Another host leaving...what could make me return?

[Laura2592]

 After over 200 stays and a consistent 4.96 to 4.98 rating for 3.5 years, I am selling my place and my last stay ends May 10. I can't say I am sad to be leaving Airbnb and know I am not the only seasoned Superhost to wave goodbye in recent months.  I would like to offer some suggestions to @Catherine-Powell and others who look at host experience to consider: perhaps changing some of these would be a means to retain other hosts.  Community, please feel free to chime in on things that you feel would enhance your hosting experience. Not all of these issues have directly affected my listing but I have seen enough of this feedback to allow it to prevent my return to the platform.

1. Total revamp of the rating system. Despite having high ratings I honestly loathe the rating system and find it meaningless. I would immediately jettison host categories of Location (filled with implicit bias and covered by Accuracy) and Value (totally meaningless and prone to revenge scores by bargain hunters.) Again, I have high scores in each so I am not speaking out of disappointment in my own experience. I find these categories silly and Location particularly troublesome as guests CHOOSE THEIR LOCATION. Guest ratings should be reversed-- star scores publicly facing with comments visible only to hosts. So many hosts are afraid to be honest about their guest experiences that flipping a star rating with actual qualitative feedback could really help hosts to avoid poor guest fits.
2. Better (or any) guest vetting. We had a guest with perfect scores from another host shoot animals on our property.  A Google search revealed this guest had other legal/firearm issues yet ABB said the guest was verified and vetted. This was someone who should have NEVER been allowed on ABB. But because he had a good rating from a previous host, he was considered a perfectly reasonable guest. There are stories in this forum every day about guests who are criminals and scammers and hosts feel forced to accept them lest they get penalized. ALL guests on a reservation should at the very least be REQUIRED to be listed on ABB and all have verified government identities. Full stop. Hosts should never be penalized for refusing reservations when it is clear it would not be a good fit.
3. Allow hosts to refuse pets/kids if needed. We are pet friendly and always have been. Part of the reason we chose to allow pets is the number of guests who bring pets no matter what the restriction. It was easier to permit them and set up some basic rules around pets. We can't be infant friendly due to safety issues, yet we still have parents insist and sneak little ones in. ABB will not be there when we are sued because a toddler falls down our steep stairs and obviously some parents don't take safety warnings seriously. There should at the very least be a pop up when someone adds an infant/pet "This host's space is not suitable for infants/pets. Please choose another location for your Airbnb stay!"
4.  Better filters. The new search creates nothing but confusion by showing guests spaces that are not a fit for their stays. Allow guests to actually filter for what they want! Do not show spaces that do not provide the guest with a match. Add filters for special amenities-- one I would humbly suggest is "chef's kitchen" for guest who want advanced cooking/baking amenities (we get people who love to cook and only have the basics in our space. We have never had a desire to add to our kitchen amenities to attract more bakers/cooks. But others have these spaces and could charge more for them.)
5. Visible house rules. This is such a no-brainer. Make house rules visible and fully expanded! Not hidden at the bottom of the page. Make guests click through them before booking. So many problems could be avoided.
6.  Get serious about party prevention. The lip service is not enough. Actively assist hosts who have guests throwing parties. Create a "no questions cancellation" when this is the case. Guests who engage in this behavior are banned from the platform. Start an awareness campaign that ABB does not tolerate parties, period.
7. Stop the shutdowns on camera reports.  If parties don't allow a host to immediately end a reservation, the spurious report of a camera should not shutter a listing for weeks while an "investigation" happens. Understand that the vast majority of hidden camera reports are retaliatory-- engage a bot to determine the relationship between a host complaint against a guest and the guest's report of a hidden camera (easily done!) DO NOT shutter listings were there is a relationship between these 2 things.
8. Get your payouts in order. This is one of the most egregious issues (and I have been through this myself). There is never a reason a host should not be paid due to an ABB glitch or failure to catch a payment issue. As someone who has had to chase a payout for MONTHS I can attest how frustrating and humiliating it is. I was even asked to liaise with my guest to try and get them to remit payment (why??? I did it but really??)
9. Allow hosts to transfer bookings upon selling. This one really makes zero sense to me as I am in the midst of a sale. My buyer doesn't want to do ABB but if they did, my property has more appeal than my individual hosting style as I don't meet guests. Why could I not transfer bookings with appropriate notice to guests? Makes zero sense and leaves ABB money on the table.

[John5097]

@Laura2592 I was taking a break when you had the guest who used some kind of gun to shoot wildlife at your listing then wasn't even suspended until you posted it here. I didn't see that topic, and that one didn't register when I posted that you didn't have any serious issues in the above comment, as that's pretty serious for most host. I was just saying you really stayed on top of things and an outstanding host. You are very engaging here also creating so many topics for discussion. 

[Strand-Ocean-Drive-Suites0]

100% AGREED.  THAT IS THE AIRBNB CLIENTELE COME TO FIND OUT

"They are allowing and even cultivating guest with bad behavior. " is a statement that resonates with me.

[Fred13]

@Laura2592 In all likelihood, I will be following your footsteps come July, when a very likely buyer will be visiting us to buy the place. Either way I will remain on board because of the logistics of transfer which will take a while regardless. Either way, I am nothing but grateful to Airbnb for this 7-year ride and frankly as I posted 7 years ago I am surprise this whole share lodging idea works as well as it does considering the human nature I have personally experienced in my own lifetime. 

    If I was Airbnb I would concentrate on these four things: 

1. Higher mentality of CS personnel, filled with people that can think on their feet and well versed on the company policy. The range of hosts (thus their mentality) is extremely broad, so should their customer service people. Disclaimer: I have always been treated very well by their CS department.

2. Hold hosts accountable, specially the 'bystanders' type whose usual opening salvo of their complain is: "These people brought a horde of infidels and destroyed my place which I am offering for $149 a night (but divided by up to 16 people allowed) and I didn't discover it till my cleaning lady called the next day........". Then they put a claim for a living fortune; I would be sending them a final bill.

3. Drop the Host Guarantee/Air Cover hustle. I mean really, a 'guarantee' with built-in layers of hassles for the purpose of stringing things long is no 'guarantee' at all, it is a hustle. And is totally unnecessary, want better hosts? Drop the guarantee, sharpen the suppliers.

4. Airbnb needs to graduate from a college campus mentality to the real human world sooner or later. This goes for many corporations filled with inexperienced people handling now billions of dollars that feel human nature is now going to change because of their arrival to the scene.  For starters, stop placating to guests that are nothing but hustlers, liars and thieves that are preying on these 'modern times' (aka confusion) and on the goodwill of good people (most hosts).

Every time we encounter guests that do not perfectly meet our cup of tea (1 out of 10 guests), my wife asks me while we are getting the place ready for the next guests: "Remind me again how much we are making for a lousy 3% that Airbnb charges?" When I tell her,  she gets back to work happily.

[Andrea4731]

I agree with everything Laura said but I would also like to add that I think all hosts & properties should be vetted as well! I am a part of many travel groups & the way some hosts misrepresent their properties & take advantage of guests are giving the rest of us hosts and Airbnb in general a bad rep! Also the amount of clueless host questions on the community forum, it baffles me how many people don’t even read anything on Airbnb or do any research & just start listing their homes. Their should be a training and vetting process before anyone is able to list their space as well.

[Anna11528]

great to hear what you have to say i am relatively new to this and already i have not been paid for 7 days, asked to bring pets when i have a no pet policy

[Laura2592]

I just saw an article on Business Insider about ABB hosts "striking" due to issues like the above and a whole slew of people leaving the platform. Its behind a pay wall. Let me see if I can get a link. 

[Susie0]

Yet again, 2 guests told me after about major issues - 1 accusing me of a misleading post that I didn't really have a 2nd bedroom (despite that there are photos of the full bedroom with queen bed and that she didn't ask me where it was).  Another had the wrong door code and told me after her stay.

Airbnb needs to ping guests the day after they arrive to say IS THERE ANYTHING THE HOST CAN IMPROVE?

It is beyond me that no matter how many times I do that, the guests never tell me about their questions / issues. 

I think during shelter in place we all enjoyed a break from hosting.

Now, I've turned off instant booking because of Airbnb's note that "guests will tell me how many infants they're bringing." Nope! Not doing that.

Overall it seems like hosting is just so stressful these days...although it is nice income.

Best wishes with your journey!

[Britta606]

My tip to other hosts. Request a security deposit on your listing!!! That works like a charm. You will automatically have guests that are ok if there's a $ 100 or 300 dollar hold on their cc until it's released by Airbnb after the stay.  People who don't like the security deposit are people I don't want to host. You are attracting a whole different crowd by doing that. The peops who accept the deposit are peops who don't worry about it because they know they are respectful with your property. Consider taking my advice and you will see the guests who are booking with you will be very different from before. 

It really works for me.

[Laura2592]

@Britta606 you know this is not correct info, right?

There is no "hold on a credit card" with a security deposit. It never gets charged. 

If your guest causes damage and you submit a claim for the security deposit they have to AGREE to pay. If they do not, you are in the hands of ABB customer service who will "adjudicate." Most often they find in favor of the guest.

Security deposits are not collected. Ever. Unless a guest agrees that they owe it.

[Britta606]

@Laura2592. The guests don't know that. They believe they are paying a security deposit. At least 90 percent. That's all it matters. It works for me. ☺️

[Laura2592]

@Britta606 they don't get charged so they absolutely know  lol. They do notice when they are charged for things. 

Its a psychological deterrent.  But not a real one. Other websites actually charge a deposit.  Hosts have asked for many years for Airbnb to do the same.  

[Britta606]

@Laura2592  I don't get notified by my cc company if there's just a hold on my card. That's not a charge, only a hold.

Anyhow, I had a few guests who asked me when they will get their security deposit back. I always say it's released the day of the check out and they are happy.😉

[Laura2592]

@Britta606 never once in over 200 stays have any of my guests had any holds or charges for a security deposit on any credit cards. If you look at booking, it is not charged nor held. I am not sure where you are seeing this but there is no mechanism whatsoever to hold or charge a security deposit on Airbnb. Sorry, but there are about a million threads on this. Your info is incorrect.

[Britta606]

@Laura2592 

Sweet Laura, I apologize if I didn't explain it correctly. I know that Abb is not putting a hold on the guests credit cards.

But about 90 percent of the guests believe it. And that's all it matters. 

I guess I am lucky bc I only had 2 not so nice guests. The majority of guests are really awesome.

[Strand-Ocean-Drive-Suites0]

That is exactly what I wrote above.  The travelers are always right.  AirBnb is a waste of time.  That will be their own demise considering how strong other platforms are courting our business.  I am on all of them so I don't depend on only 1 platform.