I have 3 listings on AirB&B and I was excited to get requested to the Plus program for 2 of them. After meeting all of the requirements and doing the desired fixes my first listing went on Plus which truly did boost it's bookings. I was very satisfied with the pictures and description for this listing and looked forward to getting my 2nd listing on Plus.
My 2nd listing is an Ocean View apartment, which is the aspect I feature in my pics and description. It took me longer to get this one on Plus because I had to reschedule the photoshoot a couple times because of cloudy weather as I wanted to feature a clear Ocean View day for the pictures. Finally I did the inspection and shoot and got a list of things to fix / update to get on Plus. Some of these things were updated bedding such as throw pillows and blankets, and in both of the bedrooms they wanted my to improve my design by adding more art, etc. So I went out and spendt $700+ on art and bedding and finally got my listing approved.
As in other posts I've read in the community unfortunately these pictures were very dissappointing. There were multiple very dissapointing things about the photos and description:
- The contrast and color in the photos were highly manipulated (which the Plus staff actually lists as part of things NOT do in their requirements)
- The Ocean View in the pictures is completely eliminated as they adjusted the contrast of the pics so much it looks foggy outside. There is only 1 picture from the patio of the Ocean View and it is at the end of the listing.
- All of the new art / bedding I bought is not in the Plus pictures. They used the old pictures and did not offer a re-shoot even though they required me to get updated art / bedding to meet the Plus requirements. So basically I wasted $700+ and extras that are NOT featered in the listing photos.
- There are duplicate pictures in listing and the description said nothing about the Ocean View. I called in and got lucky a support person was able to change the title to say "Ocean View" in it but the photos and description do not reflect that. I assume it is because whoever made the description only sees the edited pictures so they have no idea the apartment is Ocean View.
I've gone back and forth with AirB&B support and generally the reply is "the Plus team is short staffed and very busy and reply times can be up to 3 weeks". I was lucky enough to get someone on the Plus team to correspond with me via email where I voiced my concern and she sent me a list of requirements if I'd like to do a re-shoot with my own photographer. So I paid $250 to bring in my original photographer and re-shoot using the plus requirements of straight on shots, no photoshop, etc and I immediately sent my pics in. Now the Plus team member I've been corresponding with has stopped replying and I'm stuck wondering if what others are suggesting in posts similar to this, that the best option is to opt out of the Plus program, is what I should do?
It is too early to tell if this has effected my bookings but ever since first listing this apartment in summer of 2018 it has been constantly booked and there does seem to be less bookings coming in now.
