All the positives about being a member of AIRBNB! ;-)

[Anna446]

I wanted to start a topic mostly with new hosts in how well AIRBNB is working for everyone.

In my case so far, I have many positives. I found that the Admin. people are extremely professional and polished. They were also very prompt and amazingly fast in how being on top of issues. The forum particularly is well monitored to assure that everyone is heard. I find AIRBNB very tolerant and democratic, they set up this system of forum for all voices to share their concerns and questions.

It is amazingly democratic of AIRBNB to allow us to use the forum to even comment on negatives and I have seen some hosts even mentioning other companies that do what AIRBNB does, and is very tolerant of them to allow us to use their site to exchange ideas and make negative remarks about their service. To me this says a lot about a company.  Their fees are also very reasonable, am planning to stick around with them. Thank you AIRBNB! anna

[Linda108]

Thank you @Anna446 for starting this discussion thread.  I am a frequent contributor to this host forum and found that I learn  as much as I give.  I agree that having this forum is what is meant by shared economy.  

I find so much frustration felt by travelers and hosts alike is related to lack of knowledge but is escalated when they can't figure out how to become educated.  So many knowledgeable hosts help direct people to the many ways to become educated.  ve al

I have also noticed that hosts can be successfully using Air BNB, making money and enjoying guests, but as soon as something goes wrong or is unexpected, they become very negative toward Air BNB.  I would hope we can create an atmosphere of tolerance and patience by being supportive of one another.  

[Anna446]

@Linda0

Thank you for posting Linda. Well I read many postings and saw that we have many comments on guests, some very frustrating pertaining to guest behavior. I thought that if we have something nice to tell , there is a balance.  Not that I am dismissive of their complains because it could be me in the future having some of these horrendous stories, but is also nice to hear of happy events. I hope that people write the goods once in a while.  Is difficult to deal with people and people's reactions will vary. 

Is exactly what you said, when all goes well, we are quiet, the moment something happens we push the panic button. I am still very new and know very little but I try to think that on the other side of the world there are real people with real frustrations and is not easy either for the people who work for Air BNB when they are hammered with complains. I had great guests and not so great ones already, but am trying to keep a positive attitude. Is hard for me to be out of my home, am in a small annex with a mini refrigerator, small bath and my things packed in boxes, and is hot. I have no car, so I bike every where in this heat. In my case, hosting is only seasonal, so I can make the effort to be uncomfortable for a few months, then I move back to the main house and start moving back in. Lots and lots of work, you can't imagine. many hugs to you.

[Kirstie]

This is a lovely post, thanks for sharing @Anna446! It's great to see that you enjoy using the Community Center (CC) and that you are enjoying your Airbnb experience so far. We can sometimes get a bit bogged down here in the CC with questions and complaints so it's refreshing to see such a positive post!

Happy Hosting!

Kirstie

[Anna446]

hello @KIRSTIE, my personal experience so far has been very good with the company. I hope more people write and tell rewarding stories. Is easy to demonize others so once in a while I like to give recognition, where recognition is due. I will, after summer here is over, start telling more people in the area to start using Air BNB, so we obsolete some of the shark realtors in the area , they collect 10% on rentals and do a terrible job. So it will be a pleasure to start bringing Air BNB, into the community as this town survives on summer vacations.

For years this town has been under the thumb of ruthless, greedy, deceiving and rude realtors, so to me this is fantastic. It will be my mission to start advocating in favour of the company. All the best! 

love from Brazil!  Anna

[Anna446]

@Kirstie0

Every time I open emails from the company I learn a new something. The set up is done really well, they flag you to welcome the new guest , they even give you the tips to tidy up and clean the place. I do not know all the features yet, but I would like to know who are the brains behind all this. Surely that other companies may be also very good, but so far, I see no reason to even think of moving to homeaway and others. Whoever set up the site is brilliant, because things are right at your finger tips, making it an amazing success of this company. 

It is so well done that you can see how things are going as you have guests after guests. In my case every 5 or 10 days, I have a new group of people coming in, they stay a bit and leave and another one comes in. The company keeps track of absolutely every thing making you feel safe. The financial part is amazingly done. The evaluations are also smartly planned, you get to see what is said about you and so does the guest. But this happens only before one knows what the other one said, this way there is no room for misunderstandings to happen.  This is fantastically professional.  There is a huge incentive in being totally honest with the company and letting them know what is going on, as running all the transactions through Airbnb and never accepting money outside the company.  And I do believe the company has its utmost interest in protecting all the members, guests as well as hosts, what reason would they have not to.

To me is amazing how well done the set up is. It would be nice to hear how others like it and we could learn from each other.  Anna

[Anna446]

@Kirstie0

hello again Kirstie, am I the only one with good experiences? My argentinian guests left, terrific people. The children extremely polite. Left my place very clean and orderly. I will miss them. Now I have uruguaians coming, will see how it goes. But so far is going very very well.

All the best.

Anna