Hosts want EQUALITY not discrimination between Guests and Hosts!

[Mark3433]

I am greatly frustrated with the growing list of problems and issues that have arisen since Airbnb stole away EQUALITY from Hosts.

As if through this whole Covid horror we do not have enough on our plate let alone having to deal with not being able to see Guest's profiles or pic before we accept their booking. I have been patient, been disappointed that EQUALITY was stolen from Hosts but been prepared to accept the change until now.

A spate of problems have arisen as a direct result of this change. Far too much time has been wasted with help centres offering plenty of bloated words but little or no actual help. Guests from Covid Hot Spots have been allowed to book at my home prior to me switching off the Instant Booking.

Any other Hosts object to our equality being stolen, Had problems as a direct result of the change or found that the Help centre has been a waste of time?

[Sarah977]

I have never used Instant Book, I check every guest's profile and reviews and communicate with them before accepting their booking. I don't need to see what they look like before accepting, and all my guests have had actual face photos. If they didn't, I'd ask them to upload one-I require that.

But yes, customer service is a big fat joke. I just try not to ever require their help and so far I've never needed to contact them about any issues with guests, only tech glitches.

And agreed that they have little respect for hosts.

[Mark3433]

I did not use the Instant Book at first when I started with Airbnb 2.5 years ago. When I did I found a run of bookings coming in without profile pics or any information about themselves, some even did not meet the criteria set for them to book through that system. I soon turned it off & hate it!. Before we also had a full name which allowed me to google search if the guest had not bothered to write any profile information. For me, most importantly, I could see if the person had bothered to take the time to write something about themselves.

I offer rooms in my home for guests to stay & they share the home with me i.e. it is not a separate dwelling space on offer. For some strange reason I like to feel comfortable with the people coming to stay in my space and that comfort was lost along with our EQUALITY. I have absolutely no trust in Airbnb's vetting process as it is clearly driven by dollars and not care for their Hosts. When they allow Guests coming from Covid Hot Spots to try and book to stay in our homes with us it is time to object.

[Robin4]

@Mark3433 

Hi Mark, customer support is not good, it has been in decline for more than 2 years but since COVID-19 came on the global scene it has been virtually non existent!

Two weeks ago I had to direct a guest enquiry (that had come to me through Airbnb) to another booking site because, the Airbnb program would not let him book an un-booked night of mine and customer support could not override the software program and facilitate the booking for Airbnb.

I don't want to go behind Airbnb's back but, when their software gets between me and a paying guest, I need to take what ever action I can to keep the wheels of progress turning!  

Mark we have been told repeatedly throughout the last year that things will improve, we haven't seen any tangible evidence of that yet but I do understand there are a few Beta trials going on at the moment to test changes to the program that may be of some benefit to hosts! And it may be that the hosting community is going to get a public voice although, from the way it is being set up I can't see it achieving much.

But the main thing I want to see improve is the quality of service customer support personnel are providing. The simplest of issues are now being sidestepped as support try to shed action and responsibility for their roles. There is no point in having support if it can't be easily and successfully used.

If we are to continue using Airbnb we do have to accept the shortcomings in the platform, but I always hope, the good outweighs the bad....and so far, it has! 

Cheers..........Rob

[Melodie-And-John0]

@Robin4 , Rob, I so often  bragged  to friends, coworkers and family that I thought I was getting the far better end of the business deal with my minimal payment for such incredible service from the Mothership Airbnb.  Some even became hosts based on my braggery and promotion.  Today, I don't have the same opinion unfortunately and would recommend they also consider other venues if they truly think they are prepared for all it takes to be a proper Innkeeper especially during pandemic years.   

Dont get me wrong Rob, the Mothership has been good to our businesses but things have changed measurably that don't make me feel the business of business is the most important thing to our founder @Brian , his $$$,$$$,$$$ pinnacle seems  more to be an opening to reaching for another shiny brass ring instead of keeping the one he first grabbed shiny and circular.   We are lucky folks to have realized the added value @Lizzie 's and her angels give free of charge to our  participation here along with their primary jobs of keeping the cc board relevant, topical and low T!  The problem is, thats probably not going to be enough to keep a million or more hosts from jumping ship when they arent getting the immediate assistance hosting requires cause Lizzie's team of less than 2 handfuls can provide 24/7/365.   Brian and company need to pull us all out of the extenuating circumstances mode soon before the exodus begins.   Here hoping for it, Stay well Rob!  JR

[Fred13]

The upshot @Mark3433 is that any host today that actually strictly follows Airbnb's dream agenda will be subject of an absolute beating every so often; and forget about looking at them for fixes to the real-world consequences. They do not live in the real world, you do.

[Melodie-And-John0]

Yes indeed @Fred13 , Social engineering and business rarely compliment each other regardless of intent.  I suspect the world of unicorns and fields of daisy's and tulips for everyone seems much more possible when you go from College grad with debt to million/ billionaire in a span of less than a quarter of most working class Inn and Island Keepers that probably wont make a million in their lifetime!  Stay well Fred, JR

[Melodie-And-John0]

That sounded a bit envious of our mothership founder, I didn't mean that to be the crux. he and his partners had a vision and they followed it to this day, they deserve what they have attained and I don't hate them for that.  We also have our visions and while they might not be as giant, they are reasonable and necessary for our life plans also.  They need to partner with us like we with them, were in this together even if its not gonna ever make us rich, what we need is important, if not they have much more to lose than we do.  JR

[Melodie-And-John0]

@Mark3433 the notable increase of problems and issues with our bookings in the past couple years definitely seems to coincide with more than Covid challenges for sure.  Full disclose of guest Identity, Contact info and payment eligibility being omitted or paused at the very beginning of what should be an open and verified trustworthy relationship (thats one of the things we pay Airbnb for) between guest and host is not a good start for hosts or guests.   More than once the person that was in the guest photo was not the person that showed up here and they turned out to be guests you would never want back again and Ive lost income  a few times by folks that just didn't bother to show up and Airbnb couldn't either collect the payment or refunded the person for no emergency or EC reasons at all.  

We have a business relationship with Airbnb not a bridge club or humanitarian org membership.   The mothership needs to assume we will at least follow the laws of the host nation and basic non discrimination rules and until someone proves otherwise, connect eligible Guests with qualified hosts safely first and always.  Safety is definitely number 2 or further down the line right now and that feels like S4it for hosts put at risk because its preventative policies assume the host will discriminate against a guest if they got to see their picture before accepting a booking, that sets a ridiculous and dangerous precedent.   Hopefully if we keep the chatter up about this they will do something before we are forced to find another provider,  stay well Mark, JR

[Michelle2475]

@Melodie-And-John0 I’m slowly learning not to trust photos. I do however, let people know they must have a verified government ID to book and a profile photo - I can’t imagine letting someone with only an email and phone number verified to stay in my home. Why would Airbnb even allow that?  Funny, most who have an incomplete profile don’t book....😂

[Melodie-And-John0]

@Michelle2475 , And even listing their Home of record as USA, if I gave them an address of "Bearpath Lodging USA" to show up, that wouldn't work very well.  Also, I have had guests with kitten photos, I dont allow cats....

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