Travel agencies instead of real hosts.

[Mia0]

Hello dear Airbnb Community,
I noticed that a lot of travel agencies signed up and try to act as a host. Of course, their job usually is promoting and selling listings, but I think they can't replace an Airbnb host. There's a big difference between being a real person and renting one or more your OWN properties and being an agency with a few properties. I always thought Airbnb hosts are special because they're more then just hosts...they share their home with guests, but also stories, extremely useful insider tips, they are always there for guests. All in all, the relationship between Airbnb hosts and guests is a very unique experience that no agencies will ever provide or replace.
I didn't find any posts about this and I'd like to know if someone has any ideas how to deal with this situation?
What do you think about it?
Is there a way of stopping/reporting "hosts" like this?
Please share your thoughts with me.
Best regards and happy hosting,
Mia

[Clare0]

@Mia0 There are quite a few corporate entities with listings on Airbnb.  I have to assume that Airbnb is aware of them and is allowing them to stay on the site.  For example, Luxury Resorts has high end listings all over the world on Airbnb.  So long as they abide by Airbnb's Terms of Service, there's nothing to be done.  

[Donna15]

@Mia0, an interesting recent article here on the topic of management companies.

http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2016/mar/18/airbnb-from-homesharing-cool-to-commercial-giant

[Jeet0]

Hi @Mia0,

Thanks for bringing this up. You can report such "Hosts" by going to their profile and clicking on a small flag below the name.

However I'm not sure if any action would be taken.

I had reported one such Host with 500 listings across the globe a month ago, but the account is still active. Although it has just 1 negative review till now and two cancelled reservations reviews. So I'm pretty sure, no one is going to book with them. "Host" doesn't even have a real name, the name is of a company. I'm not sure when and if Airbnb will action it and if there's another more effective way to report such profiles. It's listings are spamming my location with over-priced properties and just creating a mess that can be easily cleared.

At this point, I wish someone from Airbnb took feedback from Hosts who are so dedicated and have so many feature requests/problem solutions which will help Airbnb stay on the top in this business. There's no proper feedback channel. The existing one doesn't have any follow except for an automated message that thanks you for the feedback.

@Lizzie, if you have any suggestions here, it'd be highly appreciated.

Good day all 🙂

Jeet

[Clare0]

@Jeet0 On what grounds would you flag / report these listings?  Can you provide an example of a listing you would report?  Unless a listing has violated Airbnb's Terms of Service, why would you involve Airbnb?

[Jeet0]

Hi @Clare0,

I cannot share the lisitng here, since it'll get masked/removed. I've sent it to you via DM 🙂

The points I saw were:

1) Name is not of a real person, but of a company.

2) Has almost 500 listings throught different locations, which definitely means it is not 1 single host or a couple managing the properties. This goes against the core philosophy of Airbnb as stated by the Founder in one of the recent keynotes where he defined who is a Host and what is the difference between a House and a Home. And how the company wants to have homes and not houses. Unfortunately I'm unable to find the link to that video right now.

Thought?

[Jeet0]

This is one of the recent reviews, isn't it a pity that guests have to undergo such experiences. 😞

[Kerry78]

Hi all

I asked Airbnb why they state 'local homes offered by locals' when they have now added 200 extra agency properties in my (small area)? This is surely now an illegal claim..?

They said they understood my concerns but 'almost anyone can be an Airbnb host'.

Goodbe to my business!

Customers would not expect all these agencies to be promoted by Airbnb. This is not a personal offering, and customers approach Airbnb because they are not like an agency!

As usual, a company gets too big and changes its' principles because of greed!

I wouldn't mind, but they say how they are making things better for hosts and customers alike!

Liars!

Kerry.

[Mark106]

I agree with Mia that corporate rental agencies are becoming an increasing problem on Airnbnb and if Airbnb does not take corrective measures (i.e. delisting agency or corporate rental properties) the site will no longer be the place for unique travel experiences, not to mention ruining business for real hosts that are merely making some part-time additional income.  

WIth regard to Clare's question "On what grounds would you flag / report these listings?", the grounds would be that these hosts are in violation of Airbnb's Terms of Service.  One violations of the Terms of Service woulf be that these corporate "hosts" are soliciting business for a competing businesss, another violation would be that they are misrepresenting themselves (i.e. referencing "my apartment . . . my neighborhood, etc." thus giving the impression that the corporate host or agency is an individual lisitng their actual residence).  In additon to the foregoing, under Article 14 of the Terms of Service, all Members agree that they:  "will not list Accommodations as a Host if you are serving in the capacity of a rental agent or listing agent for a third party).  When a party is listing dozens and even hundreds of properties, they are in violation of this cited section of  Article 14 of the Terms of Service as they are either representing other property owners or, even in the remote event they actually own all the properties in question, these properties are surely owed in a corporate structure, which in almost all jurisdiction have legal status as a seperate, and thus, third party.

[Alice-and-Jeff0]

@Mark106 - We've been hosts for over a year now and have a pretty consistent rate of occupancy for our one bedroom. Suddenly, we're looking at less than 50% occupancy for the busiest time of the year - the summer.  So I quickly do a search to see my local competition and notice a crop up of listings in some apartment buildings nearby, one in particular.  So I call because I'm curious - can people legitimately sublet?  The leasing agent says that they have several corporations that are leasing apartments in the complex specifically as Airbnb rentals, so yes, they are aware and there would be no issue with a potential guest.  

What?!

Very disillusioned right now.  

How is this allowed based on Airbnb's policies?

Is this how the "business traveler" is being developed?  

How does this parse with the "live there" mode of travel if it's nothing more than a hotel room in an apartment building? 

Suddenly I see why people living in some of the denser communities are so very upset with Airbnb.  

[Mark106]

Hi Alice and Jeff,

Disillusioned is certainly the right term for how Airbnb hosting has suddenly plummeted in viability in certai areas due to the increasingly rampant abuse of Airbnb by leasing agents, rental companies and/or corporate housing companies.  

As to your question, in many instances people can legitimately sublet but that is not the most important issue, in terms of Airbnb hosting violations. As I mentioned in my post on this subject, the most important and flagrant violations of the Airbnb Terms of Service are all found in Article 14.  Among other things, hosts agree that they:  “will not list Accommodations as a Host if you are serving in the capacity of a rental agent or listing agent for a third party”.  As the listings you reference are leased by corporations, any listing by a human of those units on Airbnb is automatically “serving in the capacity of a rental agent or listing agent for a third party” and thus violating Airbnb’s Terms of Service because corporations have legal status as a separate entity from its shareholders (human’s or other business entity).  Basically, when any human performs an act on behalf of a corporation or other business entity (even the owner thereof) they are an agent for that corporation or business entity.  In short, any individual that lists a property for a corporation or other business entity is automatically “serving in the capacity of a rental agent or listing agent for a third party” and thus violating Airbnb’s Terms of Service.  In the case you reference, the agency violation occurs two times because, first, they are a listing agent on behalf of the apartment complex, and then second, they are a listing agent on behalf of the corporate housing company that they either own or manage.

I agree with your comments about business travelers and Airbnb suddenly failing to adhere to its stated Zeitgeist of a people to people travel experience.   

I am curious about where your apartment is located.  

I have the same, but even worse, situation of an incredible drop-off in bookings.  I have an Airbnb listed condo in the Greenway Plaza area of Houston that I live in part-time (I split my schedule between my condo and my house in the suburbs – not on Airbnb). I actually live in my condo, have more than 35 very positive reviews by Airbnb guests that have stayed there, and it has had good Airbnb bookings.  Now suddenly I have ZERO bookings for the summer.  When I say zero, I mean that I my last booked guest left this morning and I do not yet have a single booking from this date forward (nothing for the rest May, nothing for June, July, August and beyond).  

As part of trying to understand what was happening, over this last weekend, I started searching listings in my neighborhood and that is when I discovered that 1 building around the corner from my property had no less than 30 Airbnb listings by two corporate furnished housing companies.  To make it worse, both of these “ hosts” are posing as individuals, complete with profile pictures taken with their "children" in their laps, and in each listing they tell the same story with phrases like “my apartment, etc.” and use the same set of reviews for an unknown apartment. Further, there are a few other relatively new mid-rise apartment buildings in the Greenway Plaza area and in each of these buildings the same aforementioned corporate “hosts” have Airbnb listings there, along with a few other corporate furnished rental companies. Consequently, only a few months ago my neighborhood had a moderate number of actual Airbnb hosts (around 15), and now the same area is littered with Airbnb listings by corporate furnished housing companies whose listings in this small area alone are over 100.  So, we have a situation in my neighborhood where the percentage of Airbnb listings by real people or actual hosts has plummeted from near 100% to less than 15% of listings. 

I even called Airbnb to discuss this issue and was only told that my information would be passed along to the approprIate people at Airbnb and, ominously, that “things are difficult to control in the online world so policing violations is difficult.”

I can only suggest that you flag all the listings that you see that are by these corporate agents, and also flag the alleged “hosts” themselves.

Regards,

Mark

[Susan17]

Guys, sorry to tell you - you're wasting your time and energy on this one. Airbnb has been actively - but oh, so quietly - recruiting these commercial agencies and management companies for at least 3 years now. Not only that, In the last 12 months or so, a raft of new, more favourable tools and policies has been introduced, specifically to onboard and retain these  'professionals'.

For example, each has their own dedicated 'minder' assigned by Airbnb, to assist with any issues they may encounter. They also enjoy preferential Cancellation policies, such as Super Strict 30 Day and Super Strict 60 Day, and benefit from early payouts, long before the guest is due to arrive. And of course, the massively increased and sustained activity/interaction on the 'host's' account, - due to the tens or hundreds of listings on their profile - inevitably boosts their placement hugely in the search rankings, giving them increased visibility and pushing the 'little guys' (ie the small, traditional hosts on whose backs Airbnb's fortunes were built) out of the equation altogether. 

Let's face it - it's all about the moolah now, and the traditional hosts just ain't bringing home enough bacon to service the $4.3 billion Airbnb has accrued over the years  in investor funding and debt facilities. The huge commercial players hold all the cards these days and truth be told, if Airbnb could offload all us 'amateurs' tomorrow, they surely would - we're way too much trouble, for way too little return. They can't get rid of us just yet though. As long as Airbnb is still fighting its regulatory battles in jurisdiction after jurisdiction across the globe, by desperately trying to convince city councils, municipal authorities, the media and the general public that Airbnb is still all about 'the little guy trying to pay his bills and stay in his home', they'll continue to use us as pawns in their game.

What they don't seem to grasp though, is that the scales are starting to fall from people's eyes now, hosts are starting to see things for what they really are, and very few are buying the happy-clappy, save-the-world BS anymore. The fierce loyalty that Airbnb once inspired in its 'community', has gradually been replaced by utter disillusionment, deep resentment and bitter anger, with an army of furious hosts feeling used, abused and cast aside by Airbnb. That's a very precarious position for any company to find itself in. 

[Gillian174]

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@Susan17 wrote:

Guys, sorry to tell you - you're wasting your time and energy on this one. Airbnb has been actively - but oh, so quietly - recruiting these commercial agencies and management companies for at least 3 years now. Not only that, In the last 12 months or so, a raft of new, more favourable tools and policies has been introduced, specifically to onboard and retain these  'professionals'.

For example, each has their own dedicated 'minder' assigned by Airbnb, to assist with any issues they may encounter. They also enjoy preferential Cancellation policies, such as Super Strict 30 Day and Super Strict 60 Day, and benefit from early payouts, long before the guest is due to arrive. And of course, the massively increased and sustained activity/interaction on the 'host's' account, - due to the tens or hundreds of listings on their profile - inevitably boosts their placement hugely in the search rankings, giving them increased visibility and pushing the 'little guys' (ie the small, traditional hosts on whose backs Airbnb's fortunes were built) out of the equation altogether. 

Let's face it - it's all about the moolah now, and the traditional hosts just ain't bringing home enough bacon to service the $4.3 billion Airbnb has accrued over the years  in investor funding and debt facilities. The huge commercial players hold all the cards these days and truth be told, if Airbnb could offload all us 'amateurs' tomorrow, they surely would - we're way too much trouble, for way too little return. They can't get rid of us just yet though. As long as Airbnb is still fighting its regulatory battles in jurisdiction after jurisdiction across the globe, by desperately trying to convince city councils, municipal authorities, the media and the general public that Airbnb is still all about 'the little guy trying to pay his bills and stay in his home', they'll continue to use us as pawns in their game.

What they don't seem to grasp though, is that the scales are starting to fall from people's eyes now, hosts are starting to see things for what they really are, and very few are buying the happy-clappy, save-the-world BS anymore. The fierce loyalty that Airbnb once inspired in its 'community', has gradually been replaced by utter disillusionment, deep resentment and bitter anger, with an army of furious hosts feeling used, abused and cast aside by Airbnb. That's a very precarious position for any company to find itself in. 

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[Anna1522]

I'm a host in Brussels and I've had problems with travel agencies booking my apartment for their guests. I can't see anything about the real guests and the guests comming aren't respectful to either property or rules. So you see even hosts have problems with this. For instance check-in is at 17.00, then the guest is late, you wait a couple of hours because that can happen, then for some additional hours you don't hear anything from the guests, they're out for dinner or bar-hopping or something. The agency has promised them accomondation so the guest don't care. They leave the place in a mess because they're not responsible, the travel agency is. As a host you really can't cancel a booking once it has been confirmed and the travel agency is booking with some strange name, they're verifyid and everything but they are usually new guests so you don't have much history. I'm very careful with my place, I'm proud of it and rent it out to Airbnb because I know that all guests have respect for other peoples homes. Airbnb should only be for privat persons and not for companies.

Anna

[Anna1522]

Hi again,

I now learned with allt the problems I've had with a third party booking the Airbnb doesn't accept third party bookings! Thanks for the support and help from Airbnb. It's very nice to know that Airbnb help you if a travel agency books for their guests. It's private homes for private persons. Of course a company can rent for their employees but that's something else and you have someone responsible! Thanks Airbnb! 

Anna