Instant booking discrimination

Rosemary12
Level 9
Burnaby, Canada

Instant booking discrimination

It would seem that Airbnb's non-discrimination policy only works one way! They are discriminating by giving priority to listings with Instant Book. I have been a superhost for 3 years and in the past when you looked at my area, my listing was usually first as it should be. Working hard to maintain superhost should be rewarded. This week I was checking and I could not find my listing AT ALL out of 300 listings. After several attempts I noticed that all the listings that came up were Instant Book properties. When I removed this filter, there was my listing, front and centre! Potential guests unfamiliar with this will bypass my listing unless they know how to remove this filter. I don't wish to use Instant Book because I live alone in the home (a true B&B) and need to feel comfortable with any guests, also I can't take pets due to allergies so I have opted not to use Instant Book. If I have to abide by discrimination policies which mean I can't refuse anyone, why can Airbnb discriminate against my listing? 

 

Discrimination is defined as the treatment or consideration of, or making a distinction in favor of or against, a person or thing based on the group, class, or category to which that person or thing is perceived to belong to rather than on individual merit.

 

 

8 Replies 8
Raffaele-and-Astrid0
Level 10
Coogee, Australia

Hi @Rosemary12


I check my area often, never happend that I had the filter IB on automatically.

Maybe you forget on time ago, or maybe is just a Airbnb experiment in determinated area of your country.

 

good luck

Cheers Raf

Hi!

I have never had Instant Book on so I wonder if it is an "experiment"!!

Your place looks great...I am currently in Mosman (my original home before I moved to Canada) so trying to sort this out from 8,000 miles from home is fun!

I will wait and see what Airbnb have to say but I wonder how many guests will be able to work their way through the system. I can see from your listing that you don't have IB and you probably don't want it either with the note regarding the bed arrangement.

 

Rosemary

Ela0
Level 2
Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Yes you are absolutely right. I just went through exactly the same experience...I find it shocking really, it's discrimonation and also what about safty AirBnB talk so much about??
I have phoned AirBnB in UK and two custemer service assist confirmed that IB is not set by default - one said it's cookies on my comuter and second asked me to go incognito to prove the point. Both obviously not saying the truth.

I have to say that in order to fill in the gaps for next couple of months I have went IB - but I do not like it. 

I have also emailed them with my feadback - but do they care??? I do not think so unfortunatelly. 

 

If they force me to go IB I won't be as loyal as I am right now and will start using other websites as the rules there will be more less the same. I liked this idea of talking to my potential guest beforehand - that's why I have chosen AirBnB but this function is slowly being displaced.

 

All the best,

 

Ela 

HI @Rosemary12

 

Thank you for your appreciation 🙂

 

Yes we like to have control of the guests,  we had lots of guest at their first Airbnb experience too, but in this way we make sure that they have read the "note" about the bed and saw the pictures before booking, because happened in the beginnig with 3 guests that they didn't saw the pictures, and we recived low rating in few points. -_-

 

So yes, IB is a dangerous weapon if you have a particular room situation. 🙂

 

Cheers Raf

It is obvious discriminatory but there is discrimination and then there is discrimination. Very Orwellian.

 

There have been discussions about this, I do have IB but do not think it is right.

 

David
Andrea9
Level 10
Amsterdam, Netherlands

@Rosemary12

Due to this discrimination I turned on IB a few days ago with iron-clad House Rules and strictest guest criteria (positive recommendations) set on.

Wouldn't you know it - this morning my first booking in weeks by somebody who hadn't even read the top most important thing to me that's the first thing on the pictures, top of listing summary, and top in the house rules.

Had to waste my one-time freebie cancellation to get this overturned and turned off IB. Well, I guess I had kind of secretly wanted such an experience to really be able to chalk IB off my list of 'maybe'.

Um, just want to jump in here and be the vocabulary police with regards to the word "discrimination" .... 

being a non-IB-booking Superhost is not a protected class and, therefore, you cannot be discriminated against.  Now, things can be UNFAIR, which they very well may be, but it's a business decision to promote IB properties.  It's not discrimination, it's not even bias.

Sorry, I get that some people don't like it, but not everyone.  I love IB.  It works great for me.  I have no problems with it or requiring it of new hosts (except that they don't understand it and it gets them into trouble).  What I wish Airbnb did was better training on the benefits of IB, how to use it so it can work for all hosts, and step in and do some real PR internally amoung the hosts to stop the bashing.  Cause, frankly, it's tiresome.  I don't think it's going away folks.   

 

AirBnB is a world wide site.

 

Protected classes are I belive a US legal term, well there may be similar phrases in other countries legislation but I would guess this is one of those first world issues. I doubt if anybody on here who lives outside the US would know what a protected class was.

 

Discrimination obviously occurs well beyond those aspects covered by US law or any other countries laws.

 

AirBnB state in their policy some examples but also do mention that they look to go beyond just those limited examples.

 

I certainly was using the term in its normal dictionary definition with a slight reference to the stated AirBnB policy.

 

I use IB, well I have a 3 day requirement, and it suits me in my situation. I can think of different circumstances where I would not want to, I can think of other hosts and situations where it would not be appropriate.

 

My issue is I that I would expect AirBnB to lead, they are the ones who have made this such an issue, they should be at the forefront, leading by example.

David