Hey @Lyle9 I'm interested to hear what you mean when you say it should be listed in the policies... Which policies? Do you mean in the house rules of a listing ( an awful lot of guests don't' bother to read past the first line)
I think a lot of the problem is airbnb poor education of guests AND hosts. Prospective hosts are told they can create a listing in under 10 mins. I created mine over 10 MONTHS ago, tooks me weeks and am still tweaking, fine tuning etc. And there are heaps of guests that really haven't a clue how airbnb works. It's not unusual for guests to think that i'm their personal maid and will be there daily to clean up after them for example
There is also the difference between what a host creates within the confines of the airbnb pro forma template and how airbnb choose to promote itself via those listings on its platform.
There's heaps of things hosts don't like about the way airbnb does some things, but unfortunately they're usually not inclined to listen to our suggestions.
I personally think airbnb should be far clearer to guests about entering the right number of guests from the get go. adn the right dates (Something I can't understand actually - why people search for a place without entering the right number of guests from the start - particularly with a larger party - saves you trawling through all the pIaces that are far too small. In the area where I list, if i enter dates for 2 guests I get around 300 hits. If I increase to 8 guests, it's down to 56, and then If I filter by bedroom and say I want 4 bedrooms, the choice is down to 26. A LOT less looking to have to do)
I have personally been on the receiving end of several disgruntled guests who have booked for 1 or 2 but actually have a party of 8 and are VERY cross to discover it's going to cost more money. It's a lot of talking and time wasting and angst. I could certainly do without it.
(And for the record, I barely break even with the extra money I charge per extra guest and I suspect many hosts are the same. I actually PREFER to have smaller parties -smaller groups are usually FAR less wear and tear on my house and use far less water and electricity. The last group of 8 I hosted just for a weekend went through nearly an entire gas cylinder - this typically lasts my family of 6 3 months. I think they must have had the hot water running almost 24 hours a day. I've definitely run at a very substantial loss with those extra guests adn I very much doubt it would have happened with only 3 or 4)
I'm sure there are some less than desirable hosts out there, but I honestly find it hard to believe there are many with the mindset of "advertising lower and then making more money" That might be how airbnb itself is approaching things, but I truly doubt many hosts think like that. Most hosts wonder why searches don't just enter the parameters they're actually after from the get go.
Hope that makes sense
Cheers