Wait…are you using IB on VRBO right now? I know they have been testing the feature with at least property managers? But yeah…if you have heard the horror stories of booking.com asking an owner to pay $5,000 for an upgrade accommodation - what a nightmare for a double booking.
BTW - I understood you weren’t meaning anything personal - I would be open to IB if I was living in the house with my guests. Or if I had a very simple basic accommodation. But mine requires a walk through just to show electronics, etc since people won’t read. If I didn’t have a walk through every guest would be disappiointed to be charged for damage. It’s a favor to both guests and myself.
No, just IB on Airbnb. VRBO has absolutely blown this year, btw. With some exceptions, my “worst” guest on Airbnb have been better than my “best” guests on VRBO.
Lol - you and I have opposite points of view. If I lived in the house with a guest I would never IB. But since the property is separate, I don’t feel like my personal safety is as much at risk. For me, the pre-booking messaging and my personal tour seems to do the trick. Except when it doesn’t.
Because I live in my home, I will never use IB. I AM very picky/choosy who I allow into my home, although the majority of ABB travelers who venture to my part of the world are usually great guests. But I have excessive wording in my listing deliberately to rule out certain types of guests and to make clear exactly what amenities I have and don’t have. I don’t trust people to read the whole thing if they are instant booking. For instance, I don’t have cable television and due to living in the boonies, I don’t get any local stations. Many people are not used to not having access to a television (I’ve been TV free for 20 years).
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That is funny. I think people in a separate space definitely need more screening because they are more likely to assume they can overload the house, throw a party and no one would notice, etc. My rental is advertised as being secluded and having privacy. So I’m sure it’s even a bit more enticing to those who have dishonest intentions. I would only use IB in a shared space if a husband/boyfriend was living with me. I don’t think I would use it as a single female.
@brook2adks - yes in your situation it is definitely best to be sure guest’s expectations are accurate. If your guests instant book and show up- and are now mad at you for not having the tv that was never advertised…then it reflects in your review. Air could care less.
But the sites have no desire to educate the guest before they hit that submit button with their credit card info. All the sites know it is a huge problem with guests not reading the descriptions and then crying later because they want a refund. They know it’s a huge with problem with guests trying to let you know about their kids only AFTER they book. The more mainstream this gets, the worse the guests are going to be. People can already tell a major shift with guests attitude since 2 years ago…such a shame.
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What kind of guest education would you propose? Since hosts write their own descriptions, the quality of those descriptions is all over the map. As a matter of fact, even some of the posts written in this forum I can’t, for the life of me, understand.
I’m not even sure that guests would want to visit a site where they had to be educated in order to use it. The only thing I can think of where that would work would maybe be a a private ‘club’ site that has a single set of expectations. I’ll bet that, even within this forum, we couldn’t agree on a singe “code of conduct” for our guests.
My noise policy is the most important thing to me and I have my policy EVERYWHERE - including the little box that people see before they IB. I still expect people to ignore it, but it is there for the sake of Airbnb Customer Support for when I have to cancel or kick them out if & when things go wrong.
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OK…this is what I would propose: Allow the hosts to customize the important things in their listing. For example, before Air was collecting tax in my area, I had noted in astericks that I am required to collect so much for NC loding tax - and it was due upon arrival because Air’s system does not collect it…blah blah. Well the one and only time I did not verify with the guest that they read this in the listing - was the one time in private feedback the guest said it should be more clearly listed on the site. The only reason I accepted this guy’s booking was because he worked for the American Institute of CPA’s and silly me assumed he was detailed enough to have noticed this. He also was petty about a couple of other things. So just one of those things where someone starts off on the wrong foot beacause they chose not to read everything…they think they are being cheated.
So for those who collect tax in person - there should be another mention of this on the checkout screen. Then the guest can go back to the listing if this is now a surprise to them. Or they can click they understand.
I’m talking about things that aren’t necessarily listed under house rules. So going back to amenities. Let’s say 30% of your IB guests act totally surprised you don’t offer any kind of tv, and 10% assumed you were going to be cooking up omelettes, hash browns, and waffles for breakfast. I don’t think it would hurt to have the amenities section presented again for guests to check off they understand. OR even just to say something like "Note: this listing does not include tv, breakfast, or use of living room/kitchen. Not to mean that anything not on the list means it’s included. But to at least be able to highlight things that the host notices there is a pattern of people not reading.
The whole issue with guests thinking it is their choice to include their infants/toddlers as guests. If a listing doesn’t allow them for free, then there should be a reminder that they need to accurately reflect total number of guests, as acceptance is based on what they have disclosed in the reservation.
Even using the house rules as an example. For whatever reason guests are not allowed to wear outside shoes inside. The host could move this info to the “I understand blah blah” section.
As much as Homeaway and Air and all the sites try to convince us this will turn off guests - it won’t. If all guests were only willing to click, quick book - then Air would not be in business at all. Guests are willing to jump through hoops to submit online and offline verification…sometimes a video if they don’t have facebook, etc. And that is because they want to book the places on the site. Sure guests “prefer” not to have to do any of that, but they will. For those not willing then it is much easier to go to a hotel website and make a reservation.
I just think it would make for happier guests and hosts if what the listing offers is completely understood before arrival. And for those hosts who would never dream of wanting to do this…they can leave their section blank. The market will dictate if guests are too put off.
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I’m all for anything that can add clarity to my listing. And I think that things can be done to improve communication (calling out the house rules was a good feature upgrade that Airbnb recently made, imo). Adding a line item for taxes is a no brainer and ridiculous they don’t have it.
Pretty soon, however, you could end up with a lot of text (similar to those TOCs that most of us agree to but don’t read carefully) when we sign up for a service or download an app) that people just click through.
If 30% or even 10% of my guests mention something then I would make sure to address it in my welcome email template and request that they respond that they understand. From my 20 years experience with software + web UI, I guess it’s just in my DNA to expect that users don’t (and in some cases can’t) read carefully especially with international customers, learning disabilities and poor content.
I have very few rules (because I want to emphasize things that are really critical). The more text you have, the more rules you have, the less comprehension will be. Like it or not. The more pages you have that you have to click through to check out, the more likely a user will abandon. I promise you, I’m not making this up. We used to have a saying, “Every click has its price.” Airbnb doesn’t want to lose that sale (and neither do I).
You have 4-10 seconds to keep the attention of your reader before they click away. And 10 seconds is generous. If you lots of rules or exceptions that can’t be EASILY communicated within that time then you need to be aware that you will have a larger number of unhappy people. It’s likely best addressed with things like comment cards so people can get it out of their systems without too much damage and better messaging on our parts.
I hope I’m not coming off poorly - it’s just that I spent years working in usability, design, online marketing and travel and accept that these are standard problems that can’t be blamed on the incompetence of users - it’s standard, *normal behavior that will not change. That’s why I mentioned a private club. Personally, I want hotel shoppers to see me as a great option. If you don’t, maybe the first line in your ad should be, “MY HOUSE IS NOT A HOTEL. PLEASE READ THIS DESCRIPTION CAREFULLY.”
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I had a thought - what if you had a Q&A that people had to respond to before you approved them? Something that would reflect the issues you were thinking they need further education on? Then you could judge whether or not it helped and whether or not you gain or lose bookings…
Maybe something like this?
Dear Joe Guest,
Thanks for your request to book my suite. So there are no surprises on for either you or me, I have a short Q&A that I require before approving any reservations.
Do you understand that I have 2 large friendly dogs that might be in the living room or in the yard?
Do you understand that I can’t offer laundry, cooking and do not have a TV set?
Do you understand that this booking has been made for 3 people. (You will have 1 double bed and a cot?) No unregistered guests can enter my home without my prior, written approval.
Etc…
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Believe me…I agree people don’t read. But that’s why a short highlighted section before checkout would be great. It’s too late to make sure guest understands after they have IB’d sometimes.
I have heard of people posting everywhere in their listing in BOLD, etc. at the beginning and people still don’t read. Like I said if guests are willing to jump through hoops in order to just use the site, I hardly think someone who is ready to click “Book Now” is all of a sudden not going to enter their credit card because there is a shortened version of important things.
I rent through VRBO and guests have to print, hand sign, and scan back a contract to me after they have read the house notes and departure checklist. Only then do I send the invoice for payment, or if it’s for peak months they have to send a check. They are willing to do this because they want to rent my place. That’s the place they chose. Of course they can continue to refuse to take the time to read and then continue for another hour searching for another house for those available dates. Any logical traveler would add 3 minutes to complete a booking versus to spend an hour to keep looking. It makes no sense at all.
The issue is the sites want booking to be as simple as booking a hotel. However, our shared spaces, homes are not set up like a hotel. Each place is unique.
Yes, what you presented is exactly what I am suggesting. Those who are afraid of dogs can then back the hell out of the booking. It would save the host and guest grief later down the road.
Yeah - so until Airbnb pushes an optional, customizable screen that hosts can use (good luck with that getting that shipped! but i’m all for it) - you can always create your own via messaging and require guests to fill out your form before you approve them. More than likely, this would be more effective than something Airbnb created anyway…
I think Air would only do it they were concerned with long term customer satisfaction and profits. In my mind they just want the traveler fee, which equates to: less guests read, the more who book and forfeit their fee. Probably positioning themselves to sell out to Expedia in a year.
I do mention anything that needs confirming before I accept a booking since I am not on IB. But Air could get more hosts on board with IB if they allowed for customizable screens at the end.
Air no longer even allows my property to appear if guest is searching within 7 days of arrival. Even though my transaction history shows guests are willing to book my rental within a day or two of arrival using 24 hr. booking request, Air made the decision that I would not appear. Yet they are pulling in listings that are an hour away. So they are not one bit concerend about guest satisfaction.
IB has a final message that users see before they book. It is in that space that I mention the $250 noise violation fine.
I disagree that an additional page would add to comprehension or to customer satisfaction. It might actually give hosts a false sense of security and I would bet my house abandonment would go up. But if the company was small enough, and I was in charge, I would be interested to A/B test it and see. It’s hard to push stuff like that through, though. Every change introduced into a website cascades into buckets of bugs and grumbles.
Good discussion!
What would suffice is if there was one of those things where they at least had to scroll to bottom of page before they request a booking, the way some sites make you do before checking the box I have read the Terms of Service. Or even just a box that they check to say “I have read the full description of the property”.
But it’s not really an additional page if they never read the first one anyway…haha!
What are you referring to the final message on IB - that’s interesting. I went to an IB listing but of course did not enter a credit card. Are you saying Air is currenlty allow IB users to highlight specific things now?
If you go to the tabs on the left, click Booking, then scroll to the bottom you see:
Instant Book settings
Pre-booking message
You can enter into the bubble your final pre-booking message for IB.
They’ll just tick it but won’t read it. They’ll still be unhappy. The issue has to be addressed in a way that leads to better comprehension. That method is just for “perceived” legal reasons. And even TOS don’t hold up in court. That’s why chargebacks are such a huge issue with sites like VRBO (and that I’m grateful Airbnb at least tries to protect us from.)
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OK…I called Air about this when it came out and they didn’t seem to understand it. I wasn’t sure if guests would see it before the process was complete, or immediately after the guest booked.
Well that is good to know - I did recommend to Air that they allow hosts to turn on instant book for only certain dates…and not the entire calendar. I would be willing to turn it on for last minute bookings if I can use that final message field.
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I would make use of IB in certain instances also, but not for a 4 month block of time.
Well, I say that…but I bet I would chicken out. I like having the right to say no 
