Basic Requirements/Accepted Reservations

[Edie9]

As a Superhost for a LONG time, I  was surprised to see that I needed to "work on" Basic Requirements/Accepted Reservations. It seems that legitimate reasons for declining a reservation are not taken into account. Some I have encountered with guest reservations were:

- not having a profile, no recommendations or reviews and not responding to questions 

-asking to accommodate more people then listed and not pay the additional charge

-wanting to bring a pet even though the listing specifically states "no pets"

-wanting to bring young children when, for safety reasons, the listing specifically states "no children"

As more and more "first time" guests use Airbnb incorrectly.....some deliberately....hosts should not be penalized for declining a reservation.

[Rebecca181]

@Edie9 Based on the new policies being rolled out by Airbnb in July regarding Super Host standards and what we need to do to remain Super Hosts, I can only think that there must be too many of us and the best way to fix that is to institute these new requirements. Either that, or they are seeking to 'educate' us so that we will be good little super hosts and act like we are hotel managers operating commercial rental property.

As for me, I will continue to decline reservation requests that are clearly made by people who would use my beautiful Cottage and property in such a way that my House Rules would be violated and / or my property and Cottage would be harmed. Or people who clearly would not be happy at my place for reasons that I am able to determine via my conversations with them (with their full agreement, and appreciation). Why it has been decided we should be penalized for such vetting and screening is beyond me. We are in fact told by Airbnb to give a full description of our property so that guests will not arrive and feel misled and disappointed!

A hotel my lovely Cottage will never be. So I will enjoy my last few months of Super Host status while it lasts. My home. My rules.

[Ann10]

Is there something else beside the absurd 4.8 we need to maintain instead of the 80% of above 5 star ratings.

Now, when/if they switch to an average of 4.8, that is similar, but not the same.

It is the same if all of your non-5-star ratings are 4-star ratings. If you receive a single 4-star rating, you can balance it out by getting 4 more 5-star ratings.

But not all non-5-star ratings are 4-stars. This is how the math works:

If you receive:

A single 4-star rating, you need 4 perfect 5-star ratings to average 4.8

A single 3-star rating, you need 9 perfect 5-star ratings to average 4.8

A single 2-star rating, you need 14 perfect 5-star ratings to average 4.8

A single 1-star rating, you need 19 perfect 5-star ratings to average 4.8

So it is much, much harder to overcome a single bad rating if that rating is a very low one.

[Edie9]

Pointing out the way ratings are determined is VERY interesting. Something that I definitely wondered about. Thanks for outlining it specifically.

[Marcy1]

Re. @Edie9 _GUESTS WITH NO PROFILE DESCRIPTION or PICTURE_ should not be able to book. Simple. Easily implemented by programming. i.e. asterisk'd boxes that don't allow progress to booking if not completed. 

If hosts didn't have pictures or descriptions, we wouldn't get bookings. 

It sounds like, from the last live Host Q&A segment, that some sort of Super Guest status is coming hopefully along with superguest status, average requirements for filling out information will be included. Airbnb was not made successful by anonymous, generic hotels and motels, but of people across the world opening their _homes_. 

[Carole140]

Yes, I have been a Superhost since the beginning. My listing is super unique...a teeny treehouse, with a weight requirement. It's cheap and it's like a big step above camping, so it's for folks who love the outdoors..truely. They must answer questions to be accepted. Becoming a superhost and having happy guests, (one main reason), is that I could decline those would not answer. As you guys know...the host guest situation is symbiotic. So it's ridiculous and counter to what Airbnb claims to be about, to penalize you for declining people! Bye bye to superhost status to me soon too, I spose.  😕

[Jane267]

I understand vetting a guest but not letting them book because they choose not to share government data that can be used to steal their identity and rape them financially is unacceptable!

[Edie9]

@Jane267
As a host, I am offering my home. You bet I am vetting guests! Often I get an email that only says..."Is your space available?" and nothing else. If there are no reviews, no profile, no picture or they do not respond to questions, the only thing I have to go on is a first name and perhaps a home town. Now who is open to being raped?!

[Jane267]

I sounds like to me we are ALL unhappy with Airbnb.  It’s time to go elsewhere...🤔😡😏😁👍

[Bruna-and-Andrew0]

@Edie9

My problem is that the calculation for that percentage is not even correct. I called in and had a long exchange with a customer service rep via email about how they calculate it.

He even sent me the number of requests I had accepted/declined in the last 365 days and when I did the math my percentage was much higher then what airbnb is displaying and saying I have to work on.

This is extremely frustrating. Of course I'm vetting every single person! It's MY house!

I am going to find the energy to call them again and see if I get a better explanantion as to why the numbers don't match. That might have to do with Canceled reservations. But it doens't make sense as I am a superhost and have never canceled anyone. The cancellations come from guests or because there was a problem with their payment and they missed the time frame abb gives them.

Anyway,

if someone has more insights into this new rating of hosts, please share!

Bruna

[Edie9]

@Bruna-and-Andrew0@Jane267@Carole140@Marcy1

Vetting is a given for hosts and should be.

The irony with all of this is the guests will have no idea how assessments are made to determine the "level" of the host!

Airbnb needs to treat their hosts with ultimate respect and in high regard. After all, looking at it from my point of view, they are our hosts and we are their guests. Without us Airbnb does not exist and as such we should be treated to a high standard....just as they want us to treat our guests. 

Uber is quickly being challenged by Lyft with perturbed drivers changing. It is only a matter of time before Airbnb is challenged in the same manner.....in other words, treating their hosts with the respect they deserve needs to be a priority for Airbnb administration before it is too late.