Guest's profile picture is no longer visible + Instant book cancellation

[Farah1]

I found out that guest's profile picture is no longer visible until you have a confirmed reservation (yes, even if you go to their profile). I understand that Airbnb wants to promote the anti-discrimination policy. However, they need to realize that we are not hotels. We share our house and open our house for our guests and our safety is important. I want to make sure that the person who makes the reservation is actually the one who is showing up on check-in day, etc. Also, host's profile picture IS visible to future guests at all times! I just made a reservation for my next trip and I was able to see my host's profile picture even before I made any reservation request/book the place/have a confirmed reservation.

I am also taking off instant booking feature from my listings as it does not really seem to matter other than giving problem because people do not read the listing in full, have a bad review yet still able to book, etc and when I want to cancel *unlimited* penalty-free as they say... it is not true, I can only do it for 3 times and after that I need to contact the customer service. Then they said "we will do a one-time corteousy to waive the penalty for this cancellation." No, it is not a one-time corteousy. This is how it supposed to be. Why do I need *permission* to cancel a guest who has negative review from his previous host? Why do I need to be pressured to open my house to anybody without thinking about my own safety?

I have been with Airbnb for 4+ years and it seems like they might share a different value now than what they used to have.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Alejandro75

While hosting may be considered being in the 'hospitality' business, my home is not a hotel. The way I'm set up cannot be compared to the Ritz or Hyatt or even the Holiday Inn or a backpackers guest house so expecting me to act and handle guests like a hotel or motel or guesthouse would is improbable.

And all the hotels I've ever been to have always requested that the name on the reservation, passport/ID and the name on the credit card match up. When assistants book hotels for their boss, the reservation is made under the boss' name not under the assistant's. At least this is how it was always done at all the companies I worked at for the past 15 yrs 🙂 

And if Airbnb wanted to REALLY curb discrimination, it should go both ways! Guests should not be allowed to see host profiles before booking confirmation either! Guests can see location and listing descriptions to determine if the listing is a good fit or not, so they shouldn't need to or even want to see a pic of or know the name of the host. Why should guests care or even have to know if the host is male or female or young or old or Asian or Caucasion? 

[R-And-R0]

i beg to differ.  we are not hotels, we are private citizens (in most cases) home-sharing.  we do not have the same safe-guards, security provisions, insurance, staff, etc. to ensure the guests who arrive are actually the same as the person in the profile.  i'm not in the mindset that just because someone was able to post a credit card to stay in my home, good enough.  in the case something seems amiss, what does a host do upon opening their door, engage in a confrontation?

in our case, we rent out our apartment in NYC, and in many cases our cleaning person greets the guest.  with this new policy, unless i am deliberately intrusive and keep prying for more information, i am not actually able to tell our housekeeper who will be arriving.  i have no idea if they are male or female (oddly enough, since this policy take-over, i can't even tell by the actual name and none of them have any reviews).  so, tomorrow night at 10p our hk will be meeing K.  i just can't tell her who K is, and will have to wait until K actually shows up and appears to be a perfectly nice person.  

[Farah1]

Hi @R-And-R0 we are able to see the profile picture, reviews (if any), and full name once the reservation is confirmed. So, you are still able to let your cleaning person knows about this prior to the guest's arrival. However, my issue is the fact that Airbnb has a double standard and only "hide" these very important information from hosts and not from guests. For example, when I want to look for an accommodation on airbnb site, I am still able to see the host's profile picture, name, and everything. Nothing is hidden from guest's side. So, if the purpose is to not discriminate, why do they have a double standard? Another issue that I am having is IF I approve the reservation and find out that the guest's profile picture is a photo of an animal/cartoon, etc AND the guest DECLINE to change it... then what? I will be penalized for canceling OR I will feel uncomfortable and need to break my own house rules.

[R-And-R0]

@Farah1

yes, this is true, but since you are not privy to that information prior to accepting, you don't actually know if there is a pic/review/etc. in their profile until you take the plunge.
in my particular case, (bare with me;), the last few guests A, B, C, D & E 😉 i have received inquiries from have all recently signed up, and no further profile info was available.  suspicous?  a few of them had names that could have been male or female and were vague in their inquiry eg.  "hi, coming to NYC with a friend and wondering if your place is avail?" again, suspicious?  many of them were inquiring about staying in our home within the next week or so.  more suspiciousness?  most of them were very polite and agreeable when replying to my effort in communicating, but never really answered my question(s) eg.  "hi, i see you're new to Abnb.  since i often rely on reviews, wondering if you can tell me a bit about yourself and the guest you'll be traveling with.  will you be needing one or two beds?"  "of course.  what would you like to know. one bed is fine."  am i just being overly suspicious?

so, with the most recent request, i decided to accept with all its vagueness, and see how it goes.  once i did accept, Kris (?) didn't have a profile pic on his/her account or any other info, as he just signed up. i had to call Abnb for the third time this week.  without much help from them, i asked Kris to kindly post a pic.  he did and hope that it is a real photo.

as for the double standard, i absolutely agree, and there is definitely an argument there to be made with Abnb.  the only real conclusion i have since come up with is this:  i am looking into other homesharing sites like VRBO, Oasis and onefinestay, and then realized, they don't have profile pics of potential guests either.  so maybe it is Abnb's sudden change without notice that is disturbing us as hosts, on principle alone.  i'm still not sure how i feel about continuing with them with these changes, as i feel it is going to open up doors to problems i am not interested in being a part of.  i also feel as though they are trying to push for Instant Book and, while it sounds ideal, it just doesn't work for us.  while i understand their interest is to prevent discrimination under any circumstances, you can't replace preventing possible discrimination with creating possible risk to homeowners.

we are super hosts with over 155 reviews and a 4.9 overall rating in over six years with Abnb. we have welcomed guests from all over the world and have had only one or two less than stellar experiences, and thankfully none that were catastrophic.  i'd like to maintain that status:)

[Kelly149]

@R-And-R0 @Farah1

Yes, it’s true, my HomeAway guests do not have a profile AT ALL. However, on HA I am paid as soon as the guest makes the reservation AND there is an actual, real security deposit that I get to decide if it will be deducted and/or returned. (Without having to convince some random CS person)These are pretty significant benefits. The upside for abb is looking less and less these days. 

[R-And-R0]

thank you for confirming that!  i was hoping to find some positive feedback about using other sites.  

do they filter messaging content like Abnb does?  if we were allowed to communicate without filter, i could merely suggest skyping, or ask their full name and if they are connected to any social network platforms.

many thanks for your feedback! ~R.

[Kelly149]

@R-And-R0 Yes, all email & phone numbers are filtered. There is always the concern that someone will go off platform and lose the commission, but I do get a full name on HA. But that’s about it. Until after booking is paid. 

[Farah1]

@Kelly149 @R-And-R0

yes, there needs to be some sort of 'compromise'. I feel that the current regulation is win-lose (win for guests). Other platforms do not provide profile picture or any sort of profile for the guests. However, they have a REAL security deposit and 'insurance' for the hosts which often adressed as 'partners' 🙂

[Farah1]

@Alejandro75 unfortunately, I cannot 'simply' ask them the reservation number because that is not why I host/started Airbnb. There used to be some 'connection' or 'relationship' between hosts and guests. It is not just a customer who pay for a place to crash. It's very important for me to have all information needed PRIOR to approving the reservation. You don't want to buy anything without 'seeing' it first, do you?

[Valerie192]

I get this move in theory because I am sure racial discrimination happens every day on airbnb based on photos, however, this poses a slightly unique issue for me in that I only accept female guests. I admit one time I scrutinized a profile photo of a person that could have been either gender for so long and the name was in another language that I was left completely clueless as to whether a man or woman had booked my room!! lol...I ended up having to call airbnb and asking them to verify the person's gender and indeed it was a man who had booked despite my listing stating I only accept female guests. I then asked the guest to cancel his reservation  due to my rule which he kindly did.

The profile photo at the very least usually helps me confirm the guest is female. Although since I made edits to my listing and the very first words are *Female Guests Only* I haven't had this mistake occur. 

[Robert-And-Nancy0]

Well guess we are out of business as we request a picture in our house rules.  No picture, no booking.  For us, it is less then 3 months until we are changing to corporates bookings only, so timing is working out for us if Airbnb is continuing to change the rules in the middle of the game.  October down, November and December booked.....

[Regina38]

Where are you getting corporate. bookings?

[Robert-And-Nancy0]

@Regina38  We have gotten a few off of Airbnb, referrals from previous corporate guests and Zillow.  For us it works out better.  We don't make as much but the cleaning is decreased and all are working so most are gone during the day.  We get the chance to meet some of them which helps in deciding if it is a good match.  We are keeping our profile up so people can read our reviews.

Thanks

[Chris694]

I echo the sentiments of everyone here. To remove this extra filter and level of control from hosts is a terrible move on Airbnbs part, one that I hope they reconsider. Does anyone have any insight on their future plans regarding this lack of photo feature? 

[Farah1]

@Chris694 the best I can do is to voice my concern to the company. If they keep things this way, I am planning on putting my eggs in some other baskets and not only in the airbnb basket. What about you?