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

@Catherine-Powell  Are hosts who are not currently accepting bookings due to Covid-19 required to sign this commitment in order to remain on the platform?

 

There is no reason for me to agree to this cleaning policy because I will not be hosting Airbnb guests during the period that it's relevant. I have chosen to keep my listing active so that people can save it to their wish-lists, but the calendar is blocked and it's not bookable. I don't want to sign this pledge because I will not be hosting again until some of the measures outlined are no longer necessary. Will I and other inactive hosts be penalized?

 

Debra300
Level 10
Gros Islet, Saint Lucia

@Anonymous,

I would think that any listing that is acive will require commitment to the cleaning process, because Airbnb has no idea when you will open your calendar.  Just your word is not sufficient.  Also, what do you mean by relevant period?

 

Your question did have me wonder what the process is for snoozed listings.  Are those hosrs required to opt-in?  Are they even looking at their dashboards to see the notifications?  When they unsnooze the listing, will there be a systematic prompt to agree to the cleaning process?

@Debra300  By "relevant period" I mean "for however long circumstances make it seem necessary to use enhanced cleaning protocol." 

 

If Airbnb wants to opting-in mandatory for unsnoozing a listing or accepting a booking, that's one thing. But the wording suggests that it's mandatory for having a host account in general, not just for receiving guests. The wording in Airbnb's notice threatens to do several different things, but if it's going to be a fixed deadline it needs to come with some clarity about what exact action they are going to take against hosts who don't submit to this degree of micromanagement.

 

I personally don't want to decide whether I'll commit to letting a third party dictate my cleaning routine until I'm ready to actually resume hosting.  

 

 

I've done exactly the same thing- left my listing visible,  but blocked dates for the foreseeable future. I did sign up, because as you say, it wasn't clear anywhere whether they would just block my whole calendar and for how long, if I didn't sign up by the ultimatum date. Also the cleaning protocol in its latest version doesn't seem that onerous to me- living in the tropics with all the bugs and dust means I have to clean super thoroughly anyway and always have. Whether I carry the freshly washed laundry with gloves on or just-washed hands isn't something that affects health and safety and who would know anyway?

 

But I hear you about considering whether to accept letting a booking platform dictate exactly how we clean. I just figured by the time I feel it's safe to open my home-share to bookings, they'll have either done away with all those cleaning directives, or modified them to something less rigorous.

 

@Anonymous

@Sarah977 Exactly.  If you're an in-home host, you still have to keep the common areas clean, so the protocol also dictates how you manage your own living space during the guests' stay. I agree with @Liz4022 's objections over chemical disinfectants, as I use non-toxic solutions whenever possible and refuse to have a binding agreement with Airbnb to use potentially irritant chemicals that are no more effective than regular hand-washing. 

Katie
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

@Anonymous just spotted your question here - we have queried this with the team, so either Catherine will come back to you on this or we will. 

 

@Debra300 @Sarah977 

@Katie Thank you for responding, I appreciate the attention you guys are giving to hosts' concerns on this topic and I look forward to the answers.

@Katie  has a follow-up to the questions address here perhaps been posted somewhere that you're aware of?

Katie
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Hi @Anonymous, apologies for the delay here. 

 

So with regard to your question on whether you need to sign if your listing is snoozed, the answer is yes: all hosts will be prompted to commit to the health and safety guidelines when they log into their Airbnb account. If hosts don’t agree to the commitment before the Nov 20 deadline, they may be subject to warnings, suspensions, and in some cases removal when they turn off snooze after the deadline.

 

In terms of existing bookings, nothing will happen to bookings you receive before the deadline, however Hosts who don’t agree to the COVID-19 safety practices, including the 5-step enhanced cleaning process, by November 20, 2020 may be unable to accept new reservations, have their listings suspended, or in some cases, be removed from Airbnb.

 

@Clare167 @Belinda55 @Thor6 @Jennifer1961 I know you've also asked about this, so just tagging you too 😊

Debra300
Level 10
Gros Islet, Saint Lucia

@Katie,

Thank you, very much for all of the clarifications that you get and following up with us to share the information.  I have concerns and questions regarding the clause that says hosts will not get a payout if a guest cancels due to the host violating the COVID-19 safety protocols. 

 

"If you're a guest, you will not be eligible for a refund if your host cancels your reservation because you did not comply with these practices. Similarly, if you're a host, you will not be eligible for a payout if a guest cancels their stay because you did not comply with these practices."

 

  1. Does the host get paid for nights that the guest stayed prior to the cancellation of the reservation (originated by either guest or host)?  
  2. What type of proof has to be provided to confirm the allegations? 
  3. Are the claims still valid if guests or hosts state that the original breach occurred earlier during the reservation period, but the guest decided to/host allowed the guest to stay, and the accused (guest or host) repeatedly didn't follow the guideline?

I see that this clause can be abused by guests, hosts and Airbnb.  Guests can book reservations for longer than they really want to stay, and then claim a safety violation to get a free or discounted stay.  Conversely, hosts can accept reservations via Airbnb, but want to end the reservation early to fulfill an off-platform booking.  Plus, Airbnb could not refund the guest for the nights they did stay, not pay out to the host, and pocket the money.  

 

These questions and concerns, along with the fact that in section 16.2 of the new ToS that go into effect on Jan. 21, 2021, Airbnb claims that they can apply the rules at their sole discretion, and do what they want with the money, are the primary reasons why I've not yet signed up for the cleaning and safety protocols.

.

@Debra300 @Anonymous @Sarah977 @Helen350 @Clare167 @Belinda55 @Belinda55 

 

 

While I understand and agree that cleaning is important in times of COVID, I'm nervous about this centence:

 

  • „Similarly, if you're a host, you will not be eligible for a payout if a guest cancels their stay because you did not comply with these practices."

 

 

I think this opens a can of worms. What will airbnb do if 50% of all hosts do not agree to the cleaning protocol, are they then cancelling 50% of all reservations? Maybe I should take a little break from hosting and see what happens.

 

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

 

Update: Well, I have just downloaded the Airbnb Cleaning Handbook in German Language. That's 36 pages. I will have to read this first to see if I can even promise to comply with all the requirements.

 

Katie
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Hi @Ute42, thanks for your feedback here.

 

I just wanted to clarify after your comment on the Handbook: whilst the Handbook is still best practice, you are only being asked to commit to the streamlined 5 step process. 

@Katie this is one of the biggest problems with this whole thing. The 5 step process says in step 4 to 'refer to the Handbook'. So, how is that more simplified?

 

Words either mean something or they don't. I will not be agreeing to this absurdity.

 

@Ute42 

@Katie  I really appreciate your efforts to approximate some clarity here, but the logic is circular to the point that it's eating its own tail. The 5-Step Process contains a 4th step that directs you straight back to an ambiguous command that pulls you back into the queue for "sign up or else," (Performance > Cleaning) nothing in my experience in linguistics can prepare me to explain how "refer to x/y" functions as a direction in the context of an order. It is not clear enough what a signatory is committing to on this step, which is an extremely crucial detail when any slip-up on the ambiguous contract exposes the signatory to a financial loss.

 

I guess I'm also not the only one here who finds it inconsistent that some policy changes are made unilaterally without regard to anyone's consent (for example, the dismissal of hosts' cancellation policies during the pandemic) while others are made unilaterally with a mandate for consent (say that out loud a few times - Mandate For Consent - try on the voice of Harvey Weinstein for good measure). It's rather bizarre to have to say this in the MeToo era, but that is not how consent works. 

 

As a private company (for the moment) Airbnb has every right to its standards for active listings, but nobody with even a small child's understanding of human behavior would believe for a second that an agreement extracted under duress would actually be adhered to. I would strongly suggest that you go back to the drawing board on this one rather than alienate expert hosts like @Kelly149 and @Ute42 and @Debra300 , who actually know quite a lot more about the nuts and bolts of hospitality than whoever is treating their homes as controllable inventory.

 

Please give us an update when you have a better proposal.

 

@Debra300  @Ute42  Thank you for illustrating so well what I think is a major sticking point here. The commitment that hosts are being cornered and threatened into signing on a permanent basis (as far as I can tell, regardless of where things go with the pandemic) appears to be a radical departure from the current Guest Refund Policy, and shifts hosts from our current status as fully independent operators into something more akin to Uber drivers - who own the physical inventory but cede control of their compensation. 

 

@Katie  @Catherine-Powell Everyone who has been with Airbnb for years knows that every policy and feature is ephemeral - you guys change Covid policy more frequently than some people change their underwear. So when the time comes that it is both legally permissible and safe to host in-home in Berlin (it's currently neither), I can imagine agreeing to a future iteration of cleanliness standards that is not extracted under duress or financially abusive. However, the current demand is tantamount to a permanently binding agreement, with no expiry date and no possibility to opt out at a later time. 

 

I will not enter into a contract that allows a third party to dictate what cleaning products and practices I employ, nor one that gives a third party carte blanche to seize my services for free if someone says I didn't spray a doorknob or found dust under a bed. Until it has been properly revised, I will strongly implore other hosts who haven't yet yielded to the coercive threats to also consider the implications of the "commitment," beyond the additional burden it places on your cleaning routine and budget.