Points for AirBNB on cracking down on âsnake oils salesmenâ
If only we had the same ability to suspend the lies that continue to come the White House around Covid19.
Too bad a 4.68 wonât get one suspended.
4.68
This is in our local set⌠and itâs not even the lowest rated one. But it has the longest history of low ratings among the lowest.
Iâve long stated that I wouldnât ever choose a less than 4.8 place and Iâve had to defend that statement but it hasnât changed my mind.
Kind of ironic that itâs obvious they donât want to be held liable over what their hosts say or do regarding COVID-19, but even to this day, they claim no responsibility for verifying that host is even legally allowed to rent a listing in the first place. At least until a government agency takes them to court over it.
And with this recent decision in the NYC suit they still maintain that position. Itâs going to be up to the government in the jurisdiction to force them to turn over the data so that the municipality can do those verifications. I suspect there were lots of them sitting back waiting for this NYC case to play out before dipping into their more shallow pockets to fight the battle themselves. Thatâs usually how these sorts of things play out.
I am amazed at the number of listings rated at 4.19 and below in my general area (Phoenix East Valley), but there is a common theme among them: they all have hosts that are large non-local management companies (Vacasa, Evolve, WanderJaunt, etc.)
Of course most of us on this forum wouldnât stay with one of those operations either.
Evolve has some of the lowest rated ones around us.
@Jefferson same with blocking guests aged under 25 from whole home rentals. The algorithm does it now, but hosts cannot state the age requirement.
I agree 
My favorite rental in AMI Florida was a direct rental from the owner. Then they went with Vacasa. I stay somewhere else now.
I wonder why home owners go with these property management companies- do they not research the terrible reviews and ratings for the companiesâ properties? Is it really hard to find responsible co-hosts?
I can only guess based on my own inclinations.
Iâve never stayed at an AirBNB; my years of business travel has me more comfortable staying in hotels. These corporate run multi unit type properties, to me, are the STRâs equivalent to hotels. There is a consistency (some might say sterileness) similar to hotels that is in contrast to the homey aspects of living in someone elseâs âunique propertyâ.
With that said, customer service and good reviews are something I seek out, so those with lower ratings would be a barrier for me.
Yeah, I can understand why some travellers may look for a more hotel-like, impersonal stay, where they donât feel obligated to interact with a host or may encounter some quirkiness to the listing they werenât prepared for. What I was wondering is why a home-owner would give over their place to a company that gets bad reviews and disgruntled guests. It seems like an owner would check out the reputation of the management company before signing up with them.
For instance, Iâve read horrible things about Evolve, both from guests and hosts whoâve used them. I guess maybe people just donât bother to read reviews first.
I have stayed at a couple of Airbnbs in order to use the voucher and i have been disappointed every time, not clean enough, insufficient bed linens, unbelievable noise, listed beds that turned out to be a fold out version of the rack, no basic supplies in the kitchen âŚso donât book them any more.
Hmmmm ⌠Gosh I am not sure about that. It seems that they changed the TOS and Discrimination policies. Age is not mentioned at all, unless I missed it.
https://www.airbnb.com/terms and https://www.airbnb.com/terms/nondiscrimination_policy
Looks to me like we can freely turn down guests based on age. It is not clear or mentioned that I can tell how this translates into âwhat is allowed in the listingâ. Seems like we should literally be able to say âno guests under 25 if we wishâ.
Given the TOS etc - and that we are owner-occupied and 4 units or less - we are permitted by US federal law to turn down tenants for any reason. Advertising a unit is different. We can write lovely, charming, etc - but not âgreat for familiesâ.
It never has explicitly mentioned age, which is why I was taken off guard when an AirBnB rep told me I could not impose a 21+ policy because their site permits 18 year olds and I was not allowed to set different terms than them.
Just found this. But it is a Help Article - not âpart of the actual written TOSâ.
It seems that we are % ALLOWED to turn down guests that we do not want for nearly any reason, without telling them why. A nice loophole.
In our case we are protected by federal law to turn down anyone for any reason. And do not need to disclose the reason.
I expect that Air would not like our listing to actually state âBooking guests must be X or olderâ. I can not find anything that prevents this, but that would not stop some bonehead at air from suspending or killing our account.
Somewhere on the forum I posted my exchange with Airbnb about the subject.
Protip: The way to not rent to guests under a certain age threshold in compliance with Airbnb terms is to form a business entity and make it a rule in the corporate documents. Alternatively, choose an insurer who has this requirement. They canât overrule the business charter, your insurance company, HOA, or local rules.
It seems that we are % ALLOWED to turn down guests that we do not want for nearly any reason, without telling them why. A nice loophole.
Same as employers in âright to be fired workâ states. I cannot fire you for being pregnant, but I can decide I donât want an employee in that position, then conveniently change my mind 2 weeks after firing the pregnant chick and hire someone male or post-menopausal.