Bye bye Airbnb

Anne1325
Level 9
Melbourne, Australia

Bye bye Airbnb

After 6 months of pretty continuous occupancy of our spare room, we are throwing in the towel. We thought Airbnb would be a fun way to meet people from across the globe whilst making a bit of money on the side. Naively we had dreams of buying a property in the countryside and turning that into an Airbnb, we figured a spare room would be a good place to start before we got there. We no longer harbour that dream.

 

What we have learned is that Airbnb is not the cozy answer to staying in overpriced hotels, creating a homestay experience and offering guests and hosts ways to connect with each other's cultures. How misguided I was.

 

In an effort to eliminate all fun on part of the host Airbnb concocted a biased rating system and stringent host requirements, these seemingly designed to make us outcompete 5-star hotels and each other. This is all great news for guests who get more, and more, and more for their buck and, as such, Airbnb, who laughs its way to the bank - for hosts, however, this is lunacy.

 

In the months we hosted we received 32 pretty much stellar reviews but it came at a cost; lurking on the message board and looking at that gleaming five-star dashboard you'll know what is expected. The welcome baskets, the first class linen and the high-end toiletries that hotels triple your price would offer but also a string of things that hotels most definitely would not offer:

 

  • Accept any old random to keep your acceptance rate up or turn off IB and end up at the bottom of the pile.
  • Whilst we are at it, keep your prices to a laughable sum to appear anywhere in these search results as well.
  • And, of course, accept these any old randoms, for next to nothing, with only a first name to go on.
  • Turn a blind eye to your rules for fear of a retaliatory review. Airbnb doesn’t enforce the rules anyway so tough luck.
  • Also look the other way if a guest breaks something or whatever as they will definitely score you down for that, which amounts to personal experience.
  • Put up with unresponsive guests pending their arrival but get dinged on communication yourself, this regardless of the guest’s level of response.
  • And, of course, my personal favourite; the Airbnb suggestion of ‘baking bread before the guest's arrival' on the forum - just to make the room smell nice. They do luckily understand 'that you don't *always* have time for this'. Try never.

 

At the Ritz, if you don't follow the rules, you’ll end up on the street or heavily penalised. If you happen to break something, your credit card will be charged, no questions asked. If you do not show up at the restaurant at the time of reservation, your table will be gone. If you decide to check out early, kiss goodbye to the remainder of your money.

 

This is still considered outstanding hospitality, can you actually believe it?

 

Of course, Airbnb will not miss our listing and there’ll be plenty waiting to take our place, at ever declining prices I would reckon, so I am under no pretence they’ll lose sleep over it. However, no hosts is no Airbnb so I’m hoping that adding my voice, to the numerous other wonderful hosts on this board, will create some progress for those who think hosting is worth it. 

 

Keep up the good fight my host friends. For Airbnb, so long and no love lost.

76 Replies 76

@Anne1325 

That is great that you can make more money.  We found with most we made about the same, but the decrease in stress from making sure everything was perfect and sweating out the reviews was the best.  We find some we make about the same amount of money as short term and there were a few that we made more money.   We had one guest who went home every weekend during the winter months.  She would turn down the heat, no water, no electricity leave Friday morning and return late Sunday.  She worked 10 hour days, that was one we made money on so I guess it can all come out in the end.  We like your term of lodger.  Around here we use tenant and that sounds so cold.  A lodger is the perfect description.

 

Best of luck to you.

@Robert-And-Nancy0 

This is actually quite similar to how Henry and I are hosting but guests find us and book thru Airbnb - we target and host exchange students providing a mix between a homestay and a temporary roommate situation, but as hosts we do provide regular sheet changes, clean towels and all basic amenities throughout the entire stay - something our guests would not get if they were staying anywhere else. Of course we charge accordingly. We host guests for 8~9 months a year. We've found a niche market that works for us and we get to host a lot of great guests. Imo, hosts shouldn't let Airbnb dictate how and who to host, and how much to charge - we need to each figure out what works for us ourselves. 

 

 

@Jessica-and-Henry0 

Yes, we will still pop in and out of Airbnb for long term.  We changed the title to reflect that we are 30+ days.  If we do get someone through Airbnb (not as often anymore) we snooze the listing during the stay.  It is nice not to answer all the questions like "I know you require 30 days but can we rent it for a weekend while in town for a wedding"   We also like the fact we can show the place, if necessary, prior to someone moving in.  That way they can ask questions and there are no surprises.  Airbnb can be a good platform for long term and when we are looking for that next guest we may de-snooze.  Totally agree on being able to make your own decisions and not let Airbnb do it.  Everyone needs to find what works best for them but we are seeing more and more changing to extended stays.

Tara284
Level 2
Vence, France

I have just signed up for airb&b and I doubt I will ever do business through them. I thought to rent an apartment I have for a few months before deciding to rent long term or sell. I had an immediate response from someone that was looking for a 90 day rental as she was wanting to get get a feel for the town I live in before moving into it full time.  Her question was since it’s a long rental I would like to talk to you in advance of rental. Mine was ,I would like to know who I am renting to before committing my house to a complete stranger. Can we actually speak to each other or email ? No! Bye bye airb@b  your Do not do what it used to say on the packet! I will advertise free via social media.

Melissa742
Level 2
Victoria, Australia

I’m sorry you’ve had such a terrible experience. 😭 I’m not a long time Airbnb-er but I’ve had nothing but lovely people staying with me. I don’t stay in the property with them though, so maybe that’s why it’s not as demanding. One thing is true though, it is like a second job! Good luck with your next side hustle! 

@Melissa742 The side hustle is going back to the day job only 😉 With time freed up because I'm not cleaning rooms, pleasing guests etc, I'll be back to making what I originally made. Which is more than what I made with Airbnb included!

Anne1325
Level 9
Melbourne, Australia

@Susan17  I can't find your message on the forum despite it showing in my inbox. Go figure with such an expose. Wow, just wow. 

 

Meanwhile, at Airbnb, good people are asked to trust them with our most prized possessions; our identity and property. Is nothing sacred in the name of profit these days any longer?

@Anne1325 

Yes, my comment did appear in this thread, and the message count did change from 59 to 60 - twice - but a short time later (5 - 10 minutes), what I'd written about the company to which Airbnb outsources the verification, processing and storage of our most sensitive personal information, disappeared without trace. On both occasions.

 

I guess we could put it down to yet another "glitch". I have had posts I've written suddenly vanish from the screen many times before, but that was always while I was actually typing them out, or immediately when I pressed "send". Prior to last night, I've never had my comments actually appear on the thread for a short period of time, and the message counter on the thread increase accordingly, before abruptly disappearing into oblivion. (This also happened to another somewhat controversial comment I posted on a different thread, while more benign comments I posted, escaped unscathed)

 

Interestingly, at the very time I was posting my comments, and they were disappearing, "Airbnb4" was also online here in the CC, posting their own comments on the Smart Pricing debacle. Coincidence?? Who knows, but regular users of the Community Centre are already well accustomed to the arbitrary censorship that goes on here. 

 

I'm glad you got to see my comments in your inbox, at least. Please feel free to do a search on the internet to verify what I wrote in that post. It's all there in black and white - from reputable sources, not online tittle-tattle - once you know what you're looking for. I make a point of never posting any claims regarding Airbnb, without first checking, double-checking and treble-checking, with several independent sources. 

 

It's so sad to see that dealing with Airbnb's nonsense is forcing great people like yourself to abandon the platform, after such short periods of time, but unfortunately, that's what it's come to now. They don't care though - in their eyes, for every small host and homesharer that bails out (or is forced out), there's an unlimited stream of big players with hundreds or even thousands of properties each, ready and eager to jump onboard the gravy train. 

 

What Airbnb don't seem to grasp though, is that the overall quality and reliabilty of their offerings s plummeting, both host and guest loyalty and commitment to the company is now at an all-time low, their brand image and reputation is shot to bits, (Airbnb has an abysmal consumer satisfaction rating on well-known review site Trust pilot, of just 1.4 (out of 10!!), and they're fast becoming one of the most despised companies on the planet, due to the trail of despair and destruction they're leaving in the wake of their unstoppable quest for global domination, and insatiable hunger for unimaginable riches for the few at the very top of the Airbnb pyramid. 

 

Perhaps they should concentrate their energies into rectifying those issues, rather than wasting their time and efforts attempting to quell lone voices in the wilderness. 

 

I wish you the very best in whatever your next endeavours may be! It's a shame your Airbnb dreams didn't work out, but at least you found out early that all that glitters in Airbnb world, truly isn't gold! (Unlike those of us who have poured too many years of blood, sweat, tears, time, effort and money into building up our little hosting businesses, to walk away now with nothing) Best of luck to you, Anne 😉

Stephanie
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Hi @Susan17 - your post mentioned is here within this thead: https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/Bye-bye-Airbnb/m-p/1034632/highlight/true#M255590 

 

Thanks!

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Please follow the Community Guidelines 

@Stephanie @Anne1325 @Susan151 @Ann489 (Ann, Boise - sorry, can't tag you)

 

Thank you for that Steph, much appreciated. And another comment I posted yesterday morning, (asking whether Airbnb was going to reimburse all hosts who had been shortchanged by the Smart Pricing debacle, or just those who had publicly complained about it here in the CC), that similarly appeared in the thread below, then also disappeared into oblivion, has magically reappeared just now too! Still one missing comment though

 

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/Smart-pricing-activated-by-itself/td-p/1032937/page/3

 

Can I just ask, how can it possibly be that my comments are appearing on threads, then disappearing within minutes - in one case, I even edited my comment before it vanished - and then, suddenly turning up again out of the blue, days later - but only after another host has drawn attention to the fact that it's gone from the thread?? 

 

It's all very odd... 

Stephanie
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Hi @Susan17 ,

 

Great questions, and yes, it doesn't just happen to you. On occassion, the platform will hold content in its Spam quarantine. Whilst it is usually pretty good at catching unwanted content, it has been known to catch content which is not spam. On those occassions, we (myself, Quincy and Lizzie) assess the content and release it as appropriate. This can sometimes mean content being held for some time, depending on the weekend or working hours. 

 

I'll have a root around for the other content you've mentioned having done a dissappearing act! 

 

Thanks!

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Please follow the Community Guidelines 

@Stephanie 

 

Hi Steph, and thank you for the response to my questions! Sorry to say though, the Spam Quarantine Filter obviously isn't doing its job properly, as the CC is littered with spam, day in, day out. I've seen several new examples of it on threads today alone. 

 

Also, apologies if this is a dumb question, but it seems to me that the whole purpose of a Spam Quarantine Filter would be to catch, identify and "hold" unwanted content before it appears on the CC threads, rather than afterwards? Seems a bit redundant, otherwise... 

Ann489
Level 10
Boise, ID

@Susan17   As always....well said!   After only one year of hosting I'm afraid, I have developed "Airbnb-fatigue" as well.  I will honor my current reservations, but snooze my listing afterwards until I decide what I want to do.  The few extra bucks I currently make with Airbnb are definitely not worth the stress! 

 

Laura2714
Level 9
Cottonwood, AZ

Please Read:

 

* ‘How to lie with Statistics’ by Darrel Huff

* ‘Dam lies & Statistics’ by Joel Best 

 

The issue with the the rating system is mathematical illiteracy. The system used to rate hosts is mathematically illiterate. It is easy to manipulate on both sides because it is not a science based rating system. 

 

Airbnb is driving down the price to ridiculously low levels - cuts into THEIR profits. It is cutting off the nose to spite the face. It’s not a good business decision for Airbnb corporate. They lose money too.

 

On the other hand, huge corporations can take massive multimillion dollar loses to insure market share. Airbnb is forcing the hosts to take the loses to insure their market shares. They are forcing the hosts to compete to maintain their market share. 

 

(Maybe one day another company will come along to compete when the Airbnb monopolies by treating hosts well and having a business model based on mathematically literate rating.)

 

Airbnb Corporate is basing business decisions on numbers that reading the two books above or taking a 101 Statistics course would teach you are trash. The numbers are worthless. Airbnb Corporate is making decisions that are mathematically illiterate.

 

How can we, as a community educate about mathematics?

 


@Laura2714 wrote:

 

 

Airbnb is driving down the price to ridiculously low levels - cuts will into THEIR profits. It is cutting off the nose to spite the face. It’s not a good business decision for Airbnb corporate. They lose money too. Although, huge corporations can take massive multimillion dollar loses to insure monopolies. Airbnb is forcing the hosts to take the loses to insure their monopolies. They are forcing the hosts to compete to maintain their market share. 

 


Actually, AirBNB does not make less money when you lower your price. They simply charge the guest a higher percentage. The lower the cost of the room, the higher the percentage in service fees that are charged.