Guest profile pictures removed

John232
Level 10
Bangor, United Kingdom

Guest profile pictures removed

I have been an Airbnb host for many years, but am very concerned to find just now that profile pictures of potential guests are now not being displayed until a booking is confirmed. For me and I am sure many other hosts who welcome guests into our homes it is vitally important to be able to see what a guest is like and make a judgement about their suitability for accommodation within ones home where there may also be children. I am VERY concerned about this decision that seems to encourage 'incognito' travelling, and I cannot continue to offer accommodation unless hosts are able to see a good clear and recognisable profile picture of potential guests BEFORE we accept a new booking.

 

Withdrawing profile pictures makes selecting our guests a lottery, and takes away from us the ability to exercise choice. This is not what I regard as responsible hosting. I have always valued the vetting process provided by Airbnb but have many times expressed my concern that so many guests seem to seek accommodation with avatar profile images. In my opinion this is an insult to the hospitality offered by hosts. This new decision to hide all profile pictures of guests until after acceptance is not acceptable, because it encourages this incognito invasion of a hosts private home.

250 Replies 250

I can only seem to check reviews written by guests when using Google Chrome, with an app that I had to download for this purpose.  I think it was called Airreview.

Allan147
Level 3
Brisbane City, Australia

You are missing the point all together that John makes and you clearly do not understand the control airbnb used to provide to hosts for accepting a guest request.  

 

Having hosted for 5 years it’s a real **bleep** move by airbnb soley based on the assumption hosts discriminate,and to ensure airbnb does not lose any said service fees. 

 

I dont care care so much when my listing is an entire home, but when it’s a private room i our family home we deserve more control in who we wish to host. 

 

I too will be looking for alternate platforms.

I've been doing this for 6 years. Yes, most guests do have a profile picture, but some don't have an actual photo of themselves, but instead a cartoon character, or a picture of their pet, or motorcycle, or .....

 

The point is that viewing profile photos is one additional way to make decisions of who is coming into our homes. This is very different than renting an entire house. In my case, their room is right next to my bedroom. My home is close quarters. Believe it or not, I have become quite savvy in discerning a guests suitability using their photo. I often feel uncomfortable after accepting a reservation upon seeing their photo because I haven't had the opportunity to use it in my decision-making process.

 

In California, I have the legal right to choose who comes into my home. 

 

As a host, I need all the tools available to me to make the process of accepting reservation the easiest it can be for myself and the guest. Requesting an adequate photo of them after booking the reservation causes more strife for both parties. 

Antonio-Luis0
Level 10
Málaga, Spain

How does a single picture chosen by the guest helps you to decide if he will be a good or a bad guest? How much they smile? What hairstyle they have? What they wear? Do you really think it removes the picking of guest being a lottery? Do you only host attractive or unatrracctive persons? Of course you know that how someone looks is genetic lottery and it has nothing to do with being a good/bad safe/unsafe guest.

 

And obviusly, if someone was using the profile picture in order to choose only guest on a age frame or depending on their race, I do completely agree with Airbnb on removing the picture before the booking is accepted.

In the case of shared housing, we DO get to choose who to rent to. This does not condone discrimination based on race, religion, sexual orientation etc.

 

With regards to gender specifically , a man can ignore my house rule for female-only and book my listing. Depending on his name provided, I may not know until he's at my door. 

 

As a host, I specifcally live in an area next to a very rough neighborhood. I live in an area with a large regional hospital (why I get visitors and why I live/work here), which are commonly located near very poor areas. Sometimes people have tried to book my listing and they're attending raves in said neighborhood (they're actually honest with me in their messages, though I state no drug use in my rules) or look they like pretty rough 😞 I mean-  with visible tattoos in a profile shot and will only tell me they are visiting for "business" - then Yes, I very much am concerned and will judge them as potentially unsafe based on the picture, because I am sleeping in that same house. 

 

Lastly, AirBnB cannot protect against identity theft. If someone else shows up who did not book and they steal or damage - I am responsbile for letting that person into my house because it was not AirBnB's guest. (This means that now, as the host, I would need to check ID before I invite a guest into my home)

Antonio, by the nature of flight arrivals where I host, I have guests who are checking in between midnight and 3am. They are 99% of the time, arriving in an unknown rental vehicle and I am opening the gates for them to drive in... by the time they enter the property, I’ve locked the gates and am now greeting unknown individuals who are now on my private property. I have gone to wave non Airbnb guests on to the property at these hours, only to have the vehicle move further along the street. Just visitors or neighbours getting a lift home. I’m talking 2 and 3 am!

 

Seriously, this has never been about discrimination... which is abhorrent. This is about personal safety!

 

A little reality check regarding safety and security here... would go a very long way..............  

I completely agree! This is my home, my safety and the safety of my child. As a single mother, I have to be extra cautious and profile picture adds another layer of verification that they are an open book. Uber drivers provide their profile pictures, why? So you know, for your safety, that you are getting into a car of an Uber driver that you are comfortable with. 

 

I will be looking for alternatives to list my rental as this is not what I signed up for when I chose Airbnb. 

 

This is about personal safety.

I strongly disagree and here is why. 3rd party bookings are not covered by airbnb host guarantee. If you have nothing to compare with you are unable to tell that the person at your door is the owner of the account. By doing this airbnb gave guests a free blank card to play with. Good luck!

Antonio in that case they should do for both host and guest, because many can check the same thing about host base on race also if you are cute or not.

 

I feel is important to put a picture because you don’t want not to know who is coming to your house, this is not good option st all for both sides for s guest or for a host.

 

becusde let’s said that they really don’t like each other base on their race, the reviews would be base on race and not in your good standing.

 

personatly   I been rejecting diffeeent races not make any differents becusde of their race, but I asked all for goverment I’d and they refuse also different many reasons but only some felt it was base in their race and that is why this happen.

 

I am Latina, white but latina, and I don’t like to be discriminated base of where I from, but also I wouldn’t never force my self in a house that they don’t like me, it would be so uncomfortable for both.

 

in my house I accept whoever race, however my rules are very strict that anyway can made some I told him that drugs were not tolerate and he said he understood, but he though that because his room was not close I was not going no to be able to see or smell, but able for then hitting system, see ppl said that they accept they rules but some ppl can control their selfs 


@Antonio-Luis0 wrote:

How does a single picture chosen by the guest helps you to decide if he will be a good or a bad guest? How much they smile? What hairstyle they have? What they wear? Do you really think it removes the picking of guest being a lottery? Do you only host attractive or unatrracctive persons? Of course you know that how someone looks is genetic lottery and it has nothing to do with being a good/bad safe/unsafe guest.

 

And obviusly, if someone was using the profile picture in order to choose only guest on a age frame or depending on their race, I do completely agree with Airbnb on removing the picture before the booking is accepted.



Antonio,

If someone wants to run an Airbnb that is like a cheap motel, no picture is required and instant booking ON  is the way.

Regardless,  Seeing to whom you are speaking to and who is getting permission to enter your home is your primary RIGHT and they are not allowed to take it away from you!

I am sorry that such basic things need to be explained.

Airbnb seems wishes now to have only Instant booking blindly letting Anyone to enter people's home for cheap.

Guest could discriminate against Host by seeing the picture and not choosing them, what are they going to do for that?

 

Right on, Mikael! I 100% agree with you. I hope Airbnb will take our hosts' feedback seriously and go back to normal, basic requirements of any serious and decent community. A community without a face is not a community! Maybe soon we will see a FaceBook scenario where a web portal is claiming they are a social media only, but in fact a greedy money machine.

Which leads to another issue that Airbnb is accepting professional listings such as hostels etc. together with private (shared economy based) homes.

Antonio (nice sun glasses 🙂 ), you can't deny the fact that a picture is part of a general judgement, together with the guest's other verifications, CV, reviews, the way the request is written, etc. If you say no to profile picture, you may as well say Let's skip Goverment ID (it also doesn't say if you are a good/bad guest, as you write), and why have reviews? They are subjective anyway.

Hosting and traveling is a serious matter these days, and that is why a strong community - including a face - can safeguard fraud and exploitation. Discrimination is of course also a serious matter, but don't you think that Airbnb is exactly enhancing a non-discriminatory world where people can travel anywhere and stay at someone's home?

I am sure those few case where guests, or hosts, for that matter (nobody writes about how Hosts can be discriminated) clearly have been discriminated (although, I would say it is very difficult to verify that) weigh so endlessly lower than the fact that so many millions of Airbnb users are brought together and around in the world.

Agree 100%. We, as hosts have to stick together to speak out about this issue. This is very serious. I am strongly considering other platform or even just get a roommate. 

But Antonio, they get to see our pictures! I cant even seem to find previous host reviews of a guest even though there are 9 on this particular guest.

 

Karen214
Level 2
Manchester, United Kingdom

Antonio, dont be such an idiot! my safety comes first i really dont care about anything else and yes if someone looks scruffy with a can of beer or smokes a joint in their photo then yes of course you will judge and reject them!!! First impressions last. Yes it is now like a lottery. Unfair, its about other things too like how they might stare oddly into the camera, that may make you feel uneasy. I hope you never have a nightmare guest.