Innclusive's Anti-Discrimination Practices - Sound Familiar?

[Rebecca181]

Anyone who is aware of the home-share platform 'Innclusive', and how it came to be (it started out as a direct reaction to Airbnb's perceived discriminatory policies and practices) will recognize the new (and controversial) 'anti-discriminatory' practices and policies of Airbnb's as being eerily similar to Innclusive's own policies designed to prevent discrimination. Not sure if Airbnb  copied it exactly, but it almost seems like they did. Any of this sound familiar? From the Innclusive website at https://www.innclusive.com/why-innclusive:

Discrimination happens on Airbnb and other platforms primarily through folks seeing the names and photos of guests before accepting the booking. On our platform we remove this opportunity for discrimination by introducing the photo only after the booking is confirmed.

 

Discrimination happens far more likely on properties that require the host to approve properties first vs instant book properties that a guest can book and be instantly approved. 99.9% of our properties are instant book, and this is by design, so there is no opportunity for discrimination in the first place.

 

We use technology to prevent a host from denying a booking to one guest and then making those same dates available to another guest.

[Deborah614]

Appalling.     

I've unticked "pets OK" on my listing.     I once hosted a Chinese couple, students, with a beautiful Rag Doll kitty.   They had a kitty litter box and that was fine.   Then before they checked out, they put all the cat poos / dirty into the bedroom waste basket!     I stripped the beds down and cleared the room but didn't check the waste basket.   The stench the next day coming from the room was incredible, and no matter how hard I looked I could not find the mess which was causing it.   Until I got down and began dusting and found the waste basket - within arms reach of the pillow -  brimming with cat faeces.   

And what appals me is that they must have slept with that in their room.   And here's me assuming that they would take the litter bag with them when they left.     We are all learning as we go I guess.   

I already have a cat in residence, and I'm not going to have him upset with the appearance of another animal.     However I am prepared to negotiate prior to accepting a booking, if a guest has a Guide Dog or a tiny little chihuahua.   

[Andy184]

@Alon1  (yay it let me tag you finally! 🙂 )

As I recall from our previous discussion on that other thread, your listing is a shared space, is it not?  If so, even by Airbnb's policy (I haven't been to the law library yet to check on UK law, but I'm pretty confident that they would have a shared space excemption as well), as a shared space, you don't have to accept it.  Did you point that out to them (I mean, i'm sure you did, but I have to check), and what did they say?  While I'm very strongly a service dog advocate, even I know that in shared spaces, it doesn't make sense.

[Deborah614]

Thanks, I asked the guest for photograph and to introduce themselves (as per the old-fashioned way).   I can now see a picture.    Great.   There's no introduction.   A blind dating site would have more manners than this.  

Never mind.   I'm getting the bookings and so far I've not had a single bad guest.  Long may that continue.   

being a Host now, I think, is a little like Forrest Gump:   Hosting on Airbnb is like a box of chocolates - you never know what you're gonna get!      

But, so far so good.   Only one broken antique bone china cup, irreplaceable.   And I could not have predicted that a beautifully mannered lady from Germany would have been clumsy with it.    My error entirely and the lesson learned.     Don't put things out for use that you would weep if they broke.   

[Ben551]

I've done item #2 of Lizzie's post, as recently as 4 weeks ago.  Works fine.

[Lisa723]

@Rebecca181  @Deborah614  @Barbara1450  @Mariann4  @Caroline31 

I love the mission of Innclusive and put my listings on it as soon as I read about it last year. I found that they have great customer service as well. However, in six months I didn't get a single booking and finally had to suspend my listings there because the ical integration to my other sites kept breaking down.

[Rebecca181]

@Lisa723 Sorry to hear this. Innclusive is up front about their priorities and are not trying to be all things to all people. Airbnb seems confused these days about who they are and what they want (need) to be. I'm sure it will all sort itself out over time.

[Deborah614]

I've had a career as a marketing specialist and studied new ventures and entrepreneurship, as well as the life cycle of a product.    Airbnb is reaching the "maturity" stage.   And this is where they are having a conundrum.   Because their sheer size now, over 800,000 members and Lord knows how many Beds - is putting them at odds with their Hosts, the source of this enormous inventory.      

We, the hosts, have an inventory of say, less than 6 beds.  Usually.   We market that inventory very carefully.   We don't play with bulk marketing because we are boutique vendors.   

 Airbnb on the other hand has an inventory of let's assume, half a million beds and every night the sun goes down on that inventory, the unslept in beds represent - to Airbnb anyway - lost $$$.       They realise this and pressure the Host (the source of this huge inventory) to drop their prices more, in order to out-compete the commercial market, the hotels and motels.    Never mind that the host has calculated that to host just 2 guests, means hours of cleaning and prep.   A shopping trip to the mall for the freshest bread and produce.   A cancelled night out.   Showering and dressing in nice clothes and waiting for the door bell to ring.      And then the cleaning, the laundry, the tidying away.   And returning by courier the left items of jewellery, laptops, kindles, clothing etc etc etc.         

So there is a tension between the two stake holders, the Host and the Sponsor (Airbnb).   Because the more beds on Airbnb's system, the more they are compelled to apply whatever pressure on the Host that they can, to milk every last possible booking commission.   

The Host shoulders REAL COST.   Airbnb's costs on the other hand are pretty much fixed - probably 90% of their expense sheet is fixed.   IT and admin staff.   Fixed.  Not fluid like the host.  

*** **bleep**, that was good.   Might post that as a new subject *** 

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

I've said it before.......if hosts can't see a guest's profile pic before a booking is confirmed then guests also should not be able to see host profile pics before they book.

Actually to be really really fair, and promote true non-discrimination for guests and hosts alike, why not get rid of profile pics all together????? While we're at it, why not limit guest access to listing photos until they have a confirmed reservation?

[Rebecca181]

@Jessica-and-Henry0 I think that sounds like a simply splendid idea! Guests should simply assume that our written listing description is accurate. And no need to elaborate - In the name of efficiency, why don't we keep it brief and to the point and include barely any information - similar to what host's see when guests book these days? Example: 'House on slab foundation. Walls included. Indoor plumbing. Bed bugs not an issue any more'. Thing like that.

[Ange2]

What I do like about that site is the layout, everything is front and center, it's so much easier to see everything at a glance: how much, policies, extra guest fees etc.  Nothing hidden down at the end of an endless scrolling page or behind mulitple clicks and searches.

[Rebecca181]

@Ange2 Thanks for posting this from the Innclusive site. I wonder if the $200.00 security deposit mentioned there is a *real* deposit that can actually be collected on by the host in case of damages, versus the 'phantom' security deposits that are nearly impossible to collect on over here at Airbnb?

[Sarah977]

@Ange2  I agree, that's a nice clear layout, I like it. But this is what I found when i checked out the site- Instant Book only (I would never do that) but I couldn't find anywhere that described how the platform works for hosts, and when I clicked on the "contact Us" I got a screen that said something like "Future info available soon" or something to that effect. In other words, couldn't see any way to contact them.

[Rebecca181]

@Sarah977 Hmmm, so Innclusive is likely not even a viable booking site anymore? In my estimation, Airbnb's new anti-discriminatory policies and practices could have been more thoughtfully done - versus trying to duplicate key aspects of Innclusive's own policies without considering the fact that long-time Airbnb home-sharing hosts might have difficulty adapting to such dramatic and sweeping changes (the removal of the option to ask questions during the Instant Book process is the most egregious change to me - not the lack of guest profile photo, btw).

[Rebecca181]

Hmmm, I am being told now by some hosts that when my profile photo is clicked on, an error message appears. Can any of you see my profile, or are you also getting an error message?

[Sarah977]

@Rebecca181  I can see your profile. But I see you also just changed your profile photo, so maybe there was a glitch for awhile while you were changing it that produced that error?