I became a guest for Air BNB because I travel a lot for work. I have had my ups and downs with different Air BNB's. The reason I try to choose Air BNB during my work travels is because it is almost usually cheaper than a hotel and with a place to cook decent food without having to eat crap all the time while on a job which is very important to me.
However, I have some things I would like to point out that will not only give any reading hosts what I would like to see improve (if it applies to you), but I am also going to name a very nasty experience with a host that I don't want to have to happen to anyone else.
HOSTS:
-It's great that you have set up your home or any investment property to allow it to be occupied by guests. I am sure a lot appreciate the accommodation! It's just that as far as my experience with different Air BNB's so far there are things that I wish would be improved on.
For one thing, I have seen MANY MANY listings, whose price is way more than what they are worth. Rundown places that are smaller and dirtier than hotel rooms or don't even have places to cook with a full-sized fridge....THESE PLACES GO FOR 80 TO 150 A NIGHT!!! I have stayed in hotels that were barely 30 to 40 and were twice as clean, and had a full-sized fridge and a stove. One place demanded 100 a night from me and a roommate. The person left previously because of a bug infestation. It was worse than we thought. This is on top of no stove, a small fridge (WAY too small for two people who cook...), broken utilities in the shower with low water pressure, a flimsy front door, etc. I Brought this to the host's attention and they agreed to lower the price to 30 a night each. SHE TOLD ME THE PLACE NORMALLY RUNS FOR 150 A NIGHT!! WTF.
Please be reasonable about what you are trying to offer and be realistic. If you want what you are demanding you have to invest in making the property and its amenities worth your price demands. Please don't be unethical and take advantage of people who are trying to find a place at the last minute or who are going to be on long jobs for 10 to 12-hour shifts and jack up the price for what you KNOW the place is not worth. If there is an infestation fix it. Get at least a portable working stove in your "kitchenette" if you do not have one or at least invest in a decent-sized fridge especially if you are going to host multiple guests.
There are the Air BNB's I have stayed in, also the ones where someone shared their own home where either the host (or their family) or other guests just would not shut up when I was trying to sleep. I am speaking to all the hosts in particular who regularly have people stay at their places for construction work and outages and work shift turnarounds.
It would be very much appreciated if hosts as a whole did a much better job of enforcing "quiet time" past a certain hour. For people who work long days starting at 10 pm is not early enough. If your household is not compatible with this please do not take guests who work turnarounds into your home! Especially the ones who work nightshift. The work we do is dangerous and the last thing we need is a serious injury from basically being delirious from not enough sleep because someone would not shut the**bleep** up while we are trying to sleep. Sigh. If there are complaints about other guests being too loud to you PLEASE DO SOMETHING! If they do not listen the second time KICK THEM OUT!
Now. For Air BNB's "refund policy." One I personally deem to be completely unethical for this reason: It is up to the host to whether or not to refund a guest for any funds given for a stay. Literally, almost everyone chooses the non-refund policy. Obviously...
I have had hosts refund me unexpectedly for days I did not end up staying for. However, There were two instances where two hosts refused to refund me and I had to get my bank to pull the funds back into my account. One, I discovered something barely two hours after booking that made me uncomfortable. The woman became hostile and verbally abusive to me and refused to refund me 800 dollars. I got Air BNB involved and they told me the host was "kind enough" ( are you**bleep** kidding me???) to refund me half. I had the bank dispute and pull out the other half.
The Most recent incident was when I booked a trip to Ft Worth in November for a job. About halfway there, which was two hours away from home and two hours from the destination I had a car accident that totaled my vehicle. I contacted my host and sent proof of the accident, including the police report and a picture of my car. I even tried to call her and there was no response. She finally messaged on text and said "so sorry about your accident..." and basically told me to **bleep** off and drop dead when she said "the room will still be here for you if you can find another way here. please contact Air BNB for support" I was two hours away from home and stranded. I paid 664 dollars for that reservation...money she refused to refund me. I then was told by Air BNB that they made the excuse of not sending money back because i "harassed them" which was BS. I could tell from the unresponsiveness to the first message I sent that she never wanted to send a refund in the first place...Basically stole from me for a service not rendered, and for a reason that was not my fault. The money I actually desperately needed to mitigate the financial consequences of the accident.
I understand the non-refund in the case that people are fickle and are inconsiderate of the host trying to lock in the dates for them when they could get other guests...but this was someone taking advantage of me in a crisis., and basically showed that she didn't give two **bleep**s about what happened to me. YOU ARE A **bleep**BAG IF YOU DO THIS TO SOMEONE.
I know everyone that hosts here cares about profit and wants to make something extra. But please also care about the quality of your customer service. Be sure that the place you offer is hospitable for the type of guests you want to host. If it isn't and it isn't too much trouble for you to adapt and you CAN then do so if you want to do business with them. Make sure the utilities work. Make sure the place is decent to sleep in. No infestations or bed bugs, please! Please make sure other guests are considerate and respectful, and no consuming other people's food! (do enforce this please..) Be ethical about refunds. Don't hesitate to stick to your guns if you think someone is just willy-nilly canceling and being inconsiderate to the guests you lose and could have had because of them doing this, but PLEASE DO TAKE CRISIS AND OTHER SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCE INTO CONSIDERATION. Meet someone halfway at least and ask them to show you documentation of the legitimate reason they have to cancel. If it is an actual issue please don't be a **bleep** and refund the money!!!
Please care about your quality of service if you are hosting homes as well as the well-being of your guests. Thank you.