COMPULSORY enhanced cleaning protocol unrealistic for many

Belinda55
Level 10
Bundeena, Australia

COMPULSORY enhanced cleaning protocol unrealistic for many

Dear Airbnb,

Please quit your paternalistic and bullying ‘one size fits all’ policies. There are many locations in the world with little or no community COVID infections, so to coerce hosts (by threatening blocking of calendar and bookings) into complying with a global policy is both unrealistic and unfair.
There are no other booking platforms doing this! Hosts are able to comply with local regulations and requirements and do not need this heavy-handedness from you. I have been a Superhost, with a perfect record on cleanliness, for 7 years straight, and am insulted and offended by your approach. Talk about ‘biting the hand‘ ... we are now planning to prioritise other booking platforms.

237 Replies 237

It says they recommend leaving 24 hours between bookings, but that if that's not possible, to wait at least 3 hours before entering the unit after guests have checked out. So no, it doesn't appear that they will block your calendar, although if you wait 3 hours to enter, and it takes 3 hours to clean, you'd need at least 6 hours between check-out and check-in.

@Jennifer715

So if Airbnb will not block out calendar dates 24 hours before and after each reservation which is implemented in the "opt in" EC protocol, @Sarah977  what would be, in your opinion, the reason/s why to NOT agree to this new 11/20/20 mandate?  In other words do nothing.  What negative (hidden) repercussions are there?  Not understanding why they are threatening hosts to drop their listing if they do not agree.  I suspect this mandate is mainly targeted towards those hosts who are not cleaning very well and they have been getting complaints from guests.  I would think for us hosts who have 5 star ratings would be exempt from any such mandates, even moving forward.  Just curious on your opinions.

@Jennifer715 

The reason for objecting is the global nature of the policy, which is not appropriate in many locations. As stated in my original post:

“There are many locations in the world with little or no community COVID infections, so to coerce hosts (by threatening blocking of calendar and bookings) into complying with a global policy is both unrealistic and unfair.
There are no other booking platforms doing this! Hosts are able to comply with local regulations and requirements.”

@Belinda55   Oh don't get me wrong.  I completely agree with you and at this point, do not want to agree in case I am agreeing to something that is not fully understood.  That is why I am asking you fine folks to enlighten or warn me in case I am missing something.   🙂   

 

I just don't want there to be mandatory blockings of dates before and after a reservation to ensure protocol has been adhered to which is why I am cautious and somewhat confused if I should or should not agree.

 

Are you going to/have agree to that mandate or just let it ride?  Curious how many hosts will or will not agree.

Thanks @Jennifer715 

I don’t intend to comply to a global rule that is not appropriate for my location, and I also think that Airbnb is overstepping it’s mandate in demanding this.

In other COVID contexts (eg some US states and European cities) hosts may feel it is a fair ask. But because of the range of situations, it is local rules we should be complying with, not a global mandate from Airbnb.

My understanding is that agreeing will not result in calendar dates being blocked, but the threat is that NOT agreeing may result in your calendar being blocked from new reservations. Coercion.

@Jennifer715 Airbnb will not block your calendar before and after each reservation when you sign up. It is merely a suggestion. Blocking the host's calendar before and after each stay would cost Airbnb A LOT of money and Airbnb knows this. That's why the simplest and safest way to protect hosts and guests is ignored. 

 

I think it is purely a matter of liability. All hosts are signing a contract to say we are all cleaning and disinfecting a certain way. If something goes wrong, Airbnb is not at fault as the host clearly did not follow the protocol. 

Yes I agree.  So you signed and agreed to this mandate? @Emilia42 

@Jennifer715 I signed up a few days ago. I feel like I didn't have a choice.

@Emilia42  ... and that is the heart of the problem, hosts don’t feel they have a choice. NONE of the other booking platforms I’m engaged with have ever tried this kind of coercive tactic.

Debra300
Level 10
Gros Islet, Saint Lucia

@Emilia42,

I will opt-in also, primarily because the cleaning process is almost identical to the St. Lucian government's cleaning guidelines.  I have to formally commit to a cleaning process one way or another.

 

I believe the reason why Airbnb didn't make it mandatory to opt in to the enhanced cleaning protocol is there are many global locations that cannot achieve the standard.  However, everyone should be able to follow the five-step cleaning process.  By making every host opt-in, Airbnb can state that like chain hotels, everyone of its participating locations is required to follow their corporate cleaning process.

 

As @Sarah977  has said, the cleaning steps are pretty basic for turning over a STR.  Although IMO, taking out the trash in step one should actually be the last task in step three.

@Debra300 As far as I am aware the 5 step protocol and the enhanced cleaning are the same things. The difference is that now they are making it mandatory to commit by November 20th

Debra300
Level 10
Gros Islet, Saint Lucia

@Emilia42,

Yeah, I guess they may be considered the same things.  I really can't bemoan the mandate, because unlike other hosts, even if I don't agree to Airbnb's cleaning process, I still have to commit to the local government's cleaning process in order to re-open and operate.

I think we all have various cleaning routines that make sense to us, and for goodness sakes, no one is going to know whether you took out the garbage in step one or step three., and it doesn't make a bit of difference as far as virus safety. 

 

It's like those stupid articles you read on yahoo that tell you that you've been doing something wrong all your life, just because the writer of the article does it differently.

 

I've always removed the guest garbage and washed out the container as part of the whole cleaning process, then had a small bag to throw any garbage I created when cleaning, like paper towels, or empty cleaning product containers into, but that's just my own method.

@Debra300

@Debra300 

“... like chain hotels ...”

Yes Airbnb endlessly tries policies to make us more like chain hotels, but this is not what Airbnb is supposed to be!
I’m really over this coercive behaviour of theirs, and am going to tune out until Nov 19 and see if they have moderated their approach.

Debra300
Level 10
Gros Islet, Saint Lucia

@Belinda55,

I have previously mentioned how Airbnb wants its cake and eat it, too.  They have implemented rules/functionality that are comparable with other platforms (e.g., instant book, removed profile pictures, etc.), but these other reservation channels allow the host to manage the financial transactions and enforcement of their cancellation policy and house rules.  Airbnb wants to retain this control, and also not provide any means to appeal their decisions.

 

As always, I recommend that all host explore listing on additional platforms so their eggs are not in one basket.