Welcome to Hosting 911

High Priestess
Administrator

Posts: 9,110
Gender: Both and all -- I like all the choices!

Welcome to Hosting 911 Feb 25, 2016 1:54:47 GMT Dionne likes this

Quote

Post by High Priestess on Feb 25, 2016 1:54:47 GMT

Welcome to the "new" Hosting 911, which is an effort to continue the original mission of the Airbnb Host Community Group Hosting 911, founded by Wendy in November 2013. The purpose of Hosting 911 as Wendy had articulated it was to "get QUICK SOLUTIONS for UNEXPECTED guest or hosting PROBLEMS. The group is for both new and seasoned hosts either NEEDING or OFFERING immediate help".

Wendy really liked people to get to the point, in her original form of the group, and became known for continually advocating that posts be written up in the form of PROBLEM, and SOLUTION format, as she exemplifies in this post: globalhosting.freeforums.net/thread/1813/lockbox-solutions and here: globalhosting.freeforums.net/thread/1814/guest-wants-more-offering-amenities and here globalhosting.freeforums.net/thread/1827/waterproof-mattress-pads and here globalhosting.freeforums.net/thread/1829/public-transportation-guests

Here we'd like to continue the spirit of the original Hosting 911 and make this a place for those who need immediate help with guest or hosting problems. This is not a place for those who need help using the Airbnb website, but really for those who have urgent problems related to guests or hosting issues such as problems with your listing or neighbors.

In practice, the AIrbnb group HOsting 911 ended up being a place to post about a variety of hosting issues, not necessarily urgent, but that can be done on other boards of this forum. If you feel your issue is particularly urgent, this is a good place to post that question or request for help.

Wendy founder of Hosting 911

Last Edit: Feb 25, 2016 6:10:35 GMT by High Priestess

Kristi
Knows the Neighborhood

Posts: 31

Welcome to Hosting 911 Mar 25, 2016 2:55:42 GMT

Quote

Post by Kristi on Mar 25, 2016 2:55:42 GMT

Hello Fellow Hosts,

I have a few questions and I am sorry if this subject should have been placed somewhere else but here goes..........

So I live in San Clemente, California and the Planning Commission and City Council are going through what many cities are trying to understand the Short Term Rental situation. In my city there have been 500 Business License's given the the last few years. I have one of them. The city has had 8 complaints. The complaints are loud parties, weddings, noise levels high 24 hours a day and parking issues. So instead of dealing with the 8 they are dealing with the 500! So now I need to apply for a STLU permit and apply and pay $105 per year. I can do that. But through this process the people who have many Rental Agencies with (50 plus) rentals in our town and the surrounding cities. These rental agencies never heard of Airbnb until all this has been in discussion for the past 6 months. So I have noticed one of these rental agencies has listed their properties on Airbnb. They are using the format of Airbnb to reach their members but when you read over their listing they want you to call them and fill out and sign their own leasing contracts. So for me who loves the Airbnb principal and love my Guests and what I do this is a slap in the face! What should I do? Well, this brings in my biggest confusion. I am a SuperHost and I have the Airbnb number and when I call I always get a great person at Airbnb to help me BUT they never know anymore than the simple answers to my questions. Is there another number to call at Airbnb to have someone higher up to look into this matter. Do you guys feel this should be reported? Do any of you have difficulties trying to reach Airbnb? Thanks in advance friends.

andrew
Moderator

Posts: 224

Welcome to Hosting 911 Mar 25, 2016 17:25:02 GMT

Quote

Post by andrew on Mar 25, 2016 17:25:02 GMT

Kristi,

I do encourage people to call Airbnb directly when they have an urgent problem that needs quick and competent attention. Like when you need to remove a guest from your property, for example. This is not an example of that.

When you see a listing that appears to violate the terms of service, you can click on the Flag icon to report it. The listings that annoy you, for example - if they're providing contact details and soliciting guests to transact offsite, that is definitely a violation. However, it's up to Airbnb whether they choose to host the listings, and they're not particularly interested in hosts' complaints about the competition. You can send a more detailed message to them if you wish, but their response will just be a bit of boilerplate. They never disclose actions they choose to take against members' accounts, but I have found that some of the listings I've flagged or reported did ultimately get removed.

Kristi
Knows the Neighborhood

Posts: 31

Welcome to Hosting 911 Mar 25, 2016 21:22:11 GMT

Quote

Post by Kristi on Mar 25, 2016 21:22:11 GMT

Andrew,

Thanks for your thoughtful response. Number one none of these homes are my competition. I would have never even noticed them on Airbnb if the City had not had them on a list of complaints from the Code Compliance and Sheriff calls. The Planning Commission Meetings and City Council Meetings have made decisions to change the Code about STLU's because of a few bad apples. I will think about "flagging" them. I just don't want to bring trouble on my door step so to speak. I really think Airbnb should know though because these people are basically getting free advertising and they got the free photographer as well and then somehow moving them over to their own Contract. I do have to say the homes they have are super beautiful and I would love to stay in one. I will keep you posted.

Gallery Title:
Image URL:
Comment:
Tick this box if you would like to allow other members to add images to your gallery.Add Image

title

Post by High Priestess on Feb 25, 2016 1:54:47 GMT

Post by Kristi on Mar 25, 2016 2:55:42 GMT

Post by andrew on Mar 25, 2016 17:25:02 GMT

Post by Kristi on Mar 25, 2016 21:22:11 GMT