Airbnb Plus frustration

[Dan-and-Jose0]

Hello, 

We are so extremely frustrated with Airbnb right now. 

At the beginning of the year we received an invitation to join Airbnb Plus for free. We had received invitations before but we didn’t feel like doing it. But since they offered it for free we decided to finally accept the invitation. 

So the process began. We scheduled the “home inspection” and the photographer. When the day arrived we were surprised to see just one person at the door. It was the photographer. Maybe that should have been the first red flag since they made us believe that it would be at least two people. Anyways, the photographer took a few pictures to prove that we met some criteria (plates, glasses, toiletries, etc.); nothing professional.

After those first pictures he said he was going to take the actual pictures but surprisingly he asked us to turn off all the lights in the house. We were shocked by that request and tried to argue it but he said that’s the way it had to be. He said they would enhance the light digitally. So even though we didn’t like the idea (it was a very dark winter day plus we spent thousands of dollar in lighting to create an inviting atmosphere) we finally accepted the request. 

So he took a few pictures, not even all the features of the house, leaving behind the ones that we and our guests like the most. After that he left and that was it. 

After a few weeks we got some of the pictures. We were horrified. We also got a list of fixes that needed to be done. The frustration begins. They asked us to fix things that didn’t need fixing. It just seemed like there is no communication between the so called “design team” and the photographer. Everything they asked us to fix was captured by the photographer: plates, glasses, air conditioner, toiletries, teas, bottled water... It just showed so little professionalism. 

Those were the easy “fixes”. They asked us to reorganize a shelf in one of the bedrooms which we did because we saw their point. No problem there. 

Then there were just the two most frustrating ones left to fix. The first one the lock. They said we’d need a smart lock. We do have a smart lock so we sent a picture of it and we told them we do have a smart lock. So after a couple of weeks or so they responded saying that we need to get a smart lock. So again, we took some more pictures of the lock and told them again that we do have a smart lock. After another couple of weeks, the same thing. They told us we needed to get a smart lock. We couldn’t believe the situation. So we tried again. And again. It happened about five or six times. We even sent screen shots of the app used to unlock the door. Nothing would work. We sent an email that no one ever responded. We called and no one could help us. There’s no way to communicate with the “design team”. So finally after many tries they accepted that we have a smart lock. 

That leaves us with just one “fix”. The painting under the TV console. We have a smart home so you can imagine the amount of cables, routers and other devices that control the house. And all that goes under the TV. The problem is we have an open console so there’s nowhere to hide all this. So we decided to get creative and use a painting that does the trick and blends with the decor of the whole main floor. We went with reds, blues and gold for the main floor so we pick the painting accordantly. You can see their responses to our decision to go with this solution. From putting boxes in its place to get rid of the console which is an antique that we love. We wonder who is this “design team”? What kind of solutions are those? Downgrade from an antique to a plain, bulky and boring piece of furniture or just pile boxes under our console. Like that would look great! NOT! Plus as we mentioned to them that’s a fire hazard. But they don’t care about endangering us and our guests and burning the house down. They just want their pile of boxes under the TV. Very creative and a very forward design. Just so ridiculous. 

The communication with the so called “design team” has been so frustrating. They are rude, borderline insulting, saying that they have high standards, impliying we don’t. And when you try to explain they give you about 200 characters which makes it really hard. That’s the only way of communication we have and we can’t even say barely anything. They whole thing is so frustrating. We used to love Airbnb but this is making us very disenchanted with it. We work really hard in this house and go above and beyond for our guests. We have really high standards and this Plus experience is so upsetting. 

P.S.: We added pictures of the stuff we mentioned. We apologize they are not in the right order but we couldn’t figure out how to move them around. Also the quality is not the best but we took them the last night we were asked for the hundredth time to change our living room. 

Living room at night

The piece of conflict

Living room daytime

Living room daytime

Main floor decor

Main floor nook

Picture taken by Airbnb’s “professional” photographer

Picture taken by Airbnb’s “professional” photographer

Foyer

Porch

Porch

**[Private conversation removed in line with Community Center Guidelines]

[Dan-and-Jose0]

The lights are set to reddish pink and light blue to tie with the color scheme of the rooms and to create a warm, inviting and fun atmosphere. The color can be changed but we use them as part of the decor. 

As as for the cords they actually prefer that. They’d like us to get rid of the antique console and stuck some boxes with the cords inside. That’s why we won’t refer to them as “designers” cause that’s not a creative solution. It was creative when some designer came up with the idea over 10 years ago but that’s a little dated and honestly dangerous. We tried it once and the modem got so hot it could actually catch on fire. 

[Sarah977]

@Dan-and-Jose0   IMO the pink lighting doesn't create a warm, inviting atmosphere. It makes it look like a video arcade or a casino, and not at all relaxing.  But that's just my take, of course.

And you might want to search the other threads here on Plus. Hosts said when they got onto Plus, their bookings stopped dead.

[Dan-and-Jose0]

@Sarah977 We can guarantee you that it’s not that harsh in person. It’s really hard to get it right in a picture. We are not professional photographers. We actually went with this lighting to make the painting that is so offensive to the “designers” blend more by uso g the same colors of the painting for the lighting. 

Actually our guests love the lighting, mostly when we are sitting down having a wine LOL

[Mark116]

@Dan-and-Jose0  It doesn't photograph too well and as a prospective guest I might wonder if I could read by that light,  but yeah, I would assume in person it's more simply warm than 'pink' looking.  It does look very strange especially behind the TV.   I really wouldn't worry about the painting, it is a stupid objection, the kind of console table that they recommend would be more bulky and their other suggestions are dumb.  It's a creative, pretty solution to hide the cords. The fact that airbnb CS 'designers' are so rigid tells you something about the company and its standards.

[Dan-and-Jose0]

@Sarah977 We can also change the lights to any color we want. We just like the chic burdello look LOL

[Sarah977]

@Dan-and-Jose0  I do think it's a cool and fun feature, but like Mark, I don't think it comes across well in photos- it looks garish. Not denying it wouldn't be appreciated in person. 

[Ange2]

@Dan-and-Jose0  From what I have seen, Airbnb do not hire professional photographers they hire person-with-a-camera.  Then they take the photos and process them so they all  have same exposure and tone, to create a homogeneous look—the Plus  brand. Looks like they forgot to process yours, not that it would be a plus if they had—dark and skewed.

[Ute42]

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@Dan-and-Jose0 

You wrote that airbnb originally told You, there would be 2 people showing up for the inspection: The home inspector and a photographer. The only explanation when looking at the "airbnb pictures" is, that the photographer got sick and the homeinspector took the pictures - maybe the first time in his or her life to operate a camera. I have no other explanation to this desaster.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Dan-and-Jose0

 I laughed all the way till the end of your story 😄 😄 Jesus! 😄 No comment...