Airbnb Plus - Airbnb not responsive

[Andrew592]

Hi All, 

Has anyone dealt with Airbnb Plus? We completed all the designers request (sunk a ton of cash into this), got our final pictures taken and now Airbnb has ghosted us. 

We got our final pictures taken a month ago and there has been no responses from either the designer or the airbnb plus e-mails. 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Andrew592

browse through this community center and read posts about ABB Plus... it seems hosts are not very happy in this programm...

[Andrew592]

Thank you. I will. Just frustrated we spent over a year on this. Sunk thousands of dollars on "upgrades" only to have airbnb not even return a courtsey e-mail after a week. 

[Letti0]

@Andrew592  Also the fact that AirBnB Plus does not have a direct phone number or any means of contacting them direct also doesn't look good for them. 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Andrew592

well, you upgraded your unit and it probably looks better now so you can charge more. If you have new pictures put them on your listing, rise your prices and don't think about Plus any more  .

Have you already paid 150 $ for plus collection?

[Andrew592]

Looks better is debatable I'm a man, so I liked it better before. We are very good at pricing and noticed the newer furnishing not really help to be honest. We think Plus has been taking a lot of traffic away and our price increase is us getting smarter about pricing. 

Yes I've paid the $150 and have been getting professional photos. 

Just wanted to see if there was any hacks to anyone had. Seems frustrating to have the designer say "Do this and you are pretty much guaranteed Plus" and then be over 30 days with no repsonses etc... I know airbnb doesn't really care about us but just wanted a place to vent. 

[Emma271]

I have recently had a similar issue - at first the Plus team were very responsive to the requested updatates that I submitted & then  the last 2 haven't  been acknowledge at all...& I can't even updload & send them anymore photos of the areas that they wanted updated - just says it's under review & to contact them if I have any questions...but HOW do you contact them??  

In the meantime our listing has been getting FAR LESS bookings than ever before  - the last 2 months has been terrible & we have always had an average of 4-5 nights per week booked...n ot sure what's going on.

[Robin4]

@Andrew592

Airbnb is now a large organisation and what we see here in the CC is just the smallest sampling of the hosting community…..the tip of the iceberg!

From the number of posts we see just like yours where

A/……. 7-8 months appears to be a waiting time a prospective Plus host can expect to wait.

B/…….. The host has no control over the listing, the Plus team decides the listing layout and how the listing description is worded, in spite of the hosts protests.

C/. …… The Plus team decides what pictures will be used and retains the ownership of any professional photos taken.

D/…….The very nature of the Plus program is to attract a harder to please guest. Those guests who expect something better and for whom nothing is quite good enough, thereby making it harder for hosts to remain in the program they paid money to join.

These observations may be incorrect Andrew, but, we are seeing too many of them to say they don’t exist!

So on that basis all I will say is, I am so glad I chose not to be a part of the Plus program! You Andrew have just simply added fuel to the fire!

I wish you well but I am afraid I can't say much constructive to help you!

Cheers......Rob

[Pete28]

E/ plus require superhost, which change in review system, avg 4.8 etc etc adds another element of chance to the process.

[Robin4]

@Pete28

Actually Pete, Plus it appears does not require a host to have a Superhost status!

If you check through a few random Plus listings you will see a lot of hosts with less than 10 reviews in the past 12 months....some that have a 4 stars overall rating which equates to less than 4.8. And if you search in the london area you will even see a couple who have host cancellation notices in their review section over the past year.

It appears that the governing criteria for selection into the Plus program would be that $150 consideration fee!

Cheers......Rob

[Cor3]

Hi @Robin4,

I would guess by now. Airbnb is somewhat desperate to get Plus on its feet.

As they have announced it as being the next big thing, already 7 months ago.

Remember: The ‘promise’ was to have 75.000 listings on Plus by the end of 2018!

I suppose they are now at about some 3.000 - 4.000?

[Letti0]

@Robin4  They should not still be in the Plus Category. These requirements listed below are also the requirements to get in the Plus to begin with. Now the question is has the Plus destroyed their listing since they signed for it with bad reviews and bad guests they had to cancel on? It appears that way to me.

How can I maintain my Airbnb Plus status?

To maintain your Airbnb Plus status, make sure you continue to meet the eligibility requirements:

• Maintained an average rating of 4.8 over the past year
• Accepted 95% of booking requests
• No canceled reservations over the past year

Be sure to check out the full list of requirements.

Your listing’s Plus classification, privileges, and license to use the Plus classification may be revoked at any time if: you violate the Plus Terms and Conditions, the Airbnb Terms of Service, or any other Airbnb terms and conditions applicable to you; you or your listing no longer meet the program’s eligibility standards or qualifying criteria; or you or your listing are involved in incidents that violate Airbnb’s hospitality standards.

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2190/how-can-i-maintain-my-airbnb-plus-status

[Robin4]

@Letti0 @Cor3 @Pete28 @Branka-and-Silvia0

My post was just a bit 'tongue in cheek' Letti!

Sure, we all know what the requirements are for a Plus listing, and the blurb indicates that, if, (after a rigurous vetting program where no stone is left unturned), the host exceeds the bar that Airbnb set to be a 'succesful' Airbnb host, the program may accept them....well that's what it infers Letti......

But, I just do a bit of looking and, sure there are Superhosts a plenty with hundreds of reviews, obviously very successful hosts. But, rubbing shoulders with those great hosts and properties there is also a sizeable number of approved  Plus hosts like this....

This host has 8 reviews in total of which 3 have been in the past 12 months and nowhere on the hosts profile does it indicate there are reviews for other properties.

How does that meet those stringent entry requirements Letti? It's not as though the host simply lost a heap of reviews....from what we read on the listing page, they never had the required minimum to start with! And the Plus team would have to approve this listing to publish it...well wouldn't they?

Or what about this one!

Just 7 reviews over the past 12 months of which one was a host cancellation!!! How on earth does that work Letti.

These are 'Featured'  Plus properties, not just ones that happened slip though the cracks and lurk around the bottom of the Plus listings. If you Scroll Shepherds Bush London Plus properties these come up in the featured 25....the 25 standout Airbnb properties in London, I didn't pull them out of thin air, go and check!.

So Letti, you can talk on about 'Airbnb hospitality standards' and 'full list of requirements', quote links from here and there, yep, we know what those are but......

The reality seems to fall considerably short of the rhetoric!

Cheers......Rob

[Cor3]

Hi @Robin4,

A few side remarks with regards to the Plus Program.

Superhost Status is NOT a requirement to be eligible for the Plus Program!

It looks a lot like the Superhost requirements, but in fact it is not the same.

The requirements list states:

• An average of at least a 4.8 Overall Star rating
  Remarks:
  • Is this during the past year or since the host started hosting?
  • Does this apply to the Plus-listing or to all listings of a host?

Factual:

• So any host with just a single 5-star review, should be sufficient.

 Other requirements:

• No host cancellations in the past year.
• Acceptance-rate of at least 95% of all reservations.
  Remarks:
  • Does this apply to the Plus-property or to all listings of a host?

[Andrew592]

Hi Rob, 

D. Is a newer though. Never thought of that before. I'll need to read up more. 

I'm okay with B to C if I can charge more. 

A, is upsetting. We are a community and have airbnb be so callous about this is insulting. Least they can do is communicate why it is taking so long.