Nothing says "We love our hosts" like videos of a guest jumping on the bed

Nothing says "We love our hosts" like videos of a guest jumping on the bed

I just saw this today and was stunned: A commercial showing hosts leaving out an electric guitar for a family and the couple's child jumping up and down on the bed.

What Ad agency thought this was a good idea? And what unrealistic expectations is Airbnb setting for potential guests about what hosts will be providing and what guests are allowed to do in these homes? (note all the hosts who verify they can't get reimbursed for their broken furniture and beds).

And no - it's not cute when it's a minority kid doing it.

https://www.ispot.tv/ad/OGXN/airbnb-made-possible-by-hosts-song-2

Please oh please oh please show these things to hosts in a focus group first. Our jobs are hard enough as it is.

89 Replies 89

@Mark116 Whatever do you mean? And by the way I hope this comment finds you well. 

Marie6183
Level 1
Langley City, Canada

Airbnb takes 0 responsibility for damage or theft. The idea that they promote of letting guests check in themselves is how a fake ID was used to steal $6000 of our property. We’re wiser now. We take pictures of IDs and match it to the guests face, we also

look a licences, and plate numbers. What bothers me now is if a guest complaints about anything they get a rebate. Plus Airbnb believes every little complaint and they adjust your ratings to match the complainers and suspend your account with no evidence. Nasty company!

Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Christine615 

it doesn't matter what part of Airbnb's promotional aspect of its business you go to, their entire focus is on attracting guests.....any guests. 

After just completing a guest review, I just came across this......

ABB promotional stuff.png

 

I do not allow a dog inside my listing cottage, not even our own dog, much less on a bed.....she knows the cottage is out of bounds. Some guests are allergic to pet hair, and I will not make any exceptions. How in the hell am I expected to enforce my rules when Airbnb promote a guest dog on a bed for God sake.

 

Don't they think! We have to fight this continual asinine advertising and it makes us hosts look bad when we won't allow guests to run amok and do or bring whatever they want into our homes.

 

If some guest had an allergic reaction after staying in my listing because a previous guest allowed a pet to cavort all over my furniture, do you think for a second Airbnb would take responsibility for their advertising.......no way, they would say it's the hosts problem for not supplying a properly cleaned property.

 

I so wish this company would stop making it hard for us to enforce what we will or will not allow in what is our own properties!

Obviously this advertising has been approved by someone who has a senior position within the company. I would ask that this thread be addressed to that person, or committee and some action taken to stop this eroding of our hosting rights as property owners. 

Please stop making our job hard....please!

 

Cheers........Rob

 

@Marie6183  @John5097  @Sarah977  @Mark116  @Andrew0  @Max144  @Ann72  @Elaine701 

@Robin4  Guess you missed it, but I've been grousing on the forum about that photo of the dog on the white duvet several times since it first appeared. Talk about bad for hosts messaging- why not just have a photo of someone playing outside with their dog- anything but the dog on the bed.

 

I've been a dog owner most of my life and no dog of mine has ever been allowed on the bed, the sofa, any furniture.

Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Sarah977 

I am the same Sarah, dogs do not belong on beds......ever!

Normally when I do a review I just skip over that promotional sh*t  but this time I thought I would see what it was about and as soon as I saw that my heart sank....how can a company that purports to support us be so completely bloody heartless. How can anyone in any area of hospitality consider that is a good image?

Think about it for a second, would you like to sleep in a bed that a previous guests dog had been romping on!

 

Seriously Sarah, what is wrong with these morons!!! Why is it that something like this is not good enough?

IMG20170403090403.jpg

These guests were so proud of that photo they had to send me a copy.....isn't that good enough?

 

Cheers......Rob

@Sarah977  If I had dogs, I'd probably allow them on the bed, LOL. 

 

But, for purposes of Airbnb advertising, there are tons of visuals that would be offensive to no one: why not show the dog curled up in front of a fireplace, or sitting in a dog bed, or outside on the deck? Plenty of images that send a message of warmth and friendliness as well as appropriateness. 

 

It is truly a miracle for the ages that Airbnb managed somehow to succeed.

@Mark116  Not my 70 pound constantly shedding fistfuls of dog hair, lays around outside in the dirt dog, I bet you wouldn't  want on the bed 🙂

@Robin4

 

Ah so this is also the photo @Sarah977 has pointed out as well. 

 

As it happens the young couple who stayed with me also had a french bulldog. After they checked in I got a message that they had not noticed I wasn't "pet friendly" and that they had a service dog, small french bulldog, that was perfectly trained and they offered to give me a deposit and assured me they would take responsibility for any damage. 

 

I assured them that I liked dogs, (the part about not pet friendly put me off) but that I was a new listing and wasn't sure how to go about hosting pets yet, as there is no feature for that on the site, but thanked them for letting me know. I also know ABB policy and would allow a real service dog anyway. 

My experience with service dogs was with real ones seeing them out and really impressive. 

 

The next day I noticed the said service dog chasing after wildlife in the back yard, unleashed. I didn't want to say anything. Then after check out, the bedspread was torn and muddy. I change out all the bedding between guest, mattress and pillow protectors included, and there was dog hair all in the sheets and on the bare mattress. This was a new $500 mattress as well. 

 

The rest of the apartment was clean but also staged. For example they squired some toilet bowl cleaner in the toilet just to take a picture as evidence they had cleaned the bathroom, when in fact the toilet hadn't been cleaned at all. The bedspread was folded in half to try and hide the tear marks and mud. I guessing they just stripped all of the bedding and locked the dog in the bedroom when they went out? 

 

So strange. They definitely knew how to game the system. I'm sure they also had some kind of papers for their dog as well. 

 

Following that I updated my house rules to be more emphatic about not allowing pets. 

 

To me I would want more communication for guest bringing pets. By the time they messaged me I wasn't prepared. I even bought a bed spread on sale that I've never used thinking I could use it for pets if I decided to host pets. They would have all completely different bedding from guest who don't have pets, a bed for the dog. I still have my dog's bed and bedspread. They would also have to walk their dogs, etc.  

 

I don't expect this policy to change. Would be great if it did. As it is now the popular listings book up way in advance and get better guest. 

For me, I think its better to try and work around and avoid the high risk guest as best I can. While its ok for other host to post concerns here I get the feeling there is a different set of rules and policy for me, and I already have so much time invested its best to keep a low profile and just hope the bad guest don't get to be such a problem that I have to consider other options.    

@John5097  Make sure to ask the 2 questions you are allowed to ask if someone tells you they are bringing a service dog or just shows up with what they claim is one, and reiterate the rules re never left alone, not running around loose, etc.

 

If that doesn't put the fake service dog people off from booking, at least you have grounds to ask them to leave or turn them away at the door, and mention the deception in the review.

 

And if they first claim it's a service dog, and when you ask them those 2 questions, they quickly explain that it's actually an emotional support dog, you'd know they are lying, because anyone with a real service dog is well aware of the distinction and would be able to answer those questions.

@Sarah977 

 

Guest don't have to let host know they are bringing a pet at all. As far as service dogs or ESA that's also part of their discrimination policy. As we all know CS is outsourced, as there are millions of other host, so might not want to risk getting my listing suspended.  

 

While this was one of my worst, younger guest have been very good experience. 

 

On a lighter note, I always provide almond milk creamer, that's really good and $4 a container, that adult guest never even open. After about a month I open it myself and drink it well before expiration date. But they let their kids drink the almond milk and they loved it. 🤣🤣

@John5097  Guests do have to let you know they are bringing a pet if you have a pet friendly listing and state that they have to let you know in the listing. They don't have to say they are bringing a service dog or ESA, assuming that is really true.

 

I love almond milk myself, but I would never use it in coffee :-). Real cream for me.

@Sarah977 

 

You could also say host can put in their rules that dogs aren't allowed on their beds in listings that allow pets, so why keep brining up this ad? 

 

Every time I mention something at the CC I'm the one who doesn't understand the rules. 

 

Now I'm not pet friendly. Never mind that the listing is on a marsh and if dog goes chaising after a fox or racoon it will be in a different subdivision and another wetlands in 1000 feet that takes 2 miles to get to by road. It could take days or weeks to find their dog again, and they better hope it has a collar or microchip, or may never see it again. But yeah I'm the one that's not animal friendly. Got it. 

 

Edit: anyway, with my first year was during covid I didn't want to get overwhelmed with pets. I think host have to just factor in the cost if they allow them or not. Reality is that each host has to decide which battle they want to fight. 

 

I do admire your post. I think this is just how it goes with some topics. People get emotional and don't understand each host specific situation. I've kind of adjusted and limit cost of replacement bed spreads and such. Could also start charging more and accepting pet and kids. Probably be more fun and lets not kid ourselves allowing pets generates more income. 

 

@John5097  I don't quite understand your response here-  I wasn't saying you didn't understand, I just didn't understand myself why you said people don't have to let you know they are bringing a pet. Because they do if you ask for that in your listing- whether they actually do it or not is of course another story. 

 

Aside from the fact that my dog is really territorial, I don't accept pets myself because I know darn well that it's pointless to say things like the dog isn't allowed on the bed. If a dog owner lets their dog on the bed at home, it's gonna be on the bed regardless.

 

Obviously I like dogs or I wouldn't have one myself. It's the dog owners I don't trust to be responsible.

@Sarah977 

 

I was just tying to add my exact listing rules, in which I was clear that I'm not allowing pets at this time, and an example of how a guest bed got trashed by one anyway. So it was a little frustrating when you suggested that by allowing pets I could then let them know no pets on the bed. And that's the point: they would do it anyway. And the point of this entire discussion, the ad is promoting behavior that could increase damages. There are also other reasons I'm being very cautious about having pets, as I also mentioned, so allowing pets or kids just isn't a good fit. It just takes a lot of time and effort to contribute with a post and think we should all be working together to try and contribute feedback to make improvements and be respectful of the time and effort we each are making. So, no worries. Just a misunderstanding, but that's where I was coming from. 

 

It not that I don't like kids or dogs, and appreciate the support on that. I actually liked having families. But the pull out sleeper kept getting broken, and as I mentioned I'm right on a marsh. 

 

Anyway, back on point. It's reassuring that Airbnb executives have taken note for the content of the ad and will try and include host perspective. So I was just tying to contribute to the pet sutuation as well with the ad with the dog on the bed, and how it will also encourage guest behavior that would increase damages. I just wanted to contribute my one experience in hopes to work together in a positive and considerate process in which host share their experiences, and what they would like to improve. 

 

That's all, have a great day!     

 

Kristina46
Level 10
Hawaii, United States

@Robin4 I have been seeing a lot of pressure/reminders about dogs on the home page. Fortunately as a host in Hawaii, I never have to worry about anyone wanting to bring animals. They would have to follow a lengthy and complicated process just to bring any animal into the state.