No to the new no guest photo policy

[Michael-and-Jill0]

Hello fellow Hosts-

I have noticed Airbnb's policies increasingly moving towards guest's needs, and further away from the needs of hosts, especially hosts who prefer the security of personally screening people they invite into their home, verses hosts with Instant Book, who do not have as big a concern with safety. I have let many other changes go, but I feel that their newest no guest photo policy hits a new low, and for me, is totally unacceptable.

My home is not a public hotel. If guests do not want to show their faces and want to remain anonymous, they should stay in a hotel- there are plenty of those. Airbnb is supposed to offer a more personal alternative, where hosts as well as guests benefit mutually from honesty and trust. To cultivate this trust, there needs to be transparency on BOTH sides, and blocking photos does not inspire trust!

As hosts, we are extremely vulnerable- guests see our photo, photos of our homes, our neighborhood location, see our star ratings, reviews, and our cancellation history, yet as (non-instant book) hosts, we are not able to access any of these same basic qualities. I am not racist in any way, I accept all nationalities, from all over the world, but I am extremely concerned with personal safety. Airbnb has just removed one of the most important tools that I am able to use to help my intuition determine who I am willing to allow into my home.

I understand that Airbnb wants to be politically correct by encouraging non-discrimination. That is noble of them, but please do not do it at our expense. Do not deny hosts of this important basic tool. And not viewing a photo will not end discrimination! It just will make hosts more cautious and more discriminating, forcing us to base a decision whether to allow strangers into our homes even more narrowly- on the sex, for example, or a name, writing style, living location, or an unjust bad review. In my experience, there already is not enough information about most guests (especially if they have not completed a profile or do not have any reviews), but more often than not, a smiling face of their profile photo is enough to go ahead and trust that stranger. Now, without the thousand words a photo can convey, I will always decline a reservation if the person's communication lacks information that I ask for, has misspellings, or is otherwise less than ideal. We have that right as a host to decline any reservation, Airbnb's host rules makes that clear. Why remove an important tool that allows for more trust?! A trust that benefits guests as well, as they will be more likely to be accepted for a reservation request. Why punish all hosts, when going after the few specific hosts with a history of discrimination, would be much, much more appropriate?

And lastly, Airbnb's solution does not resolve the problem of racism in a fair way. Discrimination is a human flaw that does not just affect hosts- guests are just as able to discriminate against hosts! If implementing this new policy is a true effort to combat racism, Airbnb is actually discriminating against hosts by not imposing this same standard equally to all of us, hosts and guests alike!

I am a Superhost who has enjoyed the benefits of listing my guest room on Airbnb for many years, but by taking away this most basic and important tool, I am considering for the first time, the possibility of going with another rental option if this decision is not reversed. I wrote a lengthy letter in protest, submitted in the feedback section, and intend to send it daily until the new policy is reversed or imposed fairly to all. I told them that if they do not want to lose their hosts, that they should put an end to this ridiculous no guest photo policy, and restore full disclosure between both guests and hosts, which has brought great success to their platform- thus far. I encourage all who dislike this new policy to send their feedback as well!

[Ben551]

@Susan17  Thank you so much for posting that!! That is the most... sane policy I’ve ever read from Airbnb. Thank god too, because it was doing my head in thinking of people like my Mum being forced to share a space with strange men.... we can have policies that put inclusion first, but it erodes sense sometimes...

[Pete69]

Never heard of this policy. Maybe it applies to instant book. Just don't do instant book. Set your OWN rules including that they must post a photo. I need to differentiate between guest and trespasser / potential burglar who doesn't belong on my property. That's the purpose of seeing who is checking in. 

[Emilia42]

Pete (can't tag you) ... if you use instant book you aren't affected. Bookings come in as they always did. It is when guests are made to request to book or send an inquiry that there are no photos until after the booknig in confirmed. If you use instant book ... no changes. 

[Michael-and-Jill0]

The thing with Instant Book is, that in order for Airbnb to encourage hosts to use it (to make guests happy), they state that after an IB booking, we can "cancel any reservation that we feel uncomfortable with". If you read the small print, however, the punishment for doing so is unfairly harsh, as it says we can only do this three times a year, and only with provable evidence (a photo with a gun, I have read, is not enough of a reason). The host also loses their visual position on the top of the screen, they can be charged $50- $100 per cancellation, they lose their Super Host status for a YEAR, the cancellation shows on their feedback section, and they can even have their listing deactivated. All these actions are clearly in the guest's favor and are far more extreme than any guest has to suffer when they cancel. Guest's cancellation does not show on their profile, and depending on cancellation policy, they either get fully refunded or partially refunded by the host, while Airbnb retains their fee. I would love to see an uprising by hosts to demand a more equal treatment between host and guest policies, as we both benefit by the Airbnb platform equally!

[Michael-and-Jill0]

Thoughts in response to hosts who say that if you use Instant Book nothing has changed. READ THE SMALL PRINT.

[Emilia42]

Please don't think that instant booking is only for the guest’s benefit. Instant booking has made my job 100 times easier and I likely wouldn't be hosting with it.

[Reka3]

I am very disappointed with this policy. Airbnb are turning hosts home into hotels. You have to provide very high standard to get good reviews and now anyone can book your place just like a hotel without you having a say. Airbnb is failing to undertand we open our home to guest. We should at least have a say on who is coming to our home. It's not discrimination. It's all about having more guests on the platform not really caring about the hosts!!! I will probably stop renting on airbnb if this farce carries on.

[Sue-And-Darryl0]

I hate this new ruling where guests information is hidden.  We rent out to families, and have heard  many bad tales on the TV news and in print about how young people can trash your home.  If a host cannot be assured that the people that they are renting will respect your property what are the  hosts' rights?  Air bnb will not share in the repair bill.   We get downgraded if we decline because we have no information on the guest.   We don't want to be treated like a hotel either.

[Adine0]

Hello,

Thank you for expressing this so eloquently.  I too have been hosting for years and am dismayed at the new "no photo" policy. We too are "superhosts".

Like you, I can often get a sense of a person and whether they will be happy here. In all the years I have been hosting, I have only turned down two people on seeing their photographs because I could see that it wouldn't be a good fit -  I didn't think we would be young and hip enough for one potential guest, and I didn't think our house would be clean and organized enough for another.   

This kind of consideration aside, the age factor is also vital because the room we primarily rent has a loft bed and although this is in the photographs and specified in the description, I always write and double check that this won't be an issue if I see that the guest is over a certain age.  In so doing, I have had people say that they do would prefer not to stay here.  I would prefer not to have a booking, than to have a guest uncomfortable because they hadn't taken the time to look at the pictures of the room and read the description.

Lastly, when I have received requests for a time period when I knew I would be away, I've informed our female guests- written to let them know that I would be away and that my husband would be hosting them - making sure that they were comfortable with that. Likewise, I like to see the face of the person I'm potentially hosting when I know my husband will be away. 

If airbnb wants to withhold photographs due to prejudice on the part of hosts, than those hosts shouldn't be hosting in the first place and that would be a good way to eliminate them from participating in their service.

[Emilia42]

@Adine0, you are a cat.

[Robin4]

@Emilia42

Well said Emilia....people in glasshouses shouldn't throw stones!

Cheers.....Rob

[Susan17]

@Emilia42 @Robin

Many hosts have blacked out or changed their own profile pics to obscure their identity, in protest at the inequity of this policy. 

[Stephan-And-Tia0]

this Is wrong on so many levels. We have no way of ensuring we have protection by being able to make a claim against the security deposit. All the guest has to do is deny responsibility, and they escape without penalty,  regardless of hosts providing proof through photos and receipts, and even blocking the property from bookings during cleaning/repairs. You have to rely on AirBnB to settle claims at a fraction of the original claim. When we first listed our home, we felt safer about taking the risk of allowing strangers into our home knowing that we were protected, to an extent, with the security deposit. Boy, were we disappointed to learn what a joke the security deposit is! Now. They’re taking away a very  important tool we use to screen our guests, to ensure that our place won’t be used as a party pad. We’ve had our place trashed once, and we don’t want a repeat. Where are our protections as hosts? I DO tend to question younger guests far more thoroughly, because they are FAR more likely to use homes to host parties, and leave a mess or even damages. I think hosts should not be denied the right to see a photo BEFORE a booking is confirmed, especially since we can not rely on security deposits. How else are we supposed to protect our homes  When AirBnB can’t be relied upon?

[Claire475]

If Airbnb feel hosts may be prejudice, racist or discriminate against certain guests, I presume they would believe guests would also be prejudice, racist and discriminate against hosts. So should we also therefore remove our profile photo.

Keep the platform open and honest, and deal with those who don’t act accordingly. 

[Gabriela-and-Mark0]

Last week I told one employee from Airbnb Customer Service, that my feeling is Airbnb don't care about hosts anymore, everything is in favor of Guests,  guests lie, break things or steal, and in top of it Airbnb pay them back money, we open our homes to total strangers. Guests broke or lie about things but Airbnb support them.

the problem will be when Guests will start complaining because they know they can get something back ....  In a period of a month I got two guests who lied, and they tried to ruin my reviews... just because they want something back from Airbnb....

it is very hard to keep Superhost status, and one lie hurts very bad.