Am I alone? Fix Smart Pricing, Reviews, Restore Photos

Chase9
Level 7
Costa Mesa, CA

Am I alone? Fix Smart Pricing, Reviews, Restore Photos

Smart pricing is still a big failure.

Your system fails to take into consideration that some AirBnB listings are much nicer than others and therefore should be priced higher.

 

Your Reviews system still leaves a lot too be desired even after your recent change. AirBnB Feedback requires two modifications in order to improve for everyone’s benefit:

 

1. Allow us to highlight and pin to the top pf Review section extraordinary, most detailed feedback from user, e.g.: our “Top 2” reviews where a guest really made an effort to be thorough to help other guests understand what it felt like. Some guests go above and beyond to write an exquisitely useful review but these get immediately lost and buried beneath guests in a rush who just say, “great stay!” which really helps nobody.

 

2. Allow us to delete maximum of 1 feedback per year. This will accomplish a filter system of occasional outlier really nasty, negative reviews from someone with a psychiatric issues and those who retaliate because they violated house rules or caused damage and intend to preemptively counter negative review they expect.

I had someone mentally ill violate my boundaries, upset that she wasn’t invited to my dinner and movie so she wrote a nasty review, texted me many pages of text messages on my cell and that’s just unfair even though I’m forced to write an explanation.

 

Finally, my biggest complaint is what I believe a mistake AirBnB has made by removing the user’s photo prior to booking. The reason for the change is admirable in its intention: to prevent racial discrimination by racist hosts. Great goal! Unfortunately, this has a very serious and undesirable problem it causes.

 

It makes it impossible to catch users who are mean, hateful, unhygienic, immature, or unsavory... all of which are often apparent when we’re able to see someone’s photo! People who think it appropriate to post an unhappy looking, mean faced photo of themselves are almost always mean, anti-social or disturbed.

 

The photo is such an easy deterrent of that. Further, of someone is racist and would just me by my color, I wouldn’t feel safe to stay with that person in the first place. Let them see my face and race so that if they’re racist, I don’t wind up there.

 

Unfortunately, racist people never admit this on their page so the photo is an excellent protection against this.

 

As hosts, we are inviting a complete stranger into our own home, sleeping in the next room, so we want to know as much about them as possible and that means at least we can see that their photo doesn’t reveal an angry, disturbed or alcoholic or drug addict. We’re Hosts not Guinness pigs, 😉.

29 Replies 29

It doesn't work. Smart Pricing has never changed pricing to anything above the minimum even when guests tell me nothing comparable was available in my area.

 

I've found that too. It does seem to raise the prices for dates a month or two into the future, but I'm not sure whether these get used for actual guests...

 

The only other option is to not use Smart Pricing. We cannot change or fix it, only use it as it is.

@Alex-and-Vaughan0 Finally another host who uses Smart Pricing exactly as I do!  Thank you!

 

@Chase9 It definitely doesn't work for every listing.  It has really pushed my prices up.  Wheelhouse isn't available in my area, so I looked at Beyondpricing, and found their prices overall were lower than mine with smart pricing.  Other benefits to smart pricing include higher search rankings.  Since I put it in place my bookings are more than double what they were by this time last year.

 

Neither Smart Pricing nor, as far as I can tell, any of the other off-site tools can make a true comparison.  They only look at number of beds and baths and a few other things.  They can't tell that my house is surrounded by fields and woods.  But I know that.  So I price accordingly.

 

I think @Alex-and-Vaughan0's comment was helpful, and sincere, so I don't know why your reply was so cutting?

Thats exactly what we do, I just think a lot of people dont know how it works and you can turn it off certain times of the year 

Stephen-and-Wendy0
Level 1
Bowness-on-Windermere, United Kingdom

Smart pricing I can live with; we just don't use it, apart for amusement to see how low they go. For Airbnb it's all about revenue generation, for us it's about guests who have some respect for our property and the amount they pay definitely impacts on their behaviour and treatment of our property. Plus, given our very high occupancy and positive reviews we feel we set the prices appropriately for the area and standard of accommodation provided. Airbnb's algorithms have no sensitivity to those factors, so every low priced poorly furnished property lowers the prce for everyone.

 

The change from scroll down to click through on the reviewing of guests is apalling. It prevents any review of one's input and consideration prior to posting and having to click through to individual pages is inconvenient by comparison to the old system.

 

The inability to now see faces or profile photos of potential guests is ludicrous whatever the original intentions. we agree with Ava. We are a couple of different ethnicity and sadly are well aware of some peoples racism. Hiding people's photos won't stop racism but education just might. In our experience, especially in the early days, the people who looked trouble were trouble and invariably required the intervention of the Resolution Centre.

Christine218
Level 2
Solana Beach, CA

I agree with the photos. I want to see that I am communicating with the person doing the booking. I was uncomfortable booking someone who did not have a photo previously and would often ask them to change out or add their photo. I want a guest who cares about how they are being perceived - that care usually translates into the care they will show to my home.

I am new. I am on another site that let me change prices specifically for the busy season in Colorado. I don't mind smart pricing in the off months -- but I want to  match prices with my other site during the busy season. Can you "smart" price by the month? 

Deborah546
Level 1
Boston, MA

I comletely agree with Chase about guest photos.  As a disabled widow living on her own I need to see who may potentially be sharing my home with me, especially as I live at the intersection of three large college-spillovers.  When I first started hosting a fair amount of frat-boys inquired with pics of themselves and their "brothers" enjoying their beverages of choice, which didn't fit in with the culture of my home.  Needless to say I declined their requests.  Now, without photos, I often have no idea whatsoever about potential guests and sometimes don't even know sex or age until after accepting booking, which does make a difference because of shared bathroom on second floor, etc.  Bring back photos, please!

        

                                                                                                                           Deborah V.

                                                                                                                        Brighton, Mass.

Angelique76
Level 1
Chicago, IL

Ditto to photo 

Jim472
Level 10
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

I think smart pricing would be excellent if it used some form of categories. Right now it expects me to lower my (entire house, 3 bed, 2 bath, 6 pax max) rate and "compete" with a private room 2 pax max listing. No thanks. 

@Jim472 @Chase9 

I think smart pricing would be excellent if it used some form of categories. Right now it expects me to lower my (entire house, 3 bed, 2 bath, 6 pax max) rate and "compete" with a private room 2 pax max listing. No thanks.

 

Sadly, the whole evaluation is laughable.

 

I keep on getting reminded that if I was to REDUCE my rates by £xx AND provide two night stays instead of our three night minimums we would get more bookings!? Typically in a month on these reccomendations we would book only 8 nights rather than 12 nights and those 8 that we would book would be at 40% less on booking fee as well as 30% less on total nights booked.

 

If I was to take AirBnb advice I would be racing to the cheapest rate against other AirBnb hosts, reducing my income to 40% and I would need to do the same amount of work!! Also, AirBnb would reduce their sales commission to a similar amount of 40% - so it just does'nt make sense!

 

If AirBnb were to look at hotel rates in my area they would instead be suggestiong we UP our rates, not reduce them.

 

Likewise, their reccomendations for our 8 person accomodation is compared to 4-6 person accomodation. ??

Ian-And-Anne-Marie0
Level 10
Kendal, United Kingdom

@Chase9 

Your Reviews system still leaves a lot too be desired even after your recent change.

 

AirBnb are making great progress in developing their portal...

 

Where I have NO PROBLEM with any other website, anywhere;

I cannot access AirBnb accommodation website on my computer - At all!

I cannot view host profiles or accommodation - At all!

And I cannot provide reviews for my guests - At all!

 

Prior to any updates I could view the main site, provide feedback and view host profiles - All fine!

AirBnb are doing a great job at breaking their stuff!

Mark1529
Level 2
Texas, United States

smart pricing is rediculously low for my property and I cannot change it as website is slow and nonfunctional most of the time

Lynne4
Level 2
St. Louis, MO

There is a myriad of opportunity to tweek the whole system.  There are so many "why didn't you think of that" opportunities missed.  Like spellcheck in the listing description, allowing me to link or copy multiple listings in the same building instead of having to copy and paste every single box and photo individually.  I came on here today because I think its really poor thinking that we are "rated" negatively for declining a booking.  I wish I would have never officially declined the ones I have BUT THEY WERE ASKING TO BOOK OUTSIDE OF AIRBNB, Asking to come visit in advance, using an account that wasn't theirs and other shady items, or wanting to do something that was against my house rules.   I should have just told them no in writing and never clicked the decline button.  NEVER CLICK THE DECLINE button.  Now "my listing needs attention" because I'm at 83% of my reservations and my artget is to accept 88% of them.  Seriously?  WHY does that matter and why would you put me lower on the list for declining without knowing the reason?????

Ian-And-Anne-Marie0
Level 10
Kendal, United Kingdom

@Chase9 

Fix Smart Pricing, Reviews, Restore Photos

 

I ran an Internet company in the late 90's early 00's... So you get to understand change and the unpublished reasons for doing 'things'.

 

Let me contribute my opinion on the three changes you have noted.

 

Smart Pricing: Anything to reduce price of your 'product' helps sales. For ABB Sales = Commissions. When the costs of your product doesn't change because hosts foot those costs then reduced prices are beneficial to customers - or guests. Guests are the buyers, they bring the money and its the money which makes the world go round. Smart pricing doesn't work for already booked accomodation, it is aimed at 'not yet let' accommodation. Letting these  at a lesser price might improve competitivity against other online booking agents and increase by a small percentage the commission obtained by ABB. Thats what its for. The early bookers (guests) have found the cheapest option and thats what they (ABB) want every host to match.

 

Reviews: Anybody with a modicum of programming information could see Guest or Host reviews before replying with their own in the old system, in fact, some browsers could show this information. In the new system a different process is used and it is more difficult. (It would be interesting to know if anybody can still see the other parties review?).

 

Restore Photos: Won't happen. ABB consider it helps towards less discrimination. I think its being done to prevent Hosts trying to book directly with Guests. I wouldn't want the aggravation of that and negotiating terms and payments, but it would be possible by identifying the guest via their photo and doing a search on your favourite social media site - to find them and negotiate rates 'off piste'. Without photos - more difficult but not impossible. I would say though, that if ABB were THAT insecure - they really do have a problem with their assets - the Hosts and should have a reconsideration to put photos back.

 

@Lynne4 

I wish I would have never officially declined the ones I have BUT THEY WERE ASKING TO BOOK OUTSIDE OF AIRBNB

 

Totally Ilogical for ABB to behave this way and penalise you.

 

@Lynne4 

NEVER CLICK THE DECLINE button

 

No. Also tell the guest something they don't want to hear and then they won't want to book anyway 🙂

 

Chase9
Level 7
Costa Mesa, CA

Sorry for all of the typos. Another suggestion: allow us to please edit our posts so we can correct typos!

ok same post again, typos corrected:

 

Smart pricing is still a big failure.

Your system fails to take into consideration that some AirBnB listings are much nicer than others and therefore should be priced higher.

 

Your Reviews system still leaves a lot too be desired even after your recent change. AirBnB Feedback requires two modifications in order to improve for everyone’s benefit:

 

1. PROBLEM:

Some guests go above and beyond to write an exquisitely useful review but these get immediately lost and buried beneath guests in a rush who just say, “great stay!” which really helps nobody.


SOLUTION: Allow us to highlight and pin great reviews to the top of Reviews section!
These "Pinned Reviews" would include extraordinary, well detailed feedback from user, i.e.: our “Top 2 Reviews” where a guest really took the effort to be thorough and help other guests understand what experience at our home feels like.

 

2. PROBLEM:
Airbnb needs filter system for really nasty, negative outlier reviews.

   Example 1:  bad reviews problematic guests with psychiatric issues who violate boundaries. 

   Example 2: retaliatory bad reviews because guest violated house rules, caused damage, or intend to preemptively counter negative review they expect for their bad behavior.


SOLUTION:  Allow us to delete maximum of 1-2 reviews per year, perhaps based on occupancy.

   I had someone mentally ill violate my boundaries, upset that she wasn’t invited to my dinner and movie so she wrote a nasty review, texted me many pages of text messages on my cell and that’s just unfair even though I’m forced to write an explanation.

 

PROBLEM: biggest complaint: AirBnB's serious mistake deliberately concealing user photos before booking.

The reason for the change is admirable in its intention: to prevent racial discrimination by racist hosts. Great goal! Unfortunately, this has a very serious and undesirable problem it causes.

 

REASONS TO BRING BACK GUEST PHOTOS PRE-BOOKING:

1. It's an unfair inequity and double standard. Guests can always see our photos before booking. It's not equal (equitable) if we cannot see theirs. 

2. It makes it impossible to catch users who are mean, hateful, unhygienic, immature, or unsavory... qualities of which are usually apparent in photos.

 

3. People who think it appropriate to post an unhappy looking, mean faced photo of themselves are almost always mean, anti-social or disturbed.

 

4. People whose photo shows them smoking a bong or beer bong are almost always dangerously immature and demonstrate bad judgement in our homes.

 

5. If someone is racist and would judge me by my color, I wouldn’t feel safe staying with that person in the first place. Let them see my face and race so that if they’re racist I don’t wind up there!

 

6. Unfortunately, racist people never admit it on their profile so the photo WAS an excellent protection.

 

SOLUTION: The photo is such an easy deterrent and protection, desperately important before booking.


As hosts, we are inviting a complete stranger into our own home, sleeping in the next room, so we want to know as much about them as possible and that means at least we can see if their photos reveal an angry, disturbed individual, alcoholic or drug addict.

We’re Hosts not Guinea pigs 😉