Guest profile picture no longer visible until booking confirmed

Ramona79
Level 4
Waratah, Australia

Guest profile picture no longer visible until booking confirmed

Hello everyone, I am a single parent with a young child and I have been hosting for quite some time. 

 

I am selective as to who I host as I share the space. I am appalled that when a guest books I can no longer see their profile picture. 

 

I want a visual on who I am potentially hosting! 

 

They can see ours, so how is it fair we can not see them?

 

i understand this may be an attempt to prevent discrimination but we are the people opening our homes.

It’s a saftety issue that air bnb has over looked. I will now be asking for full names and further details, which will slow the approval process.

Anybody else feeling this way?

 

47 Replies 47
Paul146
Level 2
Mississauga, Canada

I agree 100% with you. I have contacted airbnb to complain twice now. This new system sees me

blocking out more dates on my calendar and has me considering giving up hosting all together!

Matteo340
Level 6
New York, NY

You know what I'm doing? I'm declining all the booking requests until this thing has been removed. And on my decline messages I'm letting people know that, hey, it's not your fault, but until Airbnb doesn't allow me again to see the face of the person that is supposed to come and stay and live in my apartment and share the space with me I'm not accepting anyone.

 

 

But really who wants and requested this? Definitely I don't think this is going to benefit any host out there, unless they operate an hotel kind of business. Hosting at home it's a completely different scenario of course, and I reserve the right to say no to whoever I like, whenever I like and that's my choice. If they dont want to be the case anymore, well, we have to come to the conclusion that this platform is just going to be as transparent as Craigslist. Years of development to go back to where everything started from. Good job!

 

Ultimately, I believe this action was made with Airbnb interests in mind only, completely disregarding hosts needs, concerns, and requests. Pretty lame move from a company that claims to wanting to build a "community" or a better one. Right. I think there's a little problem right there. And I'm sure they are going to explain this as an attempt to minimize booking rejections based on appearance, race, or sex. Typical SF bull**** and typical solution in  SF-style. How are they going to do that? Creating more distance between people. Not allowing host and guest to properly interact to each other or being able to make their own decisions according to their own judgement and beliefs. Typical SF pseudo-liberal fascists move indeed.

 

 

 

 

I agree with you.  We are also very reluctant to accept dodgy guests.  By the way, I don't know what SF means?


@Matteo340 wrote:

You know what I'm doing? I'm declining all the booking requests until this thing has been removed. And on my decline messages I'm letting people know that, hey, it's not your fault, but until Airbnb doesn't allow me again to see the face of the person that is supposed to come and stay and live in my apartment and share the space with me I'm not accepting anyone.

 

 

But really who wants and requested this? Definitely I don't think this is going to benefit any host out there, unless they operate an hotel kind of business. Hosting at home it's a completely different scenario of course, and I reserve the right to say no to whoever I like, whenever I like and that's my choice. If they dont want to be the case anymore, well, we have to come to the conclusion that this platform is just going to be as transparent as Craigslist. Years of development to go back to where everything started from. Good job!

 

Ultimately, I believe this action was made with Airbnb interests in mind only, completely disregarding hosts needs, concerns, and requests. Pretty lame move from a company that claims to wanting to build a "community" or a better one. Right. I think there's a little problem right there. And I'm sure they are going to explain this as an attempt to minimize booking rejections based on appearance, race, or sex. Typical SF bull**** and typical solution in  SF-style. How are they going to do that? Creating more distance between people. Not allowing host and guest to properly interact to each other or being able to make their own decisions according to their own judgement and beliefs. Typical SF pseudo-liberal fascists move indeed.

 

 

 

 


 

Nelly0
Level 5
Los Angeles, CA

I support you 100% I m an older woman living by my self and I want to know who I m hosting. Recently I had a horrible experience with guests with no pictures and with an advice from Trust and Safety Department I had to evict them with a Police help!!

I agree! I’m now asking for links too social media sites where I can view picture with first and last name where I can checkthem out and considering asking for ID when they arrive since we have no other way of being sure! In fact last year I had a father talking in behalf of his 20 Something year old son and when I told him he needed his own site and his son began speaking it made me feel very uncomfortable... to them point where I had to cancel... so it’s important we know who we’re booking with,

This new policy is very unsafe for hosts and biased. I also think we should a file a complaint to the better business bureau because it’s biased discrimination and in favor of only one party. We as hosts have the right to know who’s coming in our homes! 

Andres356
Level 2
Bucharest, Romania

photo is visible only when a reservation is confirmed so when i check your listing, I cannot see your photo. 

 

How can you know from a photo if a person is a nice one or a wanted serial killer? 

Elisabeth530
Level 1
Rome, Italy

I absolutely feel the same way ! I am hosting in my studio and need to know who is coming ! We cannot let this new rule be implemented! We have to stand up against it ! 

 

Jose678
Level 1
Amsterdam, Netherlands

Hi Ramona, I am complete agree with you.

Kind Regards

Jose

Jo-Anne25
Level 2
London, Canada

The whole advantage to airbnb is the vetting ability in both directions. We host a whole house in a quiet neighbourhood where vetting is absolutely critical.  As hosts we are putting our investments in property out there and for those who invite people into their homes its even more important.  Guests can discriminate on any criterion  as they get to see absolutely everything about hosts to pick and choose where they will stay ... and rightfully so.  But you don’t think for a minute that any discrimination ever enters the equation there ?  Of course it does, and i have no problem with that ... discriminate away ... its part of the process of finding the perfect place.  That’s how i found my wife,  i discriminated until i found her ! 

Deirdre35
Level 2
Victoria, Canada

Hi Ramona,

I agree with you 100%. I understand why this change has been implemented,, “you can’t (or shouldn’t) judge a book by its cover”. However, I find it hard to connect with a booking which makes me uncomfortable. I feel like I’m blindly letting strangers into my home and I too have a little one. This is 100% a safety issue. We list one rental and its in our family home. Seeing someones face is a basic social interaction we expect from other areas of our lives, from hiring employees to dating . Why mot have this opportunity when letting people into the most personal area of your life....your home!

Emma684
Level 2
Brussels, Belgium

Deleted

Eldon49
Level 1
Cape Town, South Africa

I share this sentiment 100% and am considering not doing this anymore for this reason. I want to see who I am allowing in my house and the profile picture is a good reference to begin with. People are making reservations with no reviews, a single name and no picture and upset when I turn them down. This would be prevented by being able to see their picture for a start and guests taking a little more care in their presentation, much as we hosts have to. I hope they revert this. Thanks!

Russell246
Level 2
Reading, United Kingdom

Airbnb are clearly not listening to the genuine concerns that hosts have with regards to guests profile photos been available for haots to see prior to a booking jbeen made. Having been a airbnb hosts since the very early days I am beginning to feel that all airbnb now care about is preparing the company for an IPO In 2021 and not so much what protects the hosts and the very people who have been at the heart of their success..I I have concluded  that the only way to get airbnb's attention is to stop hosting and as a superhost I have now declined several booking advising guests that I no longer accept bookings until airbnb revert their guest photo policy. If hosts stop taking bookings then eventually airbnb will hopefully listen about our safety concerns. 

You are assuming that Airbnb cares whether you stop hosting or not. They don't. There are far more listings than there are guests to fill them, so unless hosts quit en masse, which isn't going to happen, Airbnb considers you expendable.

 

All that your solution to this, of declining bookings will do, is to get warnings from Airbnb about your decline rate, and eventual suspention. It won't accomplish anything re profile photos.

@Russell246

@Sarah977

"There are far more listings than there are guests to fill them.."

 

That's what Airbnb would like us to think. However, despite their decimated revenue this year, and drastic cost-cutting measures, including laying off thousands of staff and saying that they were halting all marketing this year in an attempt to save $800million, they've recently fired up their Host Referral program again, with referral fees of $390 up to $750 being offered in some parts of the US to onboard new hosts.

 

They also lost huge numbers of Pro hosts on account of the COVID refunds, and listing numbers in most of their major markets worldwide have plummeted (London, for example, had just over 85000 listings this time last year, now down to 45949/ Paris over 65000 in 2019, down to 32735/Sydney 37000+, down to 13632/ Toronto 23500, down to 11901/ NY 38854, down to 23790, and so on.

 

They wouldn't be lashing out lavish referral fee bonuses if they weren't desperately in need of new hosts, particularly at a time when every cent counts 

Penelope