Do we even trust Airbnb?

[Micol33]

Hi all!

I am a researcher at Roskilde University in Denmark and I am currently researching trust on Airbnb. While I am reading a lot of papers and online news about Airbnb, I would really love to chat with some actual Airbnb users, especially hosts, and find out how people actually feel about it. 
I hope it is ok to post here, but (no need to say it I guess) please remove the post if not. 

My question is really quite open, I would like to hear anyone's opinion on what makes you trust Airbnb as a platform and other people (guests & hosts). But maybe even more importantly, what makes you DISTRUST them? Do you have any examples of experiences that made you trust or broke your trust in the platform and the users? 

Looking forward to getting into a discussion with anyone interested!  🙂

Micol

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Micol33 I think your post will survive the moderators but you will not be able to get contact details of other users.

In terms of trust I do trust Airbnb. They supply a fair number of bookings to us and payments have always been on time.

In terms of what makes me distrust Airbnb it is slightly harder. Basically it is stories on social media (including this community centre) where people have been let down by Airbnb in terms of dispute resolution, payments etc. I try to file these in the 'there are always going to be issues but only the bad news gets heard' bucket.

Where I do not fully trust Airbnb is that it is, understandably, aiming to increase it's profit. I can't prove anything but I suspect it does this by enticing large hosts (or companies that manage many properties) with special deals or special exposure in the search rankings such that others lose out. But again, I can control this by listing elsewhere if they go too far.

Hope this helps

[Micol33]

Hi!  You're right, I won't be asking any personal information of other users. 

That's actually really interesting, I like your bucket metaphor. There are always concerns, but it is true that we can reasonably set them aside and go on with our business, especially if we read about them online. I also often have this feeling that complaints I read online are not representative of most people's experience because, as you say, only really bad ones get heard! And also good to know that you feel like you are in control if you ever feel like the platform's economic interests are getting in the way of your own. 

Thanks a lot for the reply 🙂

[Frances3408]

@Micol33"Be careful who you trust. The devil was once an angel" (Ziad K. Abdelnour) is one of my favourite quotes on this topic.

Good luck with your research 🙂

[Karlis3]

Hi @Micol33,
That is an interesting topic. Keep on researching.
The reason(-s) why I trust Airbnb:
*for me there is actually no need to fear about anything. I know that Airbnb with its Aircover insurance will have it covered if anything negative happens to or in our listings. If there is sufficient documentation and evidence provided, the issues will be solved. I have been hosting for some 16 months now and we have had a couple of incidents where we needed to involve Aircover. If I provide the information on time and I am polite, the way they handle the issues is very friendly, understanding and professional (that does NOT mean that they always pay everything we ask for).

*the platform itself is very intuitive and modern. You cannot compare it to VRBO or Booking.com

 *the payment is sent out 24h after the guest checks in. Every day of the week. Whereas on booking you have to wait until the guest checks out. This makes it easier to plan cash flow.

*I get a feeling that the Guest and the Host are both treated with equal respect. On other platforms (in this case fiverr) whenever there is a communication with the Customer Service, the service provider is treated as a scammer and a crook. Whenever something is wrong, it is the service provider's fault, never the Customer's.
Airbnb respect both the Customer and the Host equally. And that is a HUGE plus why I respect this platform.

*The platform with its tweaks is simple enough to get started in a day and complicated enough to stand out from the average who do not wish to spend more time in refining their listing and doing it professionally.

*Probably I could add more..

What makes me distrust airbnb? I do not know at first..
*I personally do not hear the negative news in the media about airbnb - I live in Europe and have no idea about any of the incidents. So they do not affect my trust at all.

*The main motive of airbnb IS to make money.. it is a business after all. So reading from the other replies, if airbnb would do such deals with bigger players, that would disappoint me.



Regards,
Karlis