RECENT CHANGE TO SPECIAL OFFERS IS A NIGHTMARE TO HOSTS, AIRBNB MANAGEMENT, IT, READ THIS

Keith6
Level 4
Daytona Beach, FL

RECENT CHANGE TO SPECIAL OFFERS IS A NIGHTMARE TO HOSTS, AIRBNB MANAGEMENT, IT, READ THIS

AIRBNB MANAGEMENT, IT PEOPLE, THIS IS A MUST READ  TO END TO REALIZE WHAT YOU HAVE DONE

I do not know exaclty what IT god woke up one morning, (about 3 days ago the change happened) and decided to change the Special Offer area without testing it to see how it would affect hosts, but you have taken away an  extremely important tool for hosts, taken hosts back to the stone age (or 1940's).   I have a very large airbnb house with 11 bedrooms.   If a group books and wants an extra bedroom, I would charge them a $25 xtra fee for cleaning of that bedroom.   If a group was booking for 14 guests and I wanted to drop their price down $500, that used to be a simple no brainer.     Some MIT IT dufus has gone in and removed an extremely important tool for me which there is no way possible NOW to do either one of those without playing around in the system sending about 15 special offers to see where the $ amounts come out.  

Here is why.

Prior to a few days ago when you clicked on Special Offer in a booking request, TWO boxes came up,  one right in the middle of the screen showed exactly what the host would receive, the other, (below and to the right a tad) showed exactly what a guest would pay.   You could adjust the amounts in either box and it would adjust the other box price wise accordingly.   So if you needed to add $25. to what the host would receive, you add the $25 and both boxes would adjust.  You could add to the host payout, or you could reduce the guest reservation amount via either box, simple, easy.

NOW, there is only ONE BOX that comes up when you click on Special Offer, it is to the left, and the amount field is empty.  So if I need to add $25, I have no idea what the guest is paying, so I cannot add $25 to that.  Above that box, it shows what the host receives, but does not show Airbnb fees or the taxes, so if you were to add $25 to what the host receives, you do not see how much Airbnb fees or taxes go up, you would be just guessing, so you cannot add an exact $25.  I had to send and remove 4 special offers to one guest just to try to add $25 and still could not get it to equal an exact $25.  Try doing that when you want to reduce a guest reservation request for 14 staying for a week by $800,  IT IS NOW ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE.  

Unless you were a host and did this in real life, you probably are confused and do not know what I am talking about, so do it in real life.  IT, use memy account as a guinea pig, use your own computer/phone, send me a request to stay, 2 nights, then log in as me and add the simple little amount to work with of $25 to your reservation... ah ha... you cannot do it, even your brainiac self cannot add $25 without sending multiple special offers to see you are close to adding the $25. Just not possible with the change that was made.   Now try to reduce a week long reservation request by $500.   you would have to send (and withdrawl) numerous special offers just to try to get near $500.      Then if in any way you could take the Special Offer change back to where it was a week ago, and see how simple, a no brainer, took seconds to do, you would understand how with this new change you have ripped this extremely important tool out of our tool box and make it impossible, absolutely inefficient, devastating to hosts to try to add or reduce guests reservation amounts now. 

15 Replies 15
Peta20
Level 1
Cape Town, South Africa

The Special Offer tool, as it was previously, was the most useful and value-adding service that airbnb offered, as far as I'm concerned!  Apart from the complaints listed by other hosts, most requests for a special offer are made by the guest in their own currency and I am now having to flit between the airbnb site and currency convertors to calculate an offer; I have no idea what actual offer is being made to the guest as the commission is hidden; I'm unable to round it off to an appealing number in the guests' currency; and it's impossible to experiment with the numbers until an ideal figure is reached to suit the guest and host.  The removal of this tool is a serious problem for me in the support offering that airbnb supplies.  I encourage other hosts who share this view to contact them with their complaint / suggestions.  They have been very responsive to my suggestions in the past, and I certainly hope that they will consider reverting to the previous Special Offer tool in this instance.