Hi, of course there is a lot of discussion about some new changes, especially the ability to see a guest before they book. Since this is a community, I feel nothing should be hidden. Community = communication. I also kind of think the results of the Harvard test re: discrimination are flawed. I say this because what about, let's say, a very business type host possibly turning down a person with dreadlocks even if they are white, or a hippy-ish type host turning down someone in a suit and tie next to a Rolls Royce? These things were not covered in the study as I read it, so it is missing a lot in terms of discrimination. I also think that, for me at least, when I have a day open and someone books, they get it no matter what. I do not turn anyone down and am having a hard time imagining many hosts turning anyone down. That said, I DO like to see prospective guests though, it helps me get a general idea of who they are and how to properly communicate with them even from the first step of the relationship. I like to see who is knocking before I open my door, even though I will open it anyway, it is just way more comfortable knowing who might be there. Hiding guests is just wrong, they are coming on to our property and into our space. Seeing our guests from the get-go is very important. And what about real bigots? What if they book someone they don't want at all? This could be a very bad situation when they show up. Maybe a study should be done about which hosts decline guests a lot, and get rid of them instead of making rules that only apply to a very very small percentage of hosts and make things uncomfortable for everyone else? I have mentioned these things elsehwere on some other posts, sorry for the redundancy, but thought I would start a new thread, including the odd item below that I have not heard much talk about.
One little thing that has not been mentioned much is that recently I do not have the little calendar right next to a guest's message. The reason for this escapes me, so could some one tell me why? This is a major inconvenience in many ways, and the calendar that we use to block and open days, etc, is very glitchy. Anyone else? For instance, let's say I am 3 or 4 months ahead of the current date, and open or block a day. It immediately goes back to the current day, and the month I was trying to adjust has to be found again, and when scrolling through it, it goes ahead or back 2 or 3 months really quickly which makes it really hard to find the date you are searching for. If there is a good reason to have taken that little calendar away, please let me know why, or just please put it back! It was VERY helpful, and the stuff on the left of the page currently is kind of useless. I checked the little calendar for so many reasons, again, not having it there makes navigating the website a real time consuming hassle, and with all the time we spend talking to guests, giving suggestions, figuring out if the reservation is a one day turnaround or there is a day in between, or any number of other things, losing the convenience of having it there is sorely missed. Again, just put that back, okay?? Thanks in advance for doing so!!! Hosts have a lot of work to do, so making it as streamlined as possible is really appreciated, and making it more time consuming, especially something simple like the "removing calendar" issue, seems unnecessary and done by someone who does not understand what it is like to host and how much time it takes. I have been communicating with guests tonight, writing reviews, and doing this post, and it has been about 3 hours worth of time.
Oh yeah, another strange one is the new three pages to write a review thing. Sure was easier all on one page, another time waster. Again, wondering why... All of these little things add up to spending much more time on the website. Hmmmm....
Not trying to complain, and I really love and appreciate airbnb, but these few issues are really hard to deal with. So the question.... is bringing them up going to change anything back to how it was, or should we all just accept these new things and just forget about it and deal with them? Wondering what everyone thinks, thanks!
Robert
