Is Airbnb hiding guest photos again?

Is Airbnb hiding guest photos again?

Went into my inbox today and all of my guest photos for inquiries/requests are hidden.  I only see the photos of confirmed and past bookings.  If I remember correctly, didn't airbnb do this for a stint a while back, to try and reduce discrimination or something?  

 

Is everyone else not able to see profile photos?

45 Replies 45
Suzanne302
Level 10
Wilmington, NC

@Christopher187

 

Supposedly they did and there was an official memo about it. But I am still seeing pictures when I get booking requests so maybe it's selective? Who knows!

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Christopher187

 

This seems to be a bit random. I read a post from another host today who said that Airbnb had decided to hide guest photos from hosts until after the guest books. However, I am not sure this can be true as I can still see guest photos from some enquries and requests and not for others and @Suzanne302 is saying she can see them.

 

I realised also that while I can't see some of them from a browser on my laptop or iPad, when I look on the App on my iPhone, I can see them (providing the guest has a photo of course).

 

I did mention this to an Airbnb rep on the phone the other day when I was calling about something else. He told me he would report it as a technical error but I never heard anything more about it.

Yun8
Level 10
Auckland, New Zealand

Hi @Christopher187,

 

Here is the full announcement dated from October 2018 regarding hidden profile photos:

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Airbnb-Updates/Airbnb-Answers-Guest-profile-photos/m-p/839227#M8...

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Yun8

 

Thanks for the link. It's good to get clarification on this, especially when the Airbnb rep tells you 1. it must be because the guest doesn't have a profile picture and then 2. Oh, the guest says they have uploaded a picture? Then  it must be a technical error. Unfortunately Airbnb doesn't bother to update its own CS reps about policy changes.

 

However, I can still see the guest profile pictures on requests from the App on my mobile phone. I can't see them anymore from a browser on either my laptop or iPad. Perhaps Airbnb are still in the process of rolling out this change though.

 

I'm very glad to see that hosts can now choose an option to require profile photos for booking. The problem still remains that the guest can upload a photo of a goat, their left foot or something else useless and random and now the host cannot address this before accepting the booking.

 

I understand guests not wanting to be discriminated against, but I also want to know that the person checking into my home is the person who booked. This makes it so much easier for guests to do sneaky third party bookings now and also much easier for the real scammers.

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

So I went into each of my listings to add the requirement for profile photo, although it seems this will only apply to instant bookings I think?

 

While I was there, I noticed that Airbnb has cut down the guest welcome message to maximum 200 characters and anything that previously appeared after that has simply been erased. Lucky I happened to stumble across this as I don't know how long my message has been reading as "It would be great if you could answer the following questions:" followed by blank!

@Huma0 I thought they had cut the welcome as well, when I check on my laptop the greeting is there but the questions aren't. But they are still there when I checked the app on my phone & most guests are answering my questions when booking so it seems to be another Airbnb tech glitch...

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Rachel177Ah, okay. Well now I have edited the message so that the questions are back. Maybe now my guests are being asked the questions twice! I don't know as it's not clear on the browser.

 

It seems there are several differences on the App, e.g. there is this new policy of not being able to see a guest's photo until they book. However, on the App, I can still see them!

 

I don't know why Airbnb can't stick to one thing or another. It becomes confusing and difficult to keep your listings clear for guests. I tried using the step by step directions with photos tool that it seems you can only set up from the App and not a browser (why?), but some guests seem to see it and others not at all...

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Christopher187   I just received an Inquiry last night and the guest's photo was visible to me, as well as being able to click on her photo to see her past reviews. Are you maybe referring to seeing a grey silouette instead of a photo of the guest's face? Because if that's the case, it isn't that Airbnb is hiding it from you, it's that they no longer require guests to post a clear face photo- they can post a plate of spaghetti, a cartoon character, their cat, or no photo at all. It's now up to the host to ask a guest to provide a face photo if they want their booking to be accepted.

I use my laptop, not the app, and Chrome browser.

So far, I've been lucky- never had a guest whose photo wasn't of their face.

This is quite irony honestly. Airbnb hides guest photos until booking is confirmed and they are not doing anything with guests who refuse to provide photo -- expect host to ask guest to update photo after booking is confirmed lol! 

All of the photos in my inbox have become a grey box with just the first letter of the person's name.  It just happened overnight.  Yesterday I could see everyone's profile photo and now I can only see the photos of people who have confirmed bookings.

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

Can definitely still see the photos on requests on the App on my phone as I had a booking request this evening. The photo was visible so maybe they haven't got rid of it on the App yet. 

Lizzie
Former Community Manager
Former Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Hello @Christopher187@Huma0@Rachel177@Sarah977 and @Yun8,

 

I know Yun, shared a link to the CC post about this already, but I just wanted to let you know that there has just been a further update on that post which you might find helpful.

 

Thank you,

Lizzie


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Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

Hi @Lizzie

 

Thank you for alerting us to this update. From what I can see, the only change really is that the guest has the opportunity to contact Airbnb if they feel that they have been discriminated against based on their photo. However, the earlier version also mentioned that, should the guest's photo turn out to be a picture of a sunset or dog or similar, the host can request the booking be cancelled penalty free (although there doesn't seem to be any guarantee promised of that). I trust that this is still the case, even though it has been omitted from the updated version?

Thanks @Lizzie for the link to the update. It just seems to not have been rolled out on desktop & the app at the same time. I've been able to see profile pics on the app but not on my laptop which is a bit frustrating. If it's such a big change it should be made to desktop & the app at the same time.