Ban on one night bookings Halloween

Colleen253
Level 10
Alberta, Canada

Ban on one night bookings Halloween

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Anyone know where/when this was released? I don’t see anything on the Updates page and I didn’t get this notification from Airbnb myself.

40 Replies 40
Helen427
Level 10
Auckland, New Zealand

 That's unbelievable @Colleen253 

@Emilia42 @Michelle53 @Lawrene0 

 

All the celebrations we have traditionally had in life regardless of our beliefs on them have been tossed aside bc of Covid this year.

 

Frankly I'm appalled ABB would bat an eyelid & prevent 1 night bookings over Halloween as they are already in Courts of law, from what I understand for alleged breaches of Under 25 yr olds rights to book ABB accommodation for any type of party.

 There's good & bad apples everywhere.

 I'm inclined to agree that ABB have overstepped the mark here taking a "Blanket approach" with blocking all One nighters, and if it's come from local Councils it's even worse as they have no lawful right to infringe on people's private affairs.

 

 

 

 

@Colleen253 @Anonymous @Michelle53 @Helen427 @Emilia42 

 

Halloween is the first anniversary of the Orinda tragedies, when 5 kids were shot dead at an Airbnb mansion party. This is a PR exercise and a pre-emptive move to absolve Airbnb from any and all responsibility and/or accountability, should there be (God forbid) another similar occurrence this Halloween. 

 

Perhaps if their own 'verification' and 'vetting' procedures were a bit more reliable and trustworthy in the first place - and they hadn't continued to strip away hosts' ability and autonomy to conduct their own vetting and/or background checks prior to the guests' arrival - the phenomenon of Airbnb parties would not have been allowed to mushroom into such a chronic and reputationally-damaging issue for the platform. 

 

Furthermore, Airbnb's propensity for rewarding evicted partying guests with refunds and often even with rehousing in the homes of other unsuspecting hosts, their abject refusal to collect real security deposits and their strong reluctance to hold troublemakers accountable for thrashing hosts' homes - combined with their extreme reticence in banning anti-social members from the platform even when there is solid, irrefutable evidence of their wrongdoings - have directly led to the creation of an environment where guests are fully aware that they can get away whatever unacceptable, anti-social and even criminal behaviour they d*mn well please, with the chances of repercussions (financial, legal or otherwise) for themselves being slim to none.

 

Added to that, the company's effective shielding (citing 'member privacy') of rogue guests by making law enforcement agencies jump through onerous hoops in their attempts to obtain even partial information on all but the most extreme offenders, makes hosting an exceptionally stressful, ongoing nightmare for those who cater for groups of 6 or more in most towns and cities.

 

These 'under-25' bans, 2 night minimum stipulations and limits of 16 guests per property are ineffective toothless measures, and in reality, do little or nothing to curb the problem. The out-of-control parties haven't stopped, the shootings haven't  stopped and the neighbourhood disturbances haven't stopped since any of these measures have been introduced (the under-25s ban has been in place in US and Canada for most of this year - meanwhile, reports of party disturbances have sky-rocketed by 238%) It's like putting a sticking plaster on a gaping wound. Airbnb knows that of course, but as long as they can whack out a virtue-signalling Press Release to appease potential investors and to make it look like they're taking some effective steps to prevent even more kids from losing their lives, that's all that matters.

 

And yes - absolutely, hosts must also take every possible precaution to protect their homes and their neighbourhoods - that goes without saying - but any host who deals with this problem on a weekly/nightly basis will tell you.. regardless of how conscientious and vigilant a host tries to be, these parties can blow up in the blink of an eye and it's becoming more and more dangerous to try and shut them down (as evidenced by the co-host who got shot in the back while attempting to break up a 'gathering' at an Airbnb in Cincinnati just recently) 

 

By the time these guest are in our homes, it's often too late. Robust, accurate and reliable vetting/background checks, the retention of actual security deposits - with severe financial penalties for guests who wilfully violate house rules and cause damages in hosts homes - and immediate expulsion of offenders from the platform are desperately and urgently needed and would soon start sending out the strong warning message to guests that Airbnb parties are no longer tolerated. All these half-baked, cosmetic PR measures that Airbnb are trumpeting to the media about - and which guests with nefarious intentions can so very easily side-step - are a complete waste of time, and will do absolute nothing to prevent more house-trashing, neighbourhood disruptions or premature deaths.

Penelope

@Super47  Thanks for zeroing in on the true heart of the issue and summing it up so well.

Ute42
Level 10
Germany

.

One of the most effective ways to prevent parties from happening would be a real security deposit:

 

Saturday night rental price: ......................$700

Security deposit:......................................... $700

--------------------------------------------------------

Credit Card charged: ..............................$1400

 

And the guest gets the security deposit returned only if the host releases the payment.

 

This would kill 95% of all parties. We all have been asking airbnb for this for years, but

 

  • Airbnb: NO

 

You know what I think? I think they have introduced their Halloween 1 night rental ban because of their IOP.

 

Helloween:..............................october 30th

possible IPO............................nov. 12

 

They just don't want the negative press from another 5 people being killed in an airbnb 2 weeks prior to going public. As soon as the IPO is through, we'll be back to busines as usual

 

When will we get a real security deposit which would work on all 52 weekends of the year as opposed to one weekend only?

 

 

@Super47 @Colleen253 @Helen427 @Emilia42 @Michelle53 

 

Mike-And-Jane0
Level 10
England, United Kingdom

@Ute42 If only you hadn't published your tutorial on saying NO Airbnb might have allowed security deposits by now.

@Ute42   I agree - it would be great to have the ability to charge a real security deposit. 

 

Although I have to say that since I've been doing much better up-front screening, I'm getting far fewer problems. But  that may also be due to far fewer people travelling. 

 

If things ever return to some kind of "normal", and people are, once again, travelling in groups for large events, and things start getting busier,  I think the rules are going to have to be different. 

 

By the way, I love the "No" tutorial. 

 

 

Frankie66
Level 2
Portland, OR

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Daniel7558
Level 2
Los Angeles, CA

This is so dumb.

Daniel7558
Level 2
Los Angeles, CA

The fact that AirBNB did this unilaterally and without notice to hosts (or even its own support staff!) is mind-boggling. Where are the adults running this thing?

Mirco-And-Jasmin0
Level 3
Revelstoke, Canada

I find this very stupid, especially because I live in the house that is directly attached to my guest suite. I would hear if people have a party, but still my guests booking got cancelled.

It was very short notice from Airbnb and after I apologized to the guests I found out that they thought that I, as the host, cancelled it, not Airbnb.

Why is it only the one-night stays? Who says that guests, who stay two nights, don't have a party?

Linda108
Level 10
La Quinta, CA

This doesn't directly affect my listing, but both city and Air BNB heavy handed, unilateral restrictions are in both entities self-interest as both are being help responsible for allowing the circumstance that irresponsible hosts and/or criminal guests cause.  The CYA rule applies for them.  Unfortunately hosts are caught in the middle. If Air BNB is actually paying the hosts for the cancelled date, that is a new twist that at least acknowledges the impact on hosts.