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@patrickmlong
I understand your concern of not having the right picture for the initial photo BUT I glanced through the Seattle PLUS listings and I will say that your listing does stand out from the rest. … A lush garden is in stark contrast to countless sofas and well made beds most of the other Seattle PLUS listings present. If someone is captivated by the greenery, they definitely will click to see the rest. Congrats on a beautiful listing and patience until we all can tweak things to our liking.
Thank you - my wife is the master gardener and the gardens are indeed beautiful. And the entrance to the apartment is pretty neat too and we had a gorgeous photo that the photographer couldn’t reproduce because he came at the wrong time of day to make that outside shot. First world problem, I know…
We haven’t gotten a booking since the plus designation (granted we don’t have a lot of openings in November and December), even though we appear high in search, so I am a little concerned
Did they suggest what you should price your listing at or did you decide on the 10-15% yourself? They asked us to register one of our listings and they would waive the application fee so going through the process now.
Did you look at the checklist they provide and make sure you had everything? We’re going through the process now and I’m wondering how strict they are on having 100% of the items on their list?
They seemed very strict. The inspector has a checklist app on his iPhone and went around to validate each item was there. Somehow he didn’t document Tea … After he had submitted all the photos and checklist, I received notification from Plus Team that I needed to send them a photo to document that tea bags were there.
Nobody offered to waive the fee for us, I have to say. I’ll have to bring that up…
The process is strict, sure, but not that hard to meet, really. They had silly feedback, like “the artificial flowers look out of place, please replace”. Pretty hilarious because ours is a “garden retreat” after all, and the flowers were actually cut flowers… We had to send them a better photo and explain. The number of towels wasn’t right, but one was in the laundry… Stuff like that. The whole process took months as they were very slow in getting back to us at each step. However, once they decide you’re a good candidate and send out the photographer, things move fast. That was hard because they made the final decisions without a lot of input from us. Since the program has a live person come to you and verify your listing, it would be great if you could then talk to the live person actually making the final decisions on what your listing will say.
I think the program is a good idea, they just need to work WITH hosts and allow for some more control over the listing. You’ll see they don’t even allow you to change the order in which your photos appear. I think they are taking the market research thing a bit to far. A lot of us know what works from our own experience and feedback from guest. They need to value that as they have in the past…
As for pricing, they gave us no guidelines, and we still get price tips saying our prices are too high much of the time even though we didn’t change them yet…
I’m very concerned about the professional pictures thing … For me, excellent photos is the key to get more and well price reservations. I like my photos and I was never happy with the photos that other Pros took at my place. Do you know If I’m able to keep or add my own photos, and later delete theirs?
We decided to go through the process after they offered us $520 Aus to go towards the “fixes”. Note we are Super Hosts and have as many bookings as we want. So I went to the expense of doing so even though our home is already gorgeous as per all the reviews. Now, they have not done their end of the bargain. We had a photographer here for 4 hours before they sent me the list of fixes. So they now have the photos that they have paid for and if they do not accept our gorgeous rug and coffee table in just one of the living areas, then they are out of pocket for the photos which I will never get. I am extremely frustrated as I cannot speak to anyone and have only today been able to email them through the normal channels who will pass the email on. I wrote to them today voicing my concerns that this was a scam.
Just a nightmare dealing with my listing, usually 90+% full, on Airbnb Plus. I received an offer, paid my $149, had pictures taken, and just despise what they’ve done with my listing. Further, I can’t finish the process because of their requirements. While they were quick to offer me the Plus listing, sent out a photographer right away, and reviewed it quickly, now, I can’t get anyone to respond. There’s just no one out there to help. I am ready to give up. Then, this, from Airbnb support. As I sit here waiting for a “case manager” to get in touch, I am left wondering what I have done…
I feel your pain. If you review this post and the companion ones, you’ll see most of us have experienced the same lack of support and very long delays in getting any reply.
My suggestions
Ask for your $149 back. Not only was I never charged, they never even suggested that I would need to pay. It seems very haphazard as to who has paid and who has not.
I’ve experienced some issues where they didn’t have photographer pictures of perspectives that I wanted shown, although nothing that prevented me from being put into PLUS status. I was advised to take pictures, using the same criteria that the photographer is given and to submit them. I suggest that you do the same for you W/D. “ABNB Plus Photography Group” will review those and will upload them, if they meet their criteria (i.e. All shades / curtains fully open, Ideally head on views).
I would submit an email directly to the Plus team with your situation, and the photographs you want added. The email address is: airbnbplus@airbnb.com It still takes awhile but it’s at least another approach.
As I’ve stated in prior, posts, I’m frustrated with the some of the things about losing control (of my own listing), lack of support, etc., but while I’m still evaluating the value add, I have noticed that it has kept me higher in queue, allowed me to raise my rate, and surprisingling seems to be making December a very busy month. So it’s worth considering.
Thank you so much. I have a 90 plus percent occupancy rate now, so I am really not sure what will happen after Plus. I have read some of other comments. I also requested my money back today, and was pretty much shut down, told that a “case worker” would call me, and that’s been 6 hours ago. Horrible!
Based on my experience, you will be lucky if you hear back in 6 days. I had a situation where I called the Support Center every day for 3 weeks, and still hadn’t heard back from PLUS. They all offered sympathy and the explanation that Plus is entirely different group that they had no control over or ability to communicate with, other than to send them emails.
GOOD LUCK.
Pretend you’re a guest asking for a refund, as it seems ABNB is very willing to refund $ to guests, at the expense of hosts. Let’s see if they are so willing in this context. Try these on for size:
“Why was I charged when other hosts were not?”
“Why am I being charged when the photographer didn’t take pictures he was supposed to have taken, to ensure I’m PLUS compliant?
“Why should I be charged when, because of the lack of support you’ve demonstrated, I have decided I do not want my listing to be ABNBplus”
“Not providing me the refund I’m owed, will only ensure I take these issues to social media to highlight the problems with ABNB plus”
When I had no response from Plus for almost 2 months after messaging, emailing, and tweeting, I finally emailed Brian Chesky with a cc to airbnbplus@airbnb.com. My recollection is that the Plus team contacted me right away and the issue was fixed within days. Desperate times, desperate measures.
We are frequent Airbnb guests in addition to being Hosts. Or rather, SuperHosts if that means anything. To me, the one Plus listing we have seen pop up in one of the cities we host in, the photos are just SO unappealing to me. It makes me feel like I’m staying in a West Elm showroom. We love high end hotel accommodations as well and to us, it doesn’t come off high end, so much as common and personality-less. I think the photo selection they do for Plus is dreadful. Opening photos of an extreme close up of a room feature just signal to me that the actual entire room or home is not worth showing off. If I’m booking an entire home, why am I only seeing a headboard?
