Letter to Airbnb

[Robin4]

I would ask the company to consider something.

I am never going to be able to host more than one booking per night, I do not have that corporate structure that the company’s philosophy and strategy appears to be driven towards…

I am a core host, one of the few million who got you going, and where you are today!

My desire is to welcome every guest in the best way I can, and make them feel at easy and comfortable with their decision to book, not only with me, but with Airbnb. I welcome every guest in a different way....... sometimes efficiently, sometimes with humour, sometimes as a host, sometimes as a hotelier.

I can only do this if I can see who I am dealing with. I can’t do this when I am only provided with a name. I open a conversation stream with a guest couple in their 50-60’s entirely differently than I would with a pair of friends in their early 20’s, or a young family. A photo tells me how my contact should be opened, a blank sentence does not!

A photo does not influence whether I host a guest or not, it tells me how to get this hosting off to a good start…

And surely, isn’t that what Airbnb wants?

Please allow me to do my job to the best of my ability and give me back those profile photos that I need to be able to do that!

Cheers.....Rob

[Robin4]

@Ben @ Beth

I had another crack at uploading that vid....see if it works for you this time!

https://youtu.be/fjapsTH9OKY

quality is pretty lousy this time, it has come through in 240 instead of 720...at times I wish I knew a bit more about this....but only at times!

Cheers.....Rob

[Ben551]

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@Robin4 wrote:

@Ben @ Beth

I had another crack at uploading that vid....see if it works for you this time!

https://youtu.be/fjapsTH9OKY

quality is pretty lousy this time, it has come through in 240 instead of 720...at times I wish I knew a bit more about this....but only at times!

Cheers.....Rob

---

This one works!!! 

For anyone else looking to watch this - that's our @Robin4 praying to the big guy upstairs at 06:63 minutes 🙂 🙂

Fantastic!!

[Robin4]

@Ben551 I am just sorry the quality is so bad this time Ben. The last effort displayed in 720 and I no longer have the option available  to make it public again.

Never mind you can get an idea of what goes on!

Cheers......Rob

[Beth80]

@Robin4. I also couldn't watch the video but I'm sure it was awesome. Your posts are so encouraging. 

[Adie2]

If they are going to hide the guest’s photo, then host’s photo should be hidden, too. If it’s about safety and discrimination what if some creeper is booking based on the appearance of vulnerability? It goes both ways. 

[Rebecca160]

@Robin4Great post and interesting feedback on it.

I am a very visual person and need to see who I am dealing with. I am also pretty gullible, and if someone posts a photo showing themsleves dancing for joy, I will believe that they are truly happy people with a zest for life and if the show an image of themselves frowning over a meal, I will assume that they are mostly an unhappy sort and probably not suitable for my listing. Pictures are not always the best indicator of what that person's character is about, but I have found the pictures to have given me a fairly accurate idea.

A picture of a very young , black man  standing on a beach with his Native American girlfriend wishing to book would lead to an entirely different set of questions  about their stay with me than than seeing an image of a white,  middleaged lesbian couple hugging each other.  Neither would be turned away (and have not been), but we worked out how their stay here would work out best for them and me. In both of these situations, the guests wanted me to know pre-booking who they were and they wanted to be sure that I would welcome them and not discriminate against them upon arrival. These guests all turned out to be spectacular and I have made new friends, as I have  with  other guests. Without being able to see photos of each other, we may not have established a good pre-booking dialogue and they may not have booked with me.

I just found out last night that guests were not informed that their profile photos do not show on pre-bookings, and that is just wrong for Airbnb not to have informed everyone, hosts and guests alike, that this would be the new policy.  Not all guests have created a decent sounding profile and some have no profile description at all. How many hosts will allow a guest to book with no profile and no photo? Especially single women who host in their homes?  Not me.

In fact, I will not allow anyone to book, until photos are again shown on pre-bookings. My listing has been put in snooze mode.  This will be a financial burden and take away a lot of the fun in my life, but it will also lessen fears I have from incognito guests.

[Alon1]

@Rebecca160

I don't think you need to take such drastic action, because there is a partial solution.

Are you aware that you can still see profile photos of Guests who have reciprocal reviews with previous Hosts? (Currently, you see Capital Letter for Guest but photo of preceding Host(s) who left a review. If you then click on Host(s) profile(s) all Guest reviews still display Guest photo)

As long as this possibility remains, I believe it will influence many Hosts to exclusively deal with Guests who already have an Airbnb history.

If the company notices a pattern emerging, this constriction and with it possible loss of business may lead the company to think again.

.

[Robin4]

@Rebecca @Jenny662

Hi Bec, I am not trying to judge what I am going to say to them by their colour, their country of origin or their religious beliefs. I am trying to work out what I am going to say to them as my form of welcome.

I pick up a lot from the wording of their message or request! They are either passive and complimentary towards me or they are going to push my boundaries.

When you are young you take things on face value, but as you age you learn how to get your way when dealing with other people. Some guests use questions as a form of 'power play'! With each question they ask, they remove a bit of sand from your island and add it to theirs.....the balance of power shifts. These situations are not nesseccarilly brought about by genders, Chinese, Muslims, coloured Americans....outer Mongolians, they are brought about by.......people! The booking request/ IB message tells me what sort of people they are, complimentary or demanding, the photo gives me a clue as to how I need to form my response to them. Do I answer with a curt efficient response. Do I answer with a happy jovial response. Do I answer with an appreciative response.

I can only play a card game with someone else, with a full deck of cards!

Cheers.....Rob

[Rebecca0]

@Robin4    " the photo gives me a clue as to how I need to form my response to them."

How?  I'm not trying to be argumentative or provocative, I'm genuinely interested.  

If someone asks me for something I cannot provide, my response will be the same no matter what they look like.

If someone asks me for something that I might be willing to do/provide, it all depends on how they ask.  What they look like makes no difference, surely?  It doesn't matter how "nice" or "respectable" they look in their photo, or what age they appear to be,  if the request is worded in an arrogant or demanding way, the answer will always be no.

I just can't see how the photo makes any difference.  

[Aleksandra101]

A friendly photo helps counteract discrimination.

i had a request come in from a man with a photo of himself and his male buddies drinking on st patrick’s Day, asking to book a Friday night. He also asked if I’ll be home. (I am a female) Why would he ask that? It was a weekend my husband was out of town. The photo helped me decline. This person was white, and I’m white. It’s not about turning people away, it’s about feeling reassured not to turn them away but to open our homes to them

I could care less what ethnicity or race someone is. I want my space to be used by anyone who will appreciate it. Plus it’s income so why would I limit myself by screening people by race??  some ppl have bias like Muslima on this thread argues. sure. a photo can REASSURE a host who hesitates on people based on race or name. A friendly photo goes a long way!  Let’s all make the effort! 

[Inna22]

Here is a question I would like to post to all those of you who say you are for the hidden photo:

I have a large house and sometimes attract people who want to throw a rager or an after party. After hosting over 200 guests, I can pick those kids out by a profile picture. They actually come in all colors. But I can instantly tell who they are, after a few questions they admit to it and I either ask them to cancel within grace period (I have IB) or if they refuse, I now tell them each one will have to register an ID with me. In any case, if not for the profile photo, my house will be trashed time after time.

I have never NOT gotten the intentions correctly. In other words, I never suspected a party and the group turned out to be innocent.

Yes, I would like to use the profile picture to turn certain people away. Are home trashers a protected group?

And overall, does someone who would have been turned away based profile picture really wants to stay at that house? There are certain places where “my people” are not welcome. I have no interest in going there.

[Recardo0]

Hi Robin,

I share your concerns. I have a current booking pending and not only does the guest whom is a member since 2017 have no profile picture, but also no reviews. As much as I am happy to host any guest that choose my property I also do not want to be blind sided.

[Georgie12]

I’m in complete agreement with his. I find it extremely important to see a profile picture so I can be the best hosti can be. Going in blind does no help at all from either side. Please please consider putting these images back up. It makes it very difficult to work in the dark.

[Jenny662]

I agree entirely. I find it really quite intimidating when I can't see a picture of who I am welcoming into my home, especially as one person said here, that when you get the much awaited picture and it is a picture of bugs bunny. The picture tells you something about the person. It is really important to see who you are welcoming into your home. If I can't see who is coming, I may see if I can get involved in another less structured way of inviting guests into my home. Airbnb is turning into the much hated corporate structure that it was surely designed to avoid and circumvent.

[Robin4]

@Jenny662

I am making some lofty statements Jenny,  and I am not so much doing it for myself! I am doing it to help myself, but I am also doing it for you and the other hundreds of thousands of hosts who want to make sure they are not getting a third party booking....an undesirable character. 

I have a heap of safeguards here to protect myself.....but that is not the point, I should not have to even think that! I should be comfortable that the guest who arrives here is who he says he is and via previous information feels comfortable with me and me with him! 

I just can't understand why Airbnb would choose to make their hosts lives more unpredictable, uncertain and potentially troublesome.....it just doesn't make sense to me!

Cheers.....Rob