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I’ve been lurking the forum for some time, having read quite a few posts that have been helpful, but I haven’t seen anyone talk about my particular dilemma…
I’ve been (silently) helping for months to host an AirBnB that belonged to a deceased family member, John. John’s girlfriend took over the hosting a year ago when John died, but John’s name is still the primary on the account. Now John’s girlfriend wants to move on, and I’m going to take over the reigns. The property has been an AirBnB for a number of years and has a stellar rating with hundreds of reviews. I would of course like to maintain that history when I take over, but I don’t know how to replace John’s name with mine.
Here’s the question, from the subject line of this post: When I try to edit John’s profile and I click to delete his confirmed ID, I get a warning: “If you remove your ID, any upcoming reservations will be cancelled. You’ll also need to scan your ID again before your next trip.” Does the phrase “upcoming reservations” refer to future reservations booked with John as a host (we’re booked through December, so that would be devastating), or future reservations that John made as a guest (John won’t be traveling any further on this plane of existence, so not a problem)?
To anyone who thinks this was a somewhat dishonest way to run the airbnb, I agree with you. It was dysfunction stemming from grief, I guess. No one in the family wanted to make the change because it was a way to keep John’s name alive, but it felt strange every time a guest would sign our guest book or leave a review saying “Thanks John, you’re great!”
My worry is that Airbnb will ask me to create my own account and start from scratch. If John’s account gets closed, I wouldn’t even be able to refer potential guests to the previous great reviews because they’d be gone. I think?
Any insight is greatly appreciated! I want to correct this lagging feeling.
My niece opened an airbnb account when she was 17 - but found she couldn’t until she was 18. So she opened it in her dads name. She tried to change the account over to her, and they locked it and cancelled all of her upcoming guests. After a few weeks of back and forth, they resumed the account for her dad. So, now she is stuck with an account that is named “Marcia and Frank” (her and her dad). She has both of them in the profile picture, but dad “owns” the account. She has good reviews that she doesn’t want to lose, so she is stuck with her dad, or she has to start fresh with her own name.
When listings are set up they are attached to a profile and any reviews and ratings are attached the profile. So the person who does the actual hosting is rated.
If Airbnb didn’t do this, listings could swap hands and guests would book thinking they were booking with a five star superhost for example, when actually they are booking with a host with little experience and completely different standards who could let them down.
Unfortunately there are stories of where this has happened and guests have been disappointed.
This would be highly unfair.
That’s why Airbnb doesn’t let you change the profile attached to the listing.
I would suggest you give Airbnb a call and explain the situation. In the circumstances they may allow you the option of asking existing guests to move over to a new profile you set up and you can start to build up your own ratings based on your hosting performance.
While I understand of course you would like guests to see the previous great reviews John built up I am sure you appreciate this wouldn’t be appropriate as he sadly is not the one who is now hosting.
@jumoe@helsi@KIKC
Thanks all. I appreciate the stories and suggestions. If I remember, I’ll post the results of my discussions with airbnb for information’s sake.
Hi Nona, I host for an owner that no longer manages the property himself and he bought our Inn from a completely different owner that no longer has any association with the property. I just let all the guests know who they are talking with. I also call each guest or send a text message via cell phone off of the platform as I find this the easiest way to communicate rather than through the App. (If a problem arises I go back to the App.) This way they know who they are speaking with and who they need to turn to when they need immediate help. It also gives me great reviews because it is way more personal that App messages. I find ABB so difficult to deal with so many times that I would never dare upset the apple cart of a ten year old hosting account. Don’t make any changes, just sign all communication with your name and give
the occasional phone call if you have a minute. I get awesome reviews because people feel like they have made personal connection.
