House Rules need to be more prominent, not hidden in a drop-down menu.

[Sean95]

When guests are booking, they need to be highly observant to detail in order to find the House Rules they are supposedly accepting before booking. This means that most guests miss the rules entirely, which causes a lot of problems for listings that are more complex than the norm. The screenshot how NONE of my rules are actually visible during the booking process, unless you notice the "read more" dropdown menu, which needs to be clicked so that the rules are displayed.

[Kath9]

@Sarah977 fair enough. Yes, phone keypads do take some getting used to (hence my multiple typos in these posts!). Personally, I don't know what I'd do without the app! In summer, I'm often out camping without my laptop so it just means I can keep up with guest requests without having to be at home. I guess you could try installing it just so you have it for those times you aren't near your computer. It is mostly just buttons to click and then you can have saved messages rather than typing them out every time. 

[Kit45]

Hi

I checked my listing and some other listings using the app.  House Rules "Read more" is not working.  However, when I use my laptop, House Rules "Road more" is working.

[Denis-Mark0]

@Kit45 Your're right. Noticed the same. Tried the app in guest-mode and host mode (preview). You just see the headline of your houserules, but clicking on "read more" doesn't work!

By the way, totally agree, personal house rules should be more prominent!

[Sean95]

@Kath9 

I used both my laptop and my phone to check before responding. I'm guessing that either your particular app is corrupted and needs to be uninstalled/reinstalled, or perhaps you're using an older phone that is only partially compatible with the app?

[Sandra856]

@Kath9 I have noticed it as well. And it has been like that for a couple of days. I thought it was my phone but it must be a glitch! 

[Emilia42]

@Sean95 100% agree!

Also notice that they are not house rules, they are "Things to keep in mind" ..... If they escape the guests mind, that's okay according to Airbnb. They will help the guest find another place to stay at the expense of the host.

[Sean95]

@Emilia42 OMG I hadn't even noticed that! Definitely the wording needs to be more imperative.

[Sean95]

@Emilia42 Just wondering, why do you say "at the expense of the host"? In my experience, when people have cancelled either before or during their stay, the cancellation policy has always been applied and so I've been paid for X number of nights after they leave in accordance with the selected policy. So I'm wondering what your experience has been?

[Emilia42]

@Sean95 Here is an example: Someone books your room 3 months in advance and is made aware of the no pet policy. The guest shows up on arrival day with 2 huge Great Danes (not service dogs) expecting to make themselves comfortable. You tell the guest to leave as you have a no pet policy and they should have booked a place that allows dogs. Airbnb will help you cancel the reservation but they will completely refund the guest because they did not stay. It doesn't matter if they broke your house rules and it doesn't matter that they held your calendar hostage for 3 months. The guest will get their money back + likely a 10% 'gift' from Airbnb to find another place. You will be left with no payout and only a matter of hours to rebook the nights. 

You will not get paid from Airbnb if you evict a guest because they broke your house rules.

[Sean95]

@Emilia42 Holy s!*#, I didn't know this.... then again, I've never cancelled on a guest - I've always convinced THEM to cancel on their end in the middle of their stay if there are too many rule violations. I always assumed that if the host is the one to cancel, then the same cancellation policy would be applied. For example, if you have a strict policy, then even if you cancel, the guest would not be refunded for the first week (or whatever the specified period of time is for that policy).

Regarding holding the calendar hostage.... yeah that sucks but I don't get worked up over that part because it's more of an "inevitable cost of business" than blatant rule and policy violation by AirBnB administration.... like if you cancelled on someone who showed up with dogs, they should only be reimbursed for whichever part of their stay is beyond the timeframe outlined in the cancellation policy. 

[Emilia42]

@Sean95 Yes, that is what you would think. But if you cancel/evict a guest because your house rules were broken, then your choice is to either let them stay and get the money or forfeit the money for any used nights .... regardless of your cancelation policy.

[Ale113]

YES! YES! YES!

It's a shame that guests have information hided and after Airbnb ask for Accuracy. It's a shame.

[Sarah977]

@Sean95  Totally agree. I seem to remember that that change came about maybe a year and a half/2 years ago when Airbnb decided to post those stupid "Home Highlights" at the top of our listings, leaving  less space for our own text. Before that, the House Rules used to be right under our listing description, not buried under the map, reviews, etc. where very few guests are going to realize to scroll down to ( if as a host, you didn't even realize they were there, what guest is going to?). And I believe it is fully intentional- god forbid that a guest is put off of booking because they don't like or want to comply with a house rule.

There also used to be a lot more of our listing description visible without clicking on "Read More".

[Helen427]

hello @Sean95 @Emilia42 @Kit45 @Sarah977 @Kath9 

Both House Rules and House Manual are still visible and showing up as the same here in New Zealand.

I have however noticed that I've been prompted to 'Add House Manual a lot in recent months despite the fact it's there.

Also had prompts to add Amenities that are already listed because some guest has mentioned I have them! Today it was a Refrigerator and Hot Water !!

Snakes alive!!

[Mike-And-Helen0]

@Sean95 @Sandra856 @Sarah977 @Helen427 @Emilia42 off to check.

eta you are right. I chose 3 listings and you could only read the first 20 words of the house rules.