I can clean without wearing a mask and gloves? But if I'm cleaning before an ABB res, then I must wear gloves? When am I "before" an ABB res: always, 24 hours before, at check-in time??? If we're between guests and want to go watch a movie up in the barn, do I have to be masked? If I'm going in to clean After an ABB guest, but not before another ABB guest, do I have to follow the protocol then or can I use my own judgment FOR MY OWN HOUSE?? And I'm annoyed at hosts who don't realize that what ABB has Demanded has no end in sight, is circular to the point of ridicule and is all done in the name of platform CYA and shows no benefit to hosts and very little tangible benefit to guests.

I guess it all hinges on how many listings refused to click the button...

[Emilia42]

@Kelly149 I was talking with a health and safety specialist who works at the local hospital just yesterday about when he thinks things will "go back to normal." He basically said that this is our new normal. We will eventually see the use of masks go away but as far as cleaning and sanitation go, we have reached the next level. Hospitals/big businesses/restaurants aren't going to say Okay the pandemic is over now, we are dialing back on cleaning.  At least they are going to suppress any public claim of that. So I think Enhanced Cleaning is here to stay. What surprises me is that the general public (and guests and hosts) think that clicking an "enroll" button just magically means everyone knows what they're doing. Like host Aunt Betty down the road has become a highly paid sanitization specialist overnight. 

[Anonymous]

@Emilia42  Ironically, what I've been seeing more of around here this year (at least in hospitality and retail) has been a slight ramping-up of hygiene theatre but a dialing back of the practical cleaning. Partly due to staffing/budget cuts, and partly due to interim cleanings being scrapped to reduce contact vectors. I don't know one way or other whether the "Enhanced Cleaning" stuff was a response to tangible consumer demand, but from this vantage point the market is looking much more sensitive to end price than to hygiene concepts.

I'm not a fan of Airbnb publicly asserting that it has standardized any aspect of a host's ground performance, when in actuality it's only strongarmed them into clicking a button. That's getting uncomfortably close to the Uber model, whereas under the terms of service hosts are fundamentally independent operators and not agents of Airbnb. 

[Debra300]

I just happened upon another Airbnb blog a few hours ago, and a person made a post asking others how they felt about the new cleaning and safety policies.  Almost unanimously, the hosts responded that they thought masks and social distancing were a good idea.  A few said they thought the policies were intrusive, but understood that they were "necessary".  Something else that I noticed about the responses was that no one got into the details like we've done here.  There was not a single mention of wearing the masks while inside of their homes or having to use specific types of cleaning products. Nor did anyone say anything about the penalty for breaching these rules.  This led me to surmise that they, and probably the majority of hosts, are not reading anything more than just the words next to the cartoon drawings that lead hosts through signing up.

[Kelly149]

@Emilia42 yes, I think you're right... the new normal is here and I was always VERY big on clean, it's a barn but I don't imagine there has been a guest who has stayed with us who would have thought any hotel or their personal home was cleaner than our space. But for those of us who have a listing that, yes, is a listing, but is also our home, then when it is our house and when is it the guest's space? In the past, it was my home right up until the moment the guest checked in. This new cleaning doc makes it seem like ABB rules the roost at all times just bc a guest will be coming at some point in the future.

And like @Sarah977 mentions, I could put on gloves and then touch something gross OR I could wash my hands and do the job. Acting like a mask or gloves is a substitute for a conscientious cleaner is a strawman.

My personal final straw on the cleaning 5 steps was when it said: clean, disinfect, don't enter again after disinfecting, and now re-set the space... well?? which is it, bc this list is physically impossible.

[Kelly149]

@Emilia42 @Anonymous @Sarah977  directing you to @lisa723 note on the 5step update thread. SMH

all linens. All dishes. All pillows. 

yah, people aren’t actually doing this stuff. OR they’re taking out the stuff that made an abb better than a hotel in the first place

[Sarah977]

@Kelly149  I swear whoever wrote that 5 step process has never cleaned an str in their life.

And so now that big roasting pan on the top shelf that gets used 4 times a year has to be hauled down and washed 250 times a year? Or you have to have a list and a tote full of of things you've removed from the unit that guests may very well need and have to ask for? Madness.

[Sarah977]

There's also utterly absurd things in there, like wearing gloves to handle the clean laundry. Why on earth would I put on gloves to carry clean laundry to the guest space and make the bed when I would make sure my hands were washed before handling clean laundry anyway? I'm just supposed to make a bunch of throw-away glove garbage for no discernible reason?

@Kelly149

[Francesco1366]

@Kelly149 

I advise you to keep the mask even if you clean for Vrbo. If your previous guest had the covid, with mask you are more protected: if you are asymptomatic, it is more difficult to spread the virus around the house. Vrbo guests don't have the vaccine yet, just like Airbnb guests ...

I partially agree with you about gloves. If used incorrectly they are dangerous, but as the hands. It seems to me that you are all nitpicking. It is written much more. Also the 5 steps seem possible to me. Obviously if you take everything literally not interpreting correctly you can find faults everywhere. I hope Airbnb will improve them if necessary.

I really don't want these obligations will remain after the pandemic. But now it exists. If they will remain, I will leave or I will decide not to follow. It seems to me a more practical solution to postpone the decision: especially if you want now to clean the house in the safest way, as everyone here wants. Except the mask, gloves and I'm not sure what else.

If we all did this, it seems to me it would be a perfect and more respectful solution. 

Good luck!

p.s.

eg if you don't want to use the mask your judgment does not seem valid to me...

[Francesco1366]

@Kelly149,

very happy that you think about it only once a year and immediately realize you can't. I think you didn't start right there. Fortunately, with thougts you can go easily off the rails.

As already suggested (it seems to me), you can eliminate the instant booking. It would work better but always bad.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Kelly149 

Separate to your question......... this post was quite a fun read 😁 😁 😁 

I can completely relate to the need to price according to the not so lovely, seriously~ are you trying to set a new world record for how much TP can a single person use in a  week types, even if it means the lovely people end up having to pay more. Since Henry and I aren't hosting right now, it's been a while since I've even thought about rates.... but thinking back it was something I occasionally struggled with and needed Henry to set me straight about what "reasonable" pricing means. 

Henry and I haven't hosted a single guest this year and we don't have any plans to start soon - we're not sure whether we even want to go back to hosting again under the current circumstances based on how Airbnb has been handling everything this past year. We also haven't agreed to the enhanced cleaning simply because we aren't going to host for as long as *enhanced cleaning* is needed. We've always taken cleaning seriously and we don't need Airbnb to tell us how to clean and sanitize our home. 

[Kelly149]

@Jessica-and-Henry0 Glad we could entertain you friend 😉

the people who started this thread were HIGHLY offended that I wasn’t impressed with their weekend plans involving 100s of strangers playing sports together, but the real story was actually more that they were upset that they got caught trying to short change their reservation by 2 people. So yah, Henry’s right, you don’t want to go too low on pricing. Be well!

[Ann783]

I've been to this dance already. I'm blocking dates until January. I think we are in for a crazy ride with Covid.

[Anonymous]

@Kelly149  @Debra300  and all hosts who haven't consented to Airbnb's spectacularly stupid ultimatum - have you seen any consequences yet? 

I'm personally in no position to open my calendar - Berlin's lockdown is continuing into next year - but over a week has gone by since the deadline and there seems to be no update, or anything preventing me from opening up to new bookings despite ignoring the cleaning threats.