How to Communicate with guests when Air REDACTS information

[Lorna170]

I am having a difficult time communicating with the guest.  I am trying to keep our conversations in the message area, without resorting to outside email.  This is very difficult when I see my message to the BOOKED guest redacted as below:

Thank you for your reservation. Your requested dates of April 22-April 25, (Phone number hidden by Airbnb) for 4 adults have been added to our cabin calendar. Will you be bringing any pets?

Our Welcome Package with the address, driving directions, front door lockbox access code and other important information about our cabin will be emailed a week before your arrival from (Email hidden by Airbnb) This will be a printable PDF.

To learn what is happening in Asheville while you are visiting, we can recommend two websites: Ro (Website hidden by Airbnb) and E (Website hidden by Airbnb) These sites are excellent resources and have up to date information about music events, plays, festivals, hiking, restaurant availability, etc.

We look forward to your visit; please let us know if you have any questions.

The guest has booked.  I have accepted the booking.  NOTHING will change.  Air will be paid.  Why is the booking date of April 22-April 25, 2021 redacted by Air as a phone number?  There was no phone number included.  Why can I not inform the guest that they will receive an email from my email address with the Welcome Package attached?  My email address should be available to the guest once they have booked, so why can I not reference it?  Why are the two local websites with excellent tourist resources redacted?  Again, the guest has booked, why can they not be further informed about tourism?

How do I provide clear communication to my BOOKED guests when Air is redacting vital information from the message?

[Lisa723]

@Debra300 @Lorna170 @Emilia42 @Ann72 @Sarah977 

The Google Business page is a nice idea, but unfortunately Google considers vacation rentals to be ineligible businesses. Mine were recently taken down for this reason.

https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177

[Ann72]

@Lisa723  That reminds me why I didn't proceed with it - I have a vague memory of encountering that roadblock a couple of years ago and throwing in the towel.

[Debra300]

@Lisa723, @Ann72, @Lorna170,

After reading the ineligible business types, it seems that a property management company would be allowed to have a business page, and then be allowed to list the rental properties.  I guess this is Google's attempts at regulating fraudulent listings.  It would be better if they validated vacation rentals by verifying listings on reputable OTAs, and require a set number of reviews and length of time on the platform (this is how Booking verified my guesthouse, checking the Airbnb listings).

Lorna, I totally agree with your decision to discontinue mail service.  There are many properties that have never had mail service due to their remote location.

[Lisa723]

@Debra300 yes, a management company can have a page, but individual listings still cannot. Google demanded a "storefront" photo of each of mine, then took them down. My business had been verified and the listings had been up for a few years, with several reviews on each.

[Debra300]

@Lisa723,

I am trying not to be a conspiracy theorist, but I do wonder where the pressure is coming from.  Disallowing only individual vacation rentals, even those that have business licenses, surely smell like someone is trying to eliminate competition.  Is the OTAs, or the hotel associations?  

I'll follow up if I get the same notification from Google Business.  I do want to note that my rentals are not in the US, and don't know if that makes a difference.

[Lisa723]

@Debra300 yes it seems like an odd restriction to specifically call out vacation homes as ineligible. 

In this case I may have brought enforcement on myself by requesting correction of some data.

[Sarah977]

@Debra300  I really wouldn't want anyone who found my listing on Airbnb to just be able to Google my listing name and get my phone number and email address.

[Debra300]

@Sarah977,

The GB page may not be for you, but I said earlier that guests can see (only) the contact info that you list.  There is no requirement to display your phone number or email address (mine isn't on the main page).  There are plenty of listings that have just directions.

Many hosts, such as myself, prefer to have business phone numbers and email addresses, and not to use our personal contact methods for hosting.   For me, this is very convenient, because the ring tone on my business line is different that my personal phone, and the messages received are strictly related to hosting, and the inbox has practically no spam.  I will pick up a call on my hosting phone more expediently than my personal that gets tons of robocalls and texts from all sorts.

[Lorna170]

@Debra300   We don't choose to have mail service to the cabin.  We stopped it years ago in order to deter certain renters from attempting to establish tenancy.