Yes, Humpty, but we cannot use said picture as one of the determining criteria in our decision to accept. Once again, this is our home, not a hotel.
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Again, this is the criteria we were promised, we are not children, these are our homes and it should be our decision. If Airbnb wants to change that, they should be up front about it and not play with our decisions and our timeā¦
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Again, this is the criteria we were promised, we are not children, these are our homes and it should be our decision. If Airbnb wants to change that, they should be up front about it and not play with our decisions and our timeā¦ If you want Kermit, that should be your decision. You are a business owner who should be graced with all the details of what will affect not only your business but possibly your safety and certainly your comfort level.
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This comes down to trust between the hosts and Airbnb. Everyone discriminates on some shifting scale of whatever our preferences are. Sometimes based on color, most times not. My post was not to address discrimination but rather Airbnbās business practices.
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If Airbnbās business practice is based on preventing discrimination (not saying it is) then you canāt separate the two. I understand your feeling that āthis is your house,ā but Airbnb could reply that āthis is our platform.ā If you feel that airbnb is treating you unfairly why not leave the platform so they canāt exploit you any further? I donāt think they are going to change the photo policy.
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After booking lots of guests with letters instead of photos, I have not noticed any difference in vetting. Itās mainly what they say in their inquiries that help me decide. Also the reviews they have left for other hosts. I just declined a guest who had left two somewhat nitpicky reviews for hosts. These seem like more important ways to vet than a photo anyway. Although letās face it, I have had some real stinkers after thinking their inquiries were fine.
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I donāt know how best to handle discrimination against guests, itās a problem not just in Airbnb but worldwide. I declined two guests since on Airbnb, one was a superhost who was considering staying with me for one day and wanted me to tell me why she should pick me and another wanted to arrive 10 hours early for one day again.
There is too much hatred in this world, I donāt understand why people dislike another because of their colour, race or religion.History has shown us in the past what hatred and fear can do to a section of the population and I am not sure we have learnt anything about our past atrocities. From the ancient world to up to current times, the history and development of mankind is so intertwined with violence, discrimination, and cruelty.
How can we change ? I donāt think Airbnb is going to solve this long standing trait in mankind but maybe itās trying. Is it genuine or is it just wanting to ālook goodā, I canāt say. Can Airbnb look at hosts who have high cancellation rates and ascertain if there is a trend in specific cancellation ie not allowing Asian or African guests to book, perhaps I am not sure. But they must have access to specific data or feedback that is showing discriminatory trends by hosts to some guests in a global sense, they have a duty of care to protect users of their platform.
Teaching people about discrimination is a powerful tool to help create awareness and try eliminate discrimination but is hiding a profile picture really the way to stop this. Our laws canāt protect itās own citizens against discrimination and it is still a universal problem.
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I understand what youāre saying but I did not write this post to discuss discrimination, but rather how I was mislead by Airbnb to believe it was a computer glitch when in fact it was planned. Itās a breach of trust.
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From the roll out of the non-discrimination policy, it was made clear that less reliance on photos would be part of the policy.
The many times Iāve been misinformed by Airbnb customer service representatives, Iāve assumed that it was not intentional but a result of poor training and poor communication within Airbnb.
As your complaint is a direct result of Airbnbās non-discrimination policy it is unrealistic to ask us not to reference it in our responses.
Besides posting on this forum, what do you plan to do about it?
Can you explain what you mean by āthis is the criteria we were promisedā? I donāt understand.
A picture accompanies a verified guest. When I called customer service to inquire if the verification process was complete they said there was a glitch in their system which they were trying to fix, we exchanged several back and forth messages. At one point they told me to ignore the request because the person didnāt upload the picture. Turns out the whole thing was planned by Airbnb, but as mentioned in previous comments, even some of their CS people arenāt aware of it so we (and they) waste precious time trying to figure out what is going on. I have other jobs, Airbnb is not my main gig. I was incensed when I realized this whole thing was engineered by Airbnb to ātestā us. I have better things to do with my time.
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I have responded to many of those who have commented. Iām not referring to the discrimination issue. Airbnb misled me. I called to inquire about verification and was told it was a glitch in the system. Iām sure the CS person had no idea but thatās not the point. I wasted quite a bit of my time and that of the guest who was inquiring trying to be sure they were safe. Iām commenting on the breach of trust by Airbnb, not on the possibility of discrimination. Read my answers to the other comments.
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Ok, let me get this straight, while going off on a tangent: Hosts can no longer see pictures of potential guests so they wonāt discriminate. Meanwhile guests can discriminate all they want because they get to see the hostsā pictures. Seems to me the whole anti-discrimination efforts are a bit biasedā¦
Sorry for veering off-topic, Mrsgoodwill. I do get your point. Sucks when you get the runaround and have to waste time just because ABB doesnāt seem to communicate well with its own CSRs. Growing-too-fast pains?
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There are many hosts who donāt post photos of themselves.
Air CS often makes up BS to get you off the phone or placate you. That is a known fact.
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I had no idea that was possible!
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Here are some examples:
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I had a pretty flower - actually the same one I have here. And airbnb locked my account for a verification review, and told me one of the requirements to get unlocked was uploading a picture of myself. This was a couple of years ago.
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I get guests with VERY blurred photos all the time.
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