Guest's profile picture is no longer visible + Instant book cancellation

Farah1
Level 10
Seattle, WA

Guest's profile picture is no longer visible + Instant book cancellation

I found out that guest's profile picture is no longer visible until you have a confirmed reservation (yes, even if you go to their profile). I understand that Airbnb wants to promote the anti-discrimination policy. However, they need to realize that we are not hotels. We share our house and open our house for our guests and our safety is important. I want to make sure that the person who makes the reservation is actually the one who is showing up on check-in day, etc. Also, host's profile picture IS visible to future guests at all times! I just made a reservation for my next trip and I was able to see my host's profile picture even before I made any reservation request/book the place/have a confirmed reservation.

I am also taking off instant booking feature from my listings as it does not really seem to matter other than giving problem because people do not read the listing in full, have a bad review yet still able to book, etc and when I want to cancel *unlimited* penalty-free as they say... it is not true, I can only do it for 3 times and after that I need to contact the customer service. Then they said "we will do a one-time corteousy to waive the penalty for this cancellation." No, it is not a one-time corteousy. This is how it supposed to be. Why do I need *permission* to cancel a guest who has negative review from his previous host? Why do I need to be pressured to open my house to anybody without thinking about my own safety?

 

I have been with Airbnb for 4+ years and it seems like they might share a different value now than what they used to have.

176 Replies 176
Regina38
Level 10
Wilmington, DE

I submitted the no photo as an issue.  

I need alternatives to Airbnb I am not getting any inquiries. Sad

Airbnb is ruined. These regulations people need to change these outdated laws in today's society everything has a picture attached to it even uber and lyft. 

@Regina38 yup, I guess this is the clue for all of us not to put all of our eggs in one basket. 🙂

Farah1
Level 10
Seattle, WA

Hi everyone!

 

@Jessica-and-Henry0 @Fred13 @Kelly @Jann3 @Kat, and more...

I am thinking to post this on the Host Voice page. I will need all of your support and also "thumbs up" to the post hoping that Airbnb will glance/see/listen to OUR VOICE. Please let me know if you have any suggestion/advice that I should add before I post it. 

 

@Lizzie , I hope you are doing well! I am not sure if you are aware of this thread. I want to tag you on this and hoping that you can help us communicate this to the team as this is a big issue for most of us. Looking forward to hear back from you!

 

Cheers,

Farah

It's a huge issue to the point that it's frightening to even get request. It's amazing how they did this to host. I truly feel airbnb is a privilege not a right. This is our homes being opened up to complete strangers we have a right to know exactly who we are communicating with as the guest see who they are communicating with. This has been so stressful. Thank you for starting this page it made me realize many host feel the same way. Government regulators should be more worried about the instabook because that basically turns airbnb into a hotel bookings. 

Lizzie
Former Community Manager
Former Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Hello @Farah1,

 

Thanks so much for mentioning me, I hope you are good.

 

This has certainly been an active discussion and I know this is a concern for many of you, from the views you have shared here. I want to reassure you I have been passing your feedback back to the team and will continue to do so. 

 

I think creating a Host Voice idea is also a great way to show how important this is to our community. You may have seen that the team have come back to quite a few community ideas this week. If I may personally add some pointers for your HV, I think it would fantastic, in addition to sharing your feelings on this, if you could also share you thoughts on how you and other hosts would like this to be developed further.

 

Thanks again for everyone's contribution here and speak to you soon.

 

Lizzie

 

 


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


Thank you for the last 7 years, find out more in my Personal Update.


Looking to contact our Support Team, for details...take a look at the Community Help Guides.

@Lizzie @Farah1

 

I am not as concerned as some others about the lack of a photo for a couple reasons: 50% of my guests have a photo that would serve absolutely no purpose in trying to identify a person (too small, of too many people, dog/flower/mountain, sunglasses, etc) and I further verify their identity after they book. In fact, I'm more concerned about the number of guests who book and/or contact me with no more than a phone number and email on their profile. Guest profiles must be more robust to participate in IB (and saying "well just set the filters for Govt ID & good reviews" is not a good answer bc then hosts are punished in search bc the guest has a bad profile). Guests with weak profiles could be shown ALL listings, while only complete profiles may IB.

The single greatest thing that could settle my annoyance with the push to IB is the ability for hosts (with verifiable reasons) to EASILY cancel bad reservations. (And for the record, having to call CS and roll the dice as to whether or not they agree to cancel someone doesn't count)

 

I think IB hosts should appear in ALL searches (regardless of having stronger filters for IB reservations - see above)

IB reservations should be immediately cancellable if:

- the guest has an incomplete/problematic profile (bad/no pic, bad reviews, no narrative section)

- the guest doesn't answer host booking questions

- the guest hasn't read house rules (yes, they may have clicked the button, but we know they haven't read when they don't say/do/answer the hidden 'have you read this' section)

-the guest says they're already breaking some rule (too many people, children, pets, late/early checkin/checkout, etc)

 

IB is great IF the guest is responsible, HOWEVER, when the guest is irresponsible/uncommunicative then too much burden falls on a host to deal with the fallout. 

 

When you have this much outcry from very active superhosts with some of your best product, then clearly adjustments need to be made. I want my space to be rented and I'm happy for that business to travel thru ABB but I need support from the system. If I'm going to be renting to no name random strangers, I might as well take my chances on craigslist.

@jessica & henry @Farah1 @Ann298 @Kelly149 @Fred13 + everyone else concerned, 

hello to everyone participating in this discussion thread.  as with all of you, this change has been weighing heavily on me, and i've been thinking about the many ways i can combat it.  i've already begun the process of branching out to other sites like vrbo / home away, but am still hoping that Abnb will correct this with policies that serve both guest and host.  in the meantime, i thought i'd share with you how i've edited our listing, should you wish to copy & paste similar.  it is our hope that at least a portion of any new guest inquiries will follow OUR guidelines, and eliminate the frustration of having to pry.  although we haven't received any new inquiries in the past few days, should i get another new member with no pic/reviews inquiring, i can politely reply to them to please read through our listing details for consideration.  if i hear back from them, they will have no other choice but to comply.  should they not respond and find it intrusive, there's a good chance we wouldn't want them in our home.  
 
in our 'about this listing' section, this is what i've written:
We're Super-hosts and proud to have welcomed 150+ guests from around the world, boasting a 4.9* overall rating! We're committed to offering you a comfortable, well-appointed home to ensure a positive experience. Please tell us a bit about yourself and the guests who will be joining you for consideration. 
in the space section:  
As Super-hosts with Airbnb for over six years (we must be doing something Super-right), we do prefer to share some pleasant correspondence with any potential guests prior to booking.
in the 'other things to note' section at the bottom of the listing:  
We love the home-sharing experience, and hope it is a positive one for both you and us. Since we don't home-share with bots:), and to ensure safety for everyone in the home-sharing community, kindly complete a full verification process, along with an actual profile pic, for consideration. We believe those guests who wish to share the same wonderful experiences we've enjoyed for so many years won't mind sharing a bit about themselves with the hosts who are welcoming them into their home. ~namaste~
 
i appreciate any feedback and your thoughts.  otherwise, we can all throw in our $20 and create a new site with all sorts of security measures.  surely, there is now a need:)

~ R.


 

@R-And-R0 I think what you've added to your listing looks great and makes alot of sense.

 

For me, I'm a whole lot more concerned with who comes to stay vs who reserves (cause at this point I still believe I could get CS to cancel the reservation if there really was a problem, may change my mind about that at some point...)

 

So, my solution to that is several things:

1: a rental contract, it is very specific and enforceable

2: ID sent to me of reserving guest (from the guest, ABB will never share this info, so I ask for it directly)

3: name, age, address, contact # for every adult guest (and the stipulation that I may compare to IDs to confirm that this is indeed who is actually in residence)

4: security cameras at parking/entrance

 

I think the time has come for all hosts to stop believing the fairy tale that guest profiles are 1: real, 2: any indication of future behavior. ABB has shown also that the info that they are willing to share with hosts is quite limited, so we will all have to get better at collecting the info we need for ourselves.

To that end, to quote @fred "Nothing HAS to be"

 

@Farah1 thanks for starting the convo... btw, I can still full guest profiles here (just an extra click to get there)

Fred13
Level 10
Placencia, Belize

The reason for the 'pilot' could be for either of three reasons:

 #1 To prove to an entity that is applying outside pressure that indeed it doesn't make any difference to show a picture or not, so why not leave things as they are. They have however already removed age. Interesting.

#2 To test the ~reaction~ of existing hosts, the mere mention of this 'test' insures that.

#3 There is a philosophical believe within Airbnb that all differences must indeed be hidden, in order to achieve some social goal personably dear to them.

 

Anything is possible.

 

Ann298
Level 2
Savannah, GA

I’m sure it’s a scary feeling having an unknown stranger without any reviews or a decent picture staying in your property. When a person who tries to book with me, has no reviews it leaves a huge question mark. I’m more concerned about my safety than making money. In addition I would decline their stay.

i also understand Airbnb being pressured to become more Politically correct in order to avoid liability. In this modern day and age, politically correct has taken over. Common sense has been sweep underneath the rug. Safety is no longer an issue.. 

 

 

Regina38
Level 10
Wilmington, DE

Has anyone posted in Host Voice? I have never used that. 

All the CSR s keep saying they will pass on our thoughts. 

O4
Level 3
Los Angeles, CA

I noticed this too and thought it was just me.. This is absurd. Is Airbnb now officially a hotel broker? Airbnb needs to decide whether to follow that and remove community in its business policies. Because absence of profile picture takes away the essence of relationship building in first place. So what happens when you accept reservation only to find out the profile has a landascape or pet picture? You are now caught in between trying to convince guest to update pictures? Or are we now required to start checking IDs upon guest arrival?

Lois-and-Darryl0
Level 10
Rochester, WA

UPDATE:  So, Darryl & I have had several bookings since Airbnb removed our ability to see profile pictures.  I wrote earlier of my frustration that Airbnb could easily determine if we have ever discriminated, but instead, the company chose to punish all Hosts in a fell-swoop.  We recently had a booking request, and although they had just joined Airbnb, we've never used that as the sole reason to decline a booking, so after our standard questions, we accepted the booking.  When the profile pic was visible, it was the picture of a car.  It took two days and two Airbnb reps to help me get the Guest to replace the car picture.  When the profile pic was posted, it was CLEAR that the Guest was not only not compliant with our House Rules (definitely not 25 years old), but we would not have booked with him had we seen the profile pic (he is White and we are White).  SO, I contacted Airbnb to have them confirm the Guests age as at least 25 years.  The Airbnb rep told me they could not confirm the Guests age, only that he was at least 18.  So, while Airbnb took away our ability to manage our own property in a remote area over 70 miles from our home, THEN Airbnb wouldn't even support us after the booking, and told me that WE could cancel the reservation. (We have been Superhosts for 5 quarters.)  I then contacted Airbnb and made a formal request to remove us from the "trial" to be able to see profile pictures before booking, based on several valid reasons.  The response from Airbnb was "please provide documentation" supporting your claim.  Are you kidding me?  How do I have documentation for Airbnb screen shots during the process of booking?  Who keeps screen shots?  I pointed this out to the rep who replied, and I simply got another reply expressing the need for me to provide documentation.  In other words, I got a "Go take a flying leap" as the response from Airbnb.  After being such a strong advocate and gaining several Hosts for Airbnb, I'm so disheartened by the inequities in its management policies toward its best Hosts.  I would like to see equity when Airbnb feels it must keep some Hosts from seeing its Guests, there should be a justification for those Guests being punished.  What recourse do I have if this young Guest and his friends who obviously didn't read the House Rules, actually do tear our house up.  Airbnb:  Please demonstrate a justification for Hosts that are prohibited from seeing profile pictures - you have the capability to do this - don't lump us all into all discriminating Hosts.

@Lois-and-Darryl0 yes, you are very much out in the cold in terms of cancelling a booking for a guest that requested to book after you approve that request. (At least IB hosts have the POSSIBILITY of having CS cancel a booking). So, in your case, your questions must get much more pointed (don't know how ABB thinks that leads to more warm and fuzzy feelings). How old are you? How old are your guests? What are the names of your guests? Are you familiar with and comfortable with all of our house rules? (did you know that ABB puts a copy of your House Rules and your House Manual in your 'saved messages' file?? I'm going to be using that tons now that I've realized!) Where are you coming from? What are y'all going to do while you're here? etcetc....

Maybe all of that detail is better than a picture, maybe it isn't. A guest has the ability btw to upload whatever picture they want, it doesn't have to be of them, so I don't have a lot of confidence in that data point anyway. That is why I have a signed rental contract and get a copy of guest ID and mention that I will check all IDs.