House Rules- Essentially Invisible to Guests Before Booking- Why?

[James4257]

Hi Team,

We are struggling to get folk to actually read and acknowledge house rules prior to booking.

Why in the world does AirBnB insist on putting the House Rules only on the checkout page, only as a link, and in the smallest text imaginable?

See attached:

To expect a guest to a) See such a small link, B) Be conscientious enough to review these rules is unbelievably naive

Guests come with all kinds of expectations, and if someone has taken the time to spell out their rules, these should be placed 'front and centre' for a guest to review, and confirm.

Ideally, with a tick box per rule.

Surely the well-paid UX designers at AirBnB understand this is the only way to influence human behaviour.

Yes, one can turn off Instant Book, and use Reserve with questions going back and forth, however, that solution does not scale.  Or, one can leave Instant Book on, and have a booking message with the rules in, however, that is too late as they have already booked.

The point is to have 'positive confirmation' BEFORE someone makes a booking, to ensure both host and guest are the right fit.

Am i missing something here, or is this frustration felt by other hosts?

Best

James

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@James4257 The rules are available in the listing as well - Though not overly prominently presented  so your tile is a bit unfair on Airbnb.

If you are very concerned with your rules being read then perhaps send them in an automated message when a guest books so that they can cancel in the 48hr free of charge period if they don't like them.

[James4257]

Hi MIke/Jane,

Thank you for your response.

Indeed, I can now see the host rules in a sample listings.

However, they are all the way in the bottom left footer, and obscured, unless one clicks to view.

To the casual AirBnB booker, it might as well be a navigation menu common on 99% of generic websites.

Prominent, they are not.

I am aware of the ability to send the automated message when they book, however, I feel this is highly inadequate, and frankly inconvenient to both parties.

From what you have explained, it does sound like a limitation on the AirBnB customer journey/check-out process right now.

To my mind, it would be an easy win to add in with an effective result, even if optional per host or listing.

Not every guest appears to know it is not OK to rearrange furniture, remove shoes or invite visitors around, over and above the guest limits for example.

Common courtesy is not that common.

This education piece for incoming guests is sorely lacking, and it should be implemented in a scalable way.

Regards

James

[Shelley159]

Hi @James4257 

If you go to the Instant Booking settings, the automated message that you can send to guests is called a "Pre-booking message". So if you highlight the most important points there, guests do see them before they actually book. (If you still feel a need to emphasise, you can also follow up with another message within your cancellation period as @Mike-And-Jane0 has suggested)