Setting standards!

[Robin4]

My only quibble with Airbnb is their lack of enforced standards ....Airbnb will list a garden shed up the back of the block with a mattress in it. They don't give a rats!!! They are not interested in compliance, and work on the theory that poor Airbnb reviews will weed out the bad establishments. I would like Airbnb to set a minimum standard of compliance with regard to housing regulations. As a minimum, it should be compulsory to supply a 'certificate of occupancy' for the HOSTED space (not just the property) by a local government authority before being accepted by Airbnb for listing. The time is approaching where Airbnb's insurance coverage will be legally tested over some incident in a property which does not offer appropriate housing standards!
50 million hostings took place around the world on Airbnb last year and it's only a matter of time before someone dies in a Airbnb listed property through non compliance (faulty wiring, substandard workmanship) ....and then crap will hit the fan for all of us who genuinely want to provide a wonderful experience.

I had to move heaven and earth to get tacid approval from my local council to even list my property. Although it is an entirely self contained facility, I could only get approval if I listed it as a 'Private room', this being an R1 residential zoned council area, meaning, one residence per allotment, and it has to be regarded as sharing some facilities (Laundry) with the main residence!

I have voluntarily set a standard of occupancy for my guests, I just wish Airbnb would follow my lead and do the same...

[Clare0]

Hi @Robin4, I hear you.  I've seen listings for a hole in the ground (yes, in Germany), a listing for a missing child, a listing for someone who wanted to rent (as a guest), scam listings and on and on.  Dirty listings? Yep they happen.  Airbnb can't and won't vet the lisitngs that people put up.  How can they?  Do you think Ebay vets all the items for sale on their website? Nope. 

Airbnb operates much like Ebay: they put buyers and sellers in contact with each other and offers some level of guarantees to each.  Reviews play an important part in the buyer's (in our case guest's) decision to buy.  Guests need to use some judgement in the spaces they want to reserve.  Would I want to stay in a shack with just a mattress? Not me, but as they say, one person's dump might be someone else's castle. 

As far as getting the government involved, I shudder at the thought.  I already pay 10%  Transient Occcupancy taxes to my county on my monthly gross earnings, before the 3% Aibnb takes.  If my county had to hire people to check all Airbnb listings for cleanliness and other standards, they'd hike that percentage up to God knows what.  And who's to say that the place is clean one day and dirty the next? No, I don't think government oversight is the answer. 

In a capitalistic system, those who offer subpar products get wiped out, as it should be.  

As for someone getting killed at an Airbnb listing, it has already happened.  A guest went on an outdoor swing attached to a tree limb which fell and killed him.  Could that have been foreseen? Act of God or negligence? Who knows. Exposed wiring? When guests complain to Airbnb, those listing are taken down. 

And, last, but not least, keep in mind that the listings you are concerned about are a tiny, tiny, fraction of the overall listings posted on Airbnb and they don't last very long.  I, for one, am appreciative of the opportunity Airbnb has offered me to make some money that I wouldn't otherwise have.  They have given me a platform for guests from all over the world to see my place and book with me. 

And, oh, by the way, judging from complaints I've seen on twitter, the biggest complaint I see are hosts cancelling reservations despite the penalties involved.  Ugh

[Robin4]

 Hi there Clare, Thank you for your response and the points you make are well noted. I think the comparative analogy of Airbnb to E Bay is a good one and not a connection that I had previously considered.

I guess, being new to this game.....we have only been active for 6 months, I am somewhat caught up in the euphoria of being sucessfull...and with each success it makes me want to strive that little harder.

I have found Airbnb to be seamless and well run (compared to some of the other hosting sites) and it has been a worthwhile experience, for both me, and our guests for 3 main reasons.
Hosts do not have the limitations of time, and I can tell you now most hosts will make their guests experience as enjoyable as possible. Things like facility preparation are conducted as meticulously as possible...after all we are chasing those 5 star reviews, and will absolutely go out of our way (and do anything we can) to get them.
Secondly Airbnb encourages us to be....hosts! Being a good cook, many a time I have had the privileged of being able to share with my guests a meal I have prepared and also share a nice bottle of wine, as though we are friends. A hotel can't do that! I found out one guest was having a birthday during her stay with us, so I decked out the cottage with candles, had a pinpoint laser generator shining moving pinpricks of light into the trees with lots of tea candles in the rear garden, and had a birthday cake for her....She cried and said it was the best birthday surprise she had ever had....A hotel can't do that! I have been able to provide an enormous amount of local knowledge, as this is my patch, and my guest is possibly from Shanghai or Lisbon and knows nothing about my area other than what they have read on the Airbnb listing page. A hotel can't do that!
Thirdly, I had no idea how many beautiful people there are out there in the world, and Airbnb have brought me together with a number of them. Maybe a lot of that has to do with the pricing structure!! We charge $80 per night and the people we are attracting want a clean, comfortable, private, pleasant homely environment....We are not pitched at the $300 per night wannabes who, in general, are infinitely harder to please!
That is not to say we don't attend to detail! The day a guest arrives I spend an hour or more getting the bed just right including a new pillow protector for every guest. No two guests ever sleep on the same pillow protector! This is because heavy perfumes may leach through the pillowcase to the material underneath...and nobody wants to sleep with someone else's perfume. Hygiene is paramount! I provide a new full size cake of Dove soap for each new guest (even overnighters), scour my local area for a bowl of the very best quality fruit I can find. We provide a full breakfast including fresh squeezed juice, eggs and bacon, three different cereals, three different types of tea and coffee, soup, Beerenberg jams, even a few beers and ciders in the fridge, all at no charge. The bed is specially built for really tall guests and is electric and all our reviews say it IS the most comfortable bed they have ever slept on. These things are important, and I know that many other hosts strive to do it just as we do.
I am genuinely sorry for people who have had bad experiences, and it's almost as though I share a touch of guilt, just by association with hosts like that. And Clare, regarding host cancellations, I would just say to people looking to book with Airbnb, watch for a few things....Look at the hosts reviews, what do they say, read them! What is the hosts cancellation history!!! This is very important. You know, I had to turn away a three week booking because I had a confirmed one night booking in the middle of the three week request. Short of losing the property, I would never under any circumstance cancel a confirmed booking...that is just not ethical! Mind you that three week request became a one week booking and other bookings came along, so we did not unduly loose out....but you must treat guests bookings as sacrosanct!

Clare, I now love this community....I know, the time will come, and I am ever getting closer to that one bad experience but, as I said in another post, it won't be because I haven't done my homework!

Thanks Clare, your words left an impression on me...may our paths cross one day....Cheers ....Rob

[Clare0]

 Rob, sounds like you are just the kind of host Airbnb wants and needs! And I wouldn't be surprised if you became a Super Host come January 1!