@Jann3
(My flame thrower is turned off BTW)
It's true that hosts jump head first into the Airbnb ocean without checking the waters first. They heard it's great to earn extra money, were maybe brought on board by somebody else, or saw their neighbors doing it.
Kind of like getting into a car with no practice and thinking they're ready for that road trip.....
.... whaaaa... is there a brake on this, and how come I'm out of gas when I tanked a couple hundred miles ago???
And like @Jessica-and-Henry0 say, it's HARD work hosting! But then of course, everything you earn money with is usually a business, and has to be taken seriously and handled like a pro.
Yes, I was a newbie once but had read as much as I could find on the website. And I checked out the Airbnb host forums of the time soon after I started.
To be honest, Airbnb often doesn't disclose everything or makes it just cryptic enough to be missed while pushing the fuzzy warm Koolaid in a much louder way. For ex. it is said that every IB host has certain free cancellations, and unless things have changed since last fall when I tried it, it's not as clearcut. I was advised to ALWAYS do it together with the helpdesk. They don't mention that in their description for hosts.
For that reason and depending on the post, I now usually give the contact info to the poster in the hope that Airbnb lays things out clearer. In the past I didn't, and the poster I'd replied to would reply back asking how to contact... thus taking more of my own (free) time.
I think part of the panicked BAD GUEST STOLE MY MING VASE posts are
a) less tech-savvy hosts unfamiliar to community centers
b) the way the Contact area refers to the CC as if it's Airbnb
c) yes, the clueless or too trusting people who probably lend their car to perfect strangers without asking for ID
And no, I wouldn't regard this a trend. I was on the CC from the start when the old forums transitioned over, and it was the same.
The main changes I've seen are how slick spammers, thieves (stolen cc for same day bookings for one night and gone with the wind when it bounced) and one-nighter bookings to party and trash have become, as well as the misleading babies for free.
And it gets really tiring when a (usually fairly new) host addresses a problem, then is unwilling to take advice "because the guest was so nice and I don't want to punish her", thus setting a basis for which said guest will boldly try the same trick and then open-eyed say to that host "But it's never been a problem before with other hosts".
So many of these problems seem to occur due to all the people suddenly becoming little businesses without realizing it, hanging out their shingle, and then the big wave crashes onto the shore and takes them by surprise.
I know, I'm lucky, I started out fairly green too, but I don't leave my Ming vases or Tiffany eggs out on my counter for the picking.
I rent a room in my home, don't share most spaces, so that is a fair amount of surveillance. And besides that I'm not usually gone for longer periods during the day since I work from home.
I also don't get those hosts who don't put in a security deposit because it might keep guests from booking. Which is true - if I plan on adding the Ming vase to my booking I'll make sure there's no security deposit duhhh.
Or hosts not asking for verified ID and not even bothering to ID check.
Or the shy or too intravert host who would rather not have to talk to their guests and keep convo digital.
Do they not see the dark looming clouds of trouble and disaster and missing Ming vases on the horizon??
Oh, and don't you just HATE those occasional OPs WHO POST THIEIR LONG LAMENT IN ALL CAPS??!!
And those OPs who have a problem, and then when they are given advice or friendly critique suddenly turn around and scream 'hurtful, you are disrespectful, snarky, hurting my feelings, no need to be so rude'. Sigh...
Sorry, I had to vent - think you hit a nerve there ;D