Tutorial for new users(travelers)

[Brian941]

Airbnb needs to force new users who sign up to take an online tutorial prior to booking. I literally spend 90% of my time answering questions that airbnb should be defining for travelers and teaching how to use their site.  Also it appears theyve farmed out the customer service to a foreign country cause  there is a major communication gap this year.

[Dawn162]

I have this issue as well.  I also get questions that are answered on my listing.  Drives me crazy.  Folks need to read. 

[Stephanie]

Hi there @Brian941 and @Dawn162 ,

Thanks for sharing this idea. I wonder, have you seen this thread at all: What type of questions do you ask your guests?

I think it would be a great place to share you idea!

Thanks

[Dawn162]

@Stephanie  Thanks for the link.  I'll go take a look.

[Brian941]

No  stephanie.  You are off base. Im not talking about questions for guests.   You, like my guests, obviously did not read anything i wrote. Or somewhere in there you inferred what you wanted instead of reading exactly what i said.  I am a blunt and straight forward person so there is no altered meaning.  

So ill spell it out!

New users dont know  what they are doing not how airbnb works.

It should be explained to them when they sign up. Not by the host but by Airbnb.  That is  they can not complete the sign up or book anything until they take a tutorial.

Airbnb  should  define what a private room and shared room is for them and explain that the host doesnt run airbnb.  It should explain to navigate the ad, and not let them book unless theyve scrolled through the whole ad.  Airbnb has gone downhill this past year.

Ive had 8 cancellations this year alone because people dont read  that i live in the house!!!  its literally in the beginning of the description.  Then they start complaining to me.

[Gordon0]

Weirdly, @Brian941, I don't have anywhere near the amount of questions you do, and I've hosted somethig like 300 guests. I also live in the house which I list a private room. Perhaps your first line; 'Enjoy your own mini resort' might be something to do with the problem. 

As for being 'a blunt and straight forward person', you might want to consider how your responses read. I'd suggest yours to @Stephanie was rude. 

[Brian941]

Not rude at all.  And if you read the rest of the our mini resort where it says i live there.  You  looked at 5 words and completely ignored the rest. I have a picture of our dog on the ad and people  thing its a random dog!  

At a resort there are other services  provided which i provide for guests to enjoy and i go out of my way to make sure their needs are met.  Its there "own" because i dont have multiple guests,  just own booking at a time and i make sure they have an awesome time. 

[Sammy35]

@Brian941 gordon in the UK has a habit of policing hosts and listings and trolling the forum.  he's tried to hypocrite on me before (trying to shame and embarrass me for a long post rather than try to understand my frustration OR the point of the story) so the best thing to do is dismiss him because he's just as ill-toned and "blunt" yet, will condemn YOU for it with little to no demonstration of tact and diplomacy.  def of hypocrisy at its finest.  

while i might find your response to the community admin understandable, and needlessly aggressive, its up to you how you respond to people and with chosen action are expected consequences, nonetheless i agree with you because i'd rather find commonalities than disparities and fractures.  not agreeing with your tone or choice of words doesn't mean i don't get your point or agree with your premise which is what the forum is supposed to be about (not policing and trolling).  the point is still the point--it would be great if ALL new users went through a tutorial.  being a 50 time guest might have gave me insight but didn't prepare me as a new host, then a casual host my first listing and (3-5) booking(s) were a huge learning curve and some snafus in the process.

new users (including hosts) should be required to go through a new user tutorial as part of the sign-on process--not because people don't read but despite of it.  that's never going to happen because its a deterrent to booking and that's what ABB cares about.  ABB would rather pay for the check out and rebook solution (if they even do) than head it off at the pass.

but if you think about it that's how society works now.  entitled and spoon fed is sadly the way of life in society now. 

perhaps an option is to have a trusted friend, who is well versus in communications ie writing, editing, or even training aids/instructional design take a look and provide some candid (that should suit your interaction style preference) feedback (from a "newbie" standpoint) .   but note this, as i've found the case with my casual hosting listing (this isn't a business but a hobby--thus i'm not relying on the revenue so its easy to assess need and decline) the dummier proof you try to make your listings the more frustrating it can be cause the less people will tend to read.  but at least then at least you are covered.

i'm honestly baffled by some of the responses i got when i was trying to explain listing details booking requirements sto new users so i just stopped.  ABB got less annoying lol

[Stephanie]

Hi there @Brian941 

Sorry you didn't find the link useful, I had thought it would be a good place for your suggested feature to garner support from your peers. We are always welcome to feedback, positive and negative. What you're asking for is a madatory "test" - if you read to the second page of the article I linked you will see where I have asked hosts to share their thoughts on mandatory questions which would fit nicely with your suggestion. 

We have a large resource that addresses the majority of questions for new hosts and guests which is shared with them on registration and always accessible. You can find it here:  https://www.airbnb.co.uk/help  If you feel there is some information missing therein, I implore you to feed it back so we can improve the resource. 

Many thanks,

Stephanie

[Cross-Cultural0]

Stephanie - is there a new user guide for travelers in the US that’s i can point my guests to?

[Cross-Cultural0]

Also - I clicked on the link in your recommendation and it just takes me to the General help section in airbnb

when I type in new user guide, nothing comes up

[Brian941]

Once again,  they arent questions.  Its Airbnb  explaining to new users how the site works so users are informed. There are no "questions"  for the traveler because they are new. Kind of like a manual on how to use a new product and what things mean.   

I repeat  youre not asking anything of the traveler...  You are telling the future airbnb  traveler about Airbnb.

i.e. generally not hotels, but private homes.    Private room means this.  Feese charged are this. Hosts dont control airbnb  fees   blah blah blah. 

[Ann72]

@Brian941 How does that old saying go, If wishes were horses, beggars would ride?  A mandatory tutorial isn't going to happen.

Hosts all over this forum and on many host FB groups say over and over and over again that guests don't read the listing.  It's a problem that has probably gotten worse.

You may have changed your description since last night because I didn't see a first line about a mini resort.  Reading your listing, I thought it would be very difficult to miss the fact that you live there.  It must be so annoying for you to deal with obtuse people.

But many hosts include salient points in their booking messages and many require the guest to agree that they understand before booking (see @Stephanie's points above).  A simple numbered list would probably be helpful:  1. The host lives in the house. 2. Fees will be charged for use of X items.  Etc.

Good luck.

[Cross-Cultural0]

I agree Brian!  I am asking around for help on how to deal with new users.  Yesterday, I spent 5 hours on a $75 payout reservation.  So it cost us $100 in man hours to help the new user figure out how to book and get into the home. Wisdom please, anyone!!!!

[Cross-Cultural0]

Today I declined a new user that wants to check-in late because I can’t support after hours check-in or another new user to be able to make enough this week to cover my mortgage and utilities for the month of August.

The reason that we can’t cover our mortgage and utilities is because of extra hours we have had to spend dealing with prostitutes, traffickers, Johns, and pumps that have booked.

Last week we had a prostitute book and thank God I already new it was a prostitute from a listing that I manage at my Private home. She was trying to ring her John or Pimp and airbnb support at first refused to call her to cancel the reservation.

It took 5 hours consistently calling airbnb to get it elevated to the right level. They finally cancelled it but it was too late because they had the address so it was not safe for my other guest to stay at the house. I had to move the other guest to m personal home.  

I reported this person in March 2019 as a fake ID and prostitution activity on my property. 4 other hosts in my town have reported her. Airbnb did nothing. She changed her profile name three times and booked another listing that I Manage this weekend.  It autobooked even though she had bad reviews from other hosts. Which I have mine set to block. 

This summer - I had to pay for our property to be staked out our property for one solid week. 24/7 which. Cost me $900.  Because a prostitute successfully booked and a trafficker tried to book as well. She tried to bring a John in and I refused him entrance because he was not on the reservation.   But she had booked for two nights and airbnb refused to call her and cancel the reservation. They told me to call the pollice. The police said they could not come to the property unless airbnb cancelled the reservation first😥

airbnb support refused to do anything to help me rectify the situation this summer.

 Then when it happened again this weekend. And the solutions that the Trust and Safety team gave me do not help. I tried their suggestion to cancel the reservation first and the system does not allow it. Once a guest checks in, the customer service has to cancel the reservation - a host cannot.

Who can I talk to to get help with this situation?