Post by High Priestess on Oct 6, 2018 22:11:39 GMT
A host shares her view that Plus is not so plus:
community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/AIRBNB-PLUS-bad-program/m-p/815072#M196297
And another:
community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/Airbnb-Plus-Dont-Do-It/td-p/900950
And another:
community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/Airbnb-Plus-Program-Nightmare/m-p/820563#M197857
And another:
airhostsforum.com/t/cancelled-our-plus-status/27041/26
And another:
community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/AIRBNBPLUS/m-p/861804#M211727
And another:
community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/Airbnb-Plus-disaster/m-p/929067#M231418
Letti in Atascosa, TX
Level 10
3 weeks ago
I have been following the Plus situation closely since it started. It's a miserable failure. More host are opting out than in. They control everything from description to amenities to photos and price. It's not working for any hosts I know of. AirBnB is going to learn this lesson sooner rather than later the whole program is worthless to both them and the hosts that agree to join in.
Gillian in Seattle, WA
Level 2
Wednesday
Waste of time and money. I am angry. They did not tell me they would be deleting all my photos and that I would lose control of my photos. They changed my well though out written description, which I changed back, which they then changed again, so I changed it back again! The new photographs are a total disappointment, and I cannot add any of my own or re-order them, or change the cover photo. I also cannot reach anyone from the Plus team directly.
It's as if they hired some interior designers to control your site. Now I have a cover photo that consists of the back of the dining room chair and my neighbor's roof instead of the cathedral ceilings and views of the lake. And apparently a close up of a throw pillow on the couch is their idea of a great photo. We have lake views from the bedroom, but the photographer took a photo of the bedroom window with our neighbor's house instead of the one with the views.
I also tried to get my money back. Haha.
I'm amazed that any host would basically allow Airbnb to have control over their own property to this extent. You've got to be kidding.
AIRBNB PLUS bad program
France
France in Montreal, Canada
Level 1
09-12-2018 03:25 PM
I have experiment to put my apartment on AIRBNB PLUS. I have begin this process beginning of may and we are now end of September and the announce is not in line.
All the process has been terrible difficult, very long, no support, impossible to join person who working for airbnb plus, even for the personnel who answer you at the phone. They apologize but answer you " we can not reach the airbnb plus team because they are too busy ". They were not ready to put this program on line, they did'nt have enough worker and I have loose my time because of that.
Thit program control all your information. You can not choice the picture who will represent your apartment in the new site. They control all your proposition with out letting you having a personal way to welcome your guest or present your apartment. If you don't do it as they request you can not go further in the process. If you are unhappy as I am, no way to be refund.
When you have problem to complete there request, there is nobody to help you, no explanation and no tutorial.
If you thinking about join that program, don't do it. You will loose your patience, your time and your money and you will loose the possibility of changing your site as you want. Every thing will be control by AIRBNB PLUS.
Tell me why having a personal apartment to rent if airbnb take all the control of your presentation and force you to accept all further reservation? and that for 180$.
For myself I have 4 apartement on listing and I will never join AIRBNB PLUS for the 3 other one I have.
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36 Replies
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Inna
Inna in Chicago, IL
Level 10
09-12-2018 04:18 PM
@france thank you for taking the time to report to us! Hopefully at the end of the long road you will see better bookings. I did read some article about the program being non sustainable. Hosts go through the rigorous process initially , however Airbnb does not check in later so if the property deteriorates, there is no way for Airbnb to know and the guest experience becomes just the same Is any place on the platform.
Letti
Letti in Atascosa, TX
Level 10
09-12-2018 04:26 PM
@france I have been following the Plus situation closely since it started. It's a miserable failure. More host are opting out than in. They control everything from description to amenities to photos and price. It's not working for any hosts I know of. AirBnB is going to learn this lesson sooner rather than later the whole program is worthless to both them and the hosts that agree to join in.
Pete
Pete in Seattle, WA
Level 10
09-12-2018 06:59 PM
The biggest problem given the new longer review process and change to 4.8avg for superhost is the ever present danger of falling out of the plus prg again after going to so much trouble to get in.
The user experience for plus is also somewhat overwhelming with multiple pictures from every angle and is so different from the rest of Airbnb that it feels dislocated.
Robin
Robin in Mount Barker, Australia
Level 10
09-12-2018 07:30 PM
@france
You may wish to re-consider your desire to join the 'Plus' program!
1/. Any program in it's infancy is going to experience issue that may not have been thought out well to start with. As @letti says, we are aware a number of hosts have found the Plus program is not living up to their expectations and are leaving to retreat back to Airbnb's traditional hosting program.
2/. @pete has made a very valid observation. Guest who use the Plus program are going to have higher expectations....they are going to expect something a bit better and are going to be considerably harder to please and this will be reflected in the review process thereby causing the host to lose the ability to remain in the program, or even remain as 'Superhost'!
I was originally offered the opportunity to be in the 'Select' program as it was called when it was trialled a couple of years ago, but I declined because I could see it was going to make my hosting much more difficult because of the raised expectations of guests the program would attract.
@france do what you do well, and the good reviews you get will (in bookings) more than make up for any additional exposure you may eventually get through the Plus program.
Cheers.....Rob
Fred
Fred in Placencia, Belize
Level 10
09-12-2018 10:44 PM
@france Airbnb Plus is one of those 'wild' ideas Airbnb comes up with every so often just to keep things 'interesting' and 'exciting' at their end.
Undoubtedly, they visited this forum after stubbornly implementing it and they surely must have gotten depressed after we pick it apart and reading our dire predictions. Party poopers that we are.
Oftentimes there is a 2nd phase with these ideas, they very quietly axe the promising 'brilliant' program, and probably beat up the 'fool' who championed the not-so-bright crazy experiment.
P.S. My opinion when it came out was:
1- It made many of their existing hosts feeling 'left out'.
2. It stepped on the Superhost program somewhat, at a time they didn't what to do with that program.
3. The price range was too broad, duplicated most economic market levels.
4. It was too image oriented, lacking substance, fundamentals.
5. It had incredibly high-maintenance written all over it on the part of Airbnb (and host).
Wendy
Wendy
Level 7
09-13-2018 03:37 AM
I am also following all the comments on Airbnb Plus closely. Originally all 3 of my listings were offered the opportunity (maybe because it was early in the program and I was superhost?) so i selected the largest one to try. At one stage i received an email stating the listing was not up to the standard required for Airbnb Plus - no detail. My listings are in the suburbs, not the city, and my guests are typically budget conscious. There has been a lot more airbnb listings in my area of late and prices are dropping because of this. My property is a renovated old character home and not at all like others i see on Airbnb Plus or even Airbnb so i believe it would not offer me any advantage to upgrade further and i like the Aussie home character over a magazine style (my guests say they do too). So if i have to pay to 'upgrade' and lose all control on the text in my listing, i am even more reluctant. If i go into edit i can see that it is labelled 'airbnb under review' and there is a button allowing me to leave the program but so far i am just reading all the comments here.
Ps i have just had two 4 ratings (yes from very happy but confused guests) and expect to lose my superhost status this quarter and will be interested to see if the Airbnb Plus invitation is withdrawn.
Peter
Peter in Fitzroy North, Australia
Level 2
09-14-2018 10:58 PM
I have had similar problems with 2 listings for which I paid A$200 each to join AirBnB Plus.
It all started badly with both inspections and photo shoots. The inspections were only 50% completed at both apartments (both photographers said they hated inspections) so I had to spend hours going backward & forward to AirBnB with photos to show that I had knives, detergent, the apartment was clean etc etc. Eventually the photos came back for Apartment 1 .... a total disaster .... the quality was very poor so I ask AirBnB for another shoot. I'm told NO so I suggest we use the original professional photography from a couple of years ago and again I'm told NO. I'm then told I can't add any photos showing the local area, local sights etc..... in fact I'm tod I can't add any photos.
Things get worse when I'm told I can't continue to use the existing property names ..... we have 3 very successful properties with +90% occupancy rates , get lots of referral/returning guests and have property titles which highlight the hip area and what is unique about the inner city apartments .... we'd be crazy to make a change.
Moving on, AirBnB tells me I need a second photo shoot for Apartment 2 (I didn't request it) as I'd implemented their requested changes ..... all good. Anyway, 3 weeks later the images are made available for Apartment2 .... but the are from the 1st photo shoot!!!!!
This is all very frustrating. I have repeatedly asked AirBnB to address the issues above or refund me ..... I'm sure you can guess the response. Anyway, I support the AirBnB Plus concept but from my experiences I wish I hadn't expressed interest ..... for my folly I have lost A$400 and wasted a lot of time.
Dan
Dan in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Level 2
10-31-2018 03:22 AM
Hi Peter, DId you get any resolution from Air Bnb on these issues? Ive got my Air BnB plus inspection booked for this Friday. Im in similar situation with 90% + occupancy and id hate if they change the photos, title and description to something less attractive or original. Reading some of these comments is making me reconsider...
Rebecca
Rebecca in Florence, OR
Level 10
09-15-2018 01:10 AM
It's really a shame. Airbnb could have simply focused on Super Hosts who were performing at the highest levels and made a 'Plus'-type tier without all of the fuss and expense rather easily, while still allowing these super hosts to control their own properties, since it's the host that knows how to best feature their property and offer their guests the best possible experience. But I guess that sort of practical approach wasn't exciting enough for the think tank at Corporate.
Cor
Cor in Langerak, Netherlands
Level 10
09-15-2018 03:56 AM
Hi All,
We’ve been following the discussions around Airbnb Plus with great interest too.
When it was first announced back in February, our first thoughts were: We have to be on this too!
But now: 7 months later, We’re certainly not that sure anymore.
We expect, the introduction of the program in ‘our’ area, to be announced any day now.
There used to be a button in your listing, and when you pressed it. It would come up with the message: The program is not yet available in your area.
Nowadays, you seem to have to request an invitation to be on the program. And when you press that button. It’ll tell you, the Plus team is too busy to on-board new requests.
From what we have witnessed this far:
Airbnb had a very slow start (the original number of Plus listings actually went down from about 2,000 to some 1,600 – in Spring 2018).
The number of Airbnb Plus listings do seem to start growing steadily now, Including in cities/areas, which were supposed to be in the second or even the third ‘batch’.
On-boarding the program seems to take at least some 3-4 months (from request to join to publication of a Plus-listing. Or could take even longer).
Hardly any text left in the listings itself (Is Airbnb recognizing the fact of guests not to read anything?).
Some photos are quite small.
Various hosts did mention, they no longer had any (or hardly any) control on their pictures and/or listing, after joining the program.
And especially Letti (can't tag here) mentioning, Airbnb will also control your price. That’s an absolute no-go area for us (Please also bear in mind, Brian C. mentioning a typical Plus listing would cost less than $ 250 a night. And we all know what it means, when Airbnb is mentioning certain thresholds :-( ).
The program seems to have been welcomed with mixed feelings. As we’ve seen comments here where only a few hosts were happy to be on the program. But quite a large number of hosts, want to either opt out or at least had negative feelings on the program (such as @france). Obviously the program is still somewhat in an infant state.
The Plus team seems to be overwhelmed with requests and does not seem to be very well organized. As in: On-boarding and follow-up certainly does not seem to be a smooth process.
We’ve even seen comments, where it was mentioned: The project to have been restarted some months ago.
Financial impact: What value is in there doubling your page views, and cutting down your bookings (that’s been witnessed too)?
For now, we will most likely wait to join the program, when it comes to ‘our’ area.
And we will keep a very close eye on what our competition does (the problem of course: Throughput time). I.e.: For quite some time, nothing will seem to happen. And then all of a sudden and in a couple of weeks’ time. You will see them popping up, all around you.
It’s funny to notice that potential guests would value a listing higher, when having been ‘verified’ by an external photographer. Whom did not even sleep there, to begin with. Just walking around with the camera and the 100-bullet list of Airbnb. Obviously most guests won’t know this. And will tend to think that Airbnb management has stayed at the place and carried out the inspection themselves.
But maybe guests just want to be fooled, by marketing :-)
Cor
Cor in Langerak, Netherlands
Level 10
10-17-2018 09:29 AM
Well, the first Plus-listing has popped-up this week in ‘our’ town.
The host is a competitor of ours, and they opened this listing only pretty recently (as a regular listing).
A nice studio, but at outrageous prices!
But nevertheless acquired quite a number of reviews in a relative short period of time.
So I will just sit back and watch, how they move on with this listing :-)
Fred
Fred in Placencia, Belize
Level 10
09-17-2018 09:25 PM
"Brian C. mentioning a typical Plus listing would cost less than $ 250 a night".
That is interesting, so they are somewhat 'pricey' listings, but in Airbnb's vision? I wonder who they are targeting - business people?
Gillian
Gillian in Seattle, WA
Level 2
10-03-2018 04:47 PM
Waste of time and money. I am angry. They did not tell me they would be deleting all my photos and that I would lose control of my photos. They changed my well though out written description, which I changed back, which they then changed again, so I changed it back again! The new photographs are a total disappointment, and I cannot add any of my own or re-order them, or change the cover photo. I also cannot reach anyone from the Plus team directly.
It's as if they hired some interior designers to control your site. Now I have a cover photo that consists of the back of the dining room chair and my neighbor's roof instead of the cathedral ceilings and views of the lake. And apparently a close up of a throw pillow on the couch is their idea of a great photo. We have lake views from the bedroom, but the photographer took a photo of the bedroom window with our neighbor's house instead of the one with the views.
I also tried to get my money back. Haha.
Letti
Letti in Atascosa, TX
Level 10
10-03-2018 05:01 PM
gillian Join the growing list the have discovered the Plus program is just not working for them. They control all descriptions and photos. A 2-3 sentence description will have guests constantly sending inquiries to get answers, so more of your time is spent responding to them. The majority of Plus hosts are saying they get lots of views, but no bookings.
3 Replies
1 2
David
David in Kirkland, WA
Level 2
09-26-2018 04:00 PM
I can add to this discussion with similar experience. I have a 1 bedroom guest home that has been booked solid for 6 months. Its new, with great views and very nice design. Finally got the Airbnb plus credentials but the photos are just ok. My main issue is our primary feature - 180 degree view of lake and mountains, was completely ignored. I specifically told photographer this was our top selling item. They did not add one photo of the view. I have reached out to airbnb plus 3 times, with no response. You can't add photos, so your at the mercy of someone at airbnb opinion of your best features.
Sara
Sara
Level 1
Monday
How do you even reach out to Airbnb plus?
Shelley
Shelley in Seattle, WA
Level 2
09-30-2018 06:54 AM
I’m also very frustrated with our newly “plussed” listing. Our listing has been booked solidly since we listed it last December. I haven’t seen any more booking activity than before the plus designation and I’ve actually lost at least one booking because the photos don’t show enough information, and I can’t add photos or information.
The Airbnb plus photographer/inspector hung out for 4 hours in our 450 square foot suite, but he barely photographed anything. There are 8 photos of the bedroom, and not one of the sofa bed or exterior.
Even more frustrating, the written description no longer shows up in the listing. That means there’s no way to tell people about the sleeping arrangements (3 beds) aside from photos, which only show 1 bed. I’ve lost a booking already because of this. They had to ask about the beds, and ended up booking another listing that showed the beds by the time I responded 15 minutes later.
I’m really regretting my decision to go with Airbnb plus. If Airbnb will make it impossible for me to show what’s offered, then I’ll be going back to the regular listing. What a waste of $150 and my time.
Romanos
Romanos in Athens, Greece
Level 1
10-17-2018 11:32 PM
Hi Shelley,
My listing is in Athens, Greece, a wonderful apartment contained within a historical building in the center of the city. Our capacity is really high but they have chosen us to enter the Airbnb Plus category. After six months of waiting, they have finally sent us yesterday the pictures which are not good, totally overexposed etc. Are you aware if and how can I return to the normal Airbnb if I'm not satisfied with the performance of my house on AIRBNB pLUS?
Thank you!
Marietta
Susan
Susan in Dublin, Ireland
Level 10
10-18-2018 01:13 AM
Interesting article...
www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-you-should-think-twice-before-signing-up-airbnb-plus-lansdale
Frank
Frank in Englishtown, NJ
Level 2
10-26-2018 08:37 AM
Hello All,
We are very sorry to hear of all your problems. My wife and I are considering joining AirBNB Plus as freelance photographers, but from what we're reading, it seems we'd be better off just doing what we currently do.
We are based in Central New Jersey and cover an area roughly 60-70 square miles from our central location. That includes NJ, parts of NY and even PA. We've done a fair amount of work for both residential and commercial real estate, both exteriors and interiors.
While we like the idea of steady leads and a (somewhat) guaranteed rate, we're not keen on getting involved with a haphazard service that causes more problems than it solves.
That said, if any of you in the NJ/NY/PA tri-state area are experiencing issues, please feel free to contact us for a quote. Our contact information is listed below. You can view our work at both our website and our Instagram page (also listed below).
We sincerely wish all of you the best and hope your problems are resolved.
Frank & Rose, Photographers
Website: UrbanViewPhoto.com
Instagram: @urbanviewphoto
Email: urbanviewphoto@gmail.com
Francesco
Francesco in Naples, Italy
Level 8
11-07-2018 02:39 PM
Same problem here. I'm very frustated.
Jocelyn
Jocelyn in Seattle, WA
Level 2
11-10-2018 01:07 PM
I received my Plus photo shoot pics back a few weeks ago and echo our disappointment! My husband and I have not responded to “the next step” notification from the Plus team as we were honestly shocked by the mediocre photography. Overexposed and ill framed pictures... as example our outdoor balcony photo prominently caught the next door home mid roof repair with workmen in the frame and blue tarps.
The existing balcony photo not only shows two chairs with glasses of wine on our table...but panaramic views. Why would the Plus department think their photographer captured our home? We looked at other Plus homes being introduced new to Seattle and most look like Pinterest pages.
Not so with our shoot.
So with the additional loss of control with written description...we are surely having second thoughts on moving forward.
Anna
Anna
Level 1
50m ago
The photos taken of our villa were so bad we couldn't put it live. Now it seems airbnb have hideen our listing in a way to force us to ho live. We used to be booked out now we are empty for 3 months. Never join this program. You can't contact airbnb. They won't reply to anything we have asked.
6 Replies
1 2 3
Keith
Keith in Scottsdale, AZ
Level 2
10-27-2018 08:26 AM
I wanted to post a little of my experience with the Plus program. I’ve been a Superhost for a while and we take a lot of pride in the unique home and guest services that we offer.
When I was first introduced to the Plus program I thought it was a very good idea and I was interested in it. The more I looked into it and the more time that I’ve invested in it I can tell you that I feel that I’ve wasted a lot of my valuable time and resources. The program does not seem ready for prime time and the implementation of it is lacking, in my professional opinion. It’s easy to get pulled into this program, especially if you are a host who really cares about offering a top notch listing, but then you realize later that the program runs contrary to your goal of being a great host. If your goal is, like mine is, to have a top listing with good photography and great descriptions and excellent reviews, you might want to look elsewhere.
To be a great host you need to really think about what makes your particular listing unique and special and market it accordingly. The Plus program, on the other hand, is simply a forms-driven website and interface that is more focused on trying to shoehorn your listing into a format that likely won’t represent your special property in the manner that you feel comfortable with. So much of the inner workings of Airbnb is forms-driven to the point that the organization looses perspective of what makes good common sense. I’ve seen thus over and a very in my communications with Airbnb.
The Plus program really needs to be thought through better and needs a lot more flexibility. Just read many of the complaints that other experienced Superhosts have been providing here. I wished I would have studied the community forum posts before getting involved with this program.
I could think of a number of ways that this program could be improved:
+ the experience of working with the Airbnb assigned photographer really needs a considerable makeover. Much more flexibility is needed here to ensure that the host gets a good set of photos that he/she can really use. Most hosts just need a little help with their photos. What they don’t need is someone to come in and take over and produce a set of photos that don’t authentically represen their property. This certainly happened in our case. It’s not just an issue of are the photos simply good or bad. The real issue is that to do marketing properly you need photos that tell your authentic story of your property and listing, and not a “fairytale” version.
+ Airbnb needs a much better communication system to explain how the program works and what is really involved in the review/setup process. We had a number of surprises along the way as we went through the process, most of them not at all positive. The process takes a lot longer than mist people think, it takes up much more if your hosting time, and it is desruptive,but not in a good way. If you do decide to go forward with this program, do expect to invest more time and resources than you might at first think.
+ Airbnb needs to be careful about how it markets this program. It is marketed to hosts and guests as a “premium” product/service but in actuality it is more of a search engine and listing format that strips the flexibility from a standard listing. What makes Airbnb work well for many good hosts (over other competitive listing services) is the flexibility and uniqueness of their listings. The Plus program, in the way that it is implemented, turns the clock back and makes a listing less flexible.
+accuracy. We found that going through the process of having new photos taken and new formats made avaialable for our text descriptions shoehorned our property into a format that made the listing less accurate and far less authentic. For example, our property is a unique art-filled, stand-alone guesthouse and the listing conversion to the Plus program almost made the listing look like a room in a house—not at all what we are offering.
+ impact on reviews. We realized that if we went ahead with the conversion to the Plus format and listing that the quality of our marketing and accuracy of our listing would deteriorate and likely our future guests would not be happy and we would get some negative reviews. As a guest I would not be happy. This runs contrary to the type of tools and resources that Airbnb needs to be providing to us as hosts.
+ does the program really increase bookings? At the end if the day, this is the question we all have. Airbnb likes to market the program as a revenue enhancer but I really wonder about this. Just commonsense business experience after a lifetime of running very successful high tech businesses tells me that if the quality and accuracy of my listing deteriorates, that I’m going to loose business over time. Also the quality of my reviews will go down. My customers will simply have expectations that can’t be met due to the misleading format of the Plus program.
I also believe that Airbnb puts out statistics that can be very misleading. The statistics show that Plus listings achieve x% higher bookings. I’m sure however they are comparing this to the bookings of all lustings overall, many of them just average or may be poor listings. Now if you compared the actual bookings of reformatted Plus listings to thise offered by good performing Superhosts (who through their experience have learned how to make good listings), I bet the stats would look quite different. Don’t be mislead into making a decision by misleading data.
In summary, I would give the idea of the Plus program 4 or 5 stars. I would give the implementation of the program 2 stars.
I do believe that Airbnb needs to involve more experienced hosts in this process of trying to create a program like this, instead of simply relying on the expertise of a set of software engineers. All of the clever programming hacks and latest AI algorithms simply wont get the job done. Trust me, I have a lifetime of experience at this game.
i hope these notes help other hard working Superhosts take a more informed crit al look at these programs.
Julia
Julia in Wootton, United Kingdom
Level 2
10-30-2018 09:54 AM
I genuinely think what they are doing could be classed as criminal. I had the viewing and photographs WEEKS ago, I have written to help and get fobbed off constantly - the team are very busy etc. Well employ more staff then to look after your business in a proper, responsible manner! Airbnb have taken my money and given me NOTHING. I have seen no photos, no change to my listing, no communication - NOTHING. And then when it is live, and I had no idea as they don't tell you, they will control my listing which I hate the idea of, as we spend a lot of time crafting it, and tried different things to increase bookings - with success. I don't want to lose all that hard work - why should I? And they say we are not ever going to get a refund - why not? They have not delivered, I do not want the product now I understand what it will mean and they therefore missold as well as failed to deliver. Totally unacceptable from a huge company with huge profits - it does not need to be this way. If you are thinking of paying to join Airbnb Plus - DO NOT DO IT.
Dan
Dan in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Level 2
10-31-2018 03:35 AM
This is crazy. I have my plus inspection scheduled for Friday and after reading all these comments, im seriously thinking about cancelling it. Also, when i was invited to join, it didnt mention the $150 fee anywhere. I was also sold on the idea of a dedicated helpline with faster support yet everyone here says there is less support?!?!
Surely, if there is a high number of superhosts complaining about this it will have to be fixed or dropped completely right? Air Bnb is meant to be about community, this looks like a piss poor attempt to take it more corporate and less personal. They are framing it as a premium product but clearly havnt made the planning or investment required to deliver a premium service.
AIR BNB - ARE YOU LISTENING???
Leonie
Leonie in Bondi Beach, Australia
Level 2
11-08-2018 03:40 PM
DON'T do it!... the whole process takes WEEKS if not months... photographs are TERRIBLE ... and your listing will lose all of its unqiness and charm! TRUST me
Debbie
Debbie in Phuket, Thailand
Level 2
11-04-2018 12:02 AM
I was invited to join and appointment booked for 22nd November, no mention of a fee or new photos being taken. After reading the various threads on this I asked for clarification and have been informed that I would have no control over the photos but would have control of the description and rates. I decided to cancel as we are continually improving the villa so updates to photos are necessary and I do not see how a 2 hour photo shoot can cover 15 indoor and outdoor spaces nor would there be any night time shots.
Waiting to see if I will be charged for cancelling the appointment.
Adam & Ike,
Adam & Ike, in Austin, TX
Level 9
Friday
In case it hasn't been discussed yet, AirBnb is now inviting hosts to join the Plus program for FREE.
We had applied to be a part of the program earlier this year when it first caem out, but were told that our place basically wasn't good enough, even without an inspection. Fine, no sweat off our backs. And not sure if this new promotion would just be for people who applied before and didn't make the cut.
We just got an email the other day saying that our place looks great in the photos... Mmmhmm. Weird, since that's what they must have based their 'no' on earlier this year... They are saying that we can join at no cost. Here's a screenshot of part of the email:
Screenshot 2018-12-14 at 4.50.43 PM.png
Based on people's reactions to the program, I don't see any way that we would do this, but figured it might be good for other Plus hosts on here to be aware of this new promotion they are running.
I can't believe that they control pricing!!! That is absolutely insane. (Unless I read that wrong in other comments.)
Adam & Ike,
Adam & Ike, in Austin, TX
Level 9
Friday
As a side note/question... for hosts who are currently a part of the Plus program...
Putting all the frustrations aside, have your bookings and revenue increased or decreased?
community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/AIRBNB-PLUS-bad-program/m-p/815072#M196297
And another:
community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/Airbnb-Plus-Dont-Do-It/td-p/900950
And another:
community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/Airbnb-Plus-Program-Nightmare/m-p/820563#M197857
And another:
airhostsforum.com/t/cancelled-our-plus-status/27041/26
And another:
community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/AIRBNBPLUS/m-p/861804#M211727
And another:
community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/Airbnb-Plus-disaster/m-p/929067#M231418
Letti in Atascosa, TX
Level 10
3 weeks ago
I have been following the Plus situation closely since it started. It's a miserable failure. More host are opting out than in. They control everything from description to amenities to photos and price. It's not working for any hosts I know of. AirBnB is going to learn this lesson sooner rather than later the whole program is worthless to both them and the hosts that agree to join in.
Gillian in Seattle, WA
Level 2
Wednesday
Waste of time and money. I am angry. They did not tell me they would be deleting all my photos and that I would lose control of my photos. They changed my well though out written description, which I changed back, which they then changed again, so I changed it back again! The new photographs are a total disappointment, and I cannot add any of my own or re-order them, or change the cover photo. I also cannot reach anyone from the Plus team directly.
It's as if they hired some interior designers to control your site. Now I have a cover photo that consists of the back of the dining room chair and my neighbor's roof instead of the cathedral ceilings and views of the lake. And apparently a close up of a throw pillow on the couch is their idea of a great photo. We have lake views from the bedroom, but the photographer took a photo of the bedroom window with our neighbor's house instead of the one with the views.
I also tried to get my money back. Haha.
I'm amazed that any host would basically allow Airbnb to have control over their own property to this extent. You've got to be kidding.
AIRBNB PLUS bad program
France
France in Montreal, Canada
Level 1
09-12-2018 03:25 PM
I have experiment to put my apartment on AIRBNB PLUS. I have begin this process beginning of may and we are now end of September and the announce is not in line.
All the process has been terrible difficult, very long, no support, impossible to join person who working for airbnb plus, even for the personnel who answer you at the phone. They apologize but answer you " we can not reach the airbnb plus team because they are too busy ". They were not ready to put this program on line, they did'nt have enough worker and I have loose my time because of that.
Thit program control all your information. You can not choice the picture who will represent your apartment in the new site. They control all your proposition with out letting you having a personal way to welcome your guest or present your apartment. If you don't do it as they request you can not go further in the process. If you are unhappy as I am, no way to be refund.
When you have problem to complete there request, there is nobody to help you, no explanation and no tutorial.
If you thinking about join that program, don't do it. You will loose your patience, your time and your money and you will loose the possibility of changing your site as you want. Every thing will be control by AIRBNB PLUS.
Tell me why having a personal apartment to rent if airbnb take all the control of your presentation and force you to accept all further reservation? and that for 180$.
For myself I have 4 apartement on listing and I will never join AIRBNB PLUS for the 3 other one I have.
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36 Replies
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Inna
Inna in Chicago, IL
Level 10
09-12-2018 04:18 PM
@france thank you for taking the time to report to us! Hopefully at the end of the long road you will see better bookings. I did read some article about the program being non sustainable. Hosts go through the rigorous process initially , however Airbnb does not check in later so if the property deteriorates, there is no way for Airbnb to know and the guest experience becomes just the same Is any place on the platform.
Letti
Letti in Atascosa, TX
Level 10
09-12-2018 04:26 PM
@france I have been following the Plus situation closely since it started. It's a miserable failure. More host are opting out than in. They control everything from description to amenities to photos and price. It's not working for any hosts I know of. AirBnB is going to learn this lesson sooner rather than later the whole program is worthless to both them and the hosts that agree to join in.
Pete
Pete in Seattle, WA
Level 10
09-12-2018 06:59 PM
The biggest problem given the new longer review process and change to 4.8avg for superhost is the ever present danger of falling out of the plus prg again after going to so much trouble to get in.
The user experience for plus is also somewhat overwhelming with multiple pictures from every angle and is so different from the rest of Airbnb that it feels dislocated.
Robin
Robin in Mount Barker, Australia
Level 10
09-12-2018 07:30 PM
@france
You may wish to re-consider your desire to join the 'Plus' program!
1/. Any program in it's infancy is going to experience issue that may not have been thought out well to start with. As @letti says, we are aware a number of hosts have found the Plus program is not living up to their expectations and are leaving to retreat back to Airbnb's traditional hosting program.
2/. @pete has made a very valid observation. Guest who use the Plus program are going to have higher expectations....they are going to expect something a bit better and are going to be considerably harder to please and this will be reflected in the review process thereby causing the host to lose the ability to remain in the program, or even remain as 'Superhost'!
I was originally offered the opportunity to be in the 'Select' program as it was called when it was trialled a couple of years ago, but I declined because I could see it was going to make my hosting much more difficult because of the raised expectations of guests the program would attract.
@france do what you do well, and the good reviews you get will (in bookings) more than make up for any additional exposure you may eventually get through the Plus program.
Cheers.....Rob
Fred
Fred in Placencia, Belize
Level 10
09-12-2018 10:44 PM
@france Airbnb Plus is one of those 'wild' ideas Airbnb comes up with every so often just to keep things 'interesting' and 'exciting' at their end.
Undoubtedly, they visited this forum after stubbornly implementing it and they surely must have gotten depressed after we pick it apart and reading our dire predictions. Party poopers that we are.
Oftentimes there is a 2nd phase with these ideas, they very quietly axe the promising 'brilliant' program, and probably beat up the 'fool' who championed the not-so-bright crazy experiment.
P.S. My opinion when it came out was:
1- It made many of their existing hosts feeling 'left out'.
2. It stepped on the Superhost program somewhat, at a time they didn't what to do with that program.
3. The price range was too broad, duplicated most economic market levels.
4. It was too image oriented, lacking substance, fundamentals.
5. It had incredibly high-maintenance written all over it on the part of Airbnb (and host).
Wendy
Wendy
Level 7
09-13-2018 03:37 AM
I am also following all the comments on Airbnb Plus closely. Originally all 3 of my listings were offered the opportunity (maybe because it was early in the program and I was superhost?) so i selected the largest one to try. At one stage i received an email stating the listing was not up to the standard required for Airbnb Plus - no detail. My listings are in the suburbs, not the city, and my guests are typically budget conscious. There has been a lot more airbnb listings in my area of late and prices are dropping because of this. My property is a renovated old character home and not at all like others i see on Airbnb Plus or even Airbnb so i believe it would not offer me any advantage to upgrade further and i like the Aussie home character over a magazine style (my guests say they do too). So if i have to pay to 'upgrade' and lose all control on the text in my listing, i am even more reluctant. If i go into edit i can see that it is labelled 'airbnb under review' and there is a button allowing me to leave the program but so far i am just reading all the comments here.
Ps i have just had two 4 ratings (yes from very happy but confused guests) and expect to lose my superhost status this quarter and will be interested to see if the Airbnb Plus invitation is withdrawn.
Peter
Peter in Fitzroy North, Australia
Level 2
09-14-2018 10:58 PM
I have had similar problems with 2 listings for which I paid A$200 each to join AirBnB Plus.
It all started badly with both inspections and photo shoots. The inspections were only 50% completed at both apartments (both photographers said they hated inspections) so I had to spend hours going backward & forward to AirBnB with photos to show that I had knives, detergent, the apartment was clean etc etc. Eventually the photos came back for Apartment 1 .... a total disaster .... the quality was very poor so I ask AirBnB for another shoot. I'm told NO so I suggest we use the original professional photography from a couple of years ago and again I'm told NO. I'm then told I can't add any photos showing the local area, local sights etc..... in fact I'm tod I can't add any photos.
Things get worse when I'm told I can't continue to use the existing property names ..... we have 3 very successful properties with +90% occupancy rates , get lots of referral/returning guests and have property titles which highlight the hip area and what is unique about the inner city apartments .... we'd be crazy to make a change.
Moving on, AirBnB tells me I need a second photo shoot for Apartment 2 (I didn't request it) as I'd implemented their requested changes ..... all good. Anyway, 3 weeks later the images are made available for Apartment2 .... but the are from the 1st photo shoot!!!!!
This is all very frustrating. I have repeatedly asked AirBnB to address the issues above or refund me ..... I'm sure you can guess the response. Anyway, I support the AirBnB Plus concept but from my experiences I wish I hadn't expressed interest ..... for my folly I have lost A$400 and wasted a lot of time.
Dan
Dan in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Level 2
10-31-2018 03:22 AM
Hi Peter, DId you get any resolution from Air Bnb on these issues? Ive got my Air BnB plus inspection booked for this Friday. Im in similar situation with 90% + occupancy and id hate if they change the photos, title and description to something less attractive or original. Reading some of these comments is making me reconsider...
Rebecca
Rebecca in Florence, OR
Level 10
09-15-2018 01:10 AM
It's really a shame. Airbnb could have simply focused on Super Hosts who were performing at the highest levels and made a 'Plus'-type tier without all of the fuss and expense rather easily, while still allowing these super hosts to control their own properties, since it's the host that knows how to best feature their property and offer their guests the best possible experience. But I guess that sort of practical approach wasn't exciting enough for the think tank at Corporate.
Cor
Cor in Langerak, Netherlands
Level 10
09-15-2018 03:56 AM
Hi All,
We’ve been following the discussions around Airbnb Plus with great interest too.
When it was first announced back in February, our first thoughts were: We have to be on this too!
But now: 7 months later, We’re certainly not that sure anymore.
We expect, the introduction of the program in ‘our’ area, to be announced any day now.
There used to be a button in your listing, and when you pressed it. It would come up with the message: The program is not yet available in your area.
Nowadays, you seem to have to request an invitation to be on the program. And when you press that button. It’ll tell you, the Plus team is too busy to on-board new requests.
From what we have witnessed this far:
Airbnb had a very slow start (the original number of Plus listings actually went down from about 2,000 to some 1,600 – in Spring 2018).
The number of Airbnb Plus listings do seem to start growing steadily now, Including in cities/areas, which were supposed to be in the second or even the third ‘batch’.
On-boarding the program seems to take at least some 3-4 months (from request to join to publication of a Plus-listing. Or could take even longer).
Hardly any text left in the listings itself (Is Airbnb recognizing the fact of guests not to read anything?).
Some photos are quite small.
Various hosts did mention, they no longer had any (or hardly any) control on their pictures and/or listing, after joining the program.
And especially Letti (can't tag here) mentioning, Airbnb will also control your price. That’s an absolute no-go area for us (Please also bear in mind, Brian C. mentioning a typical Plus listing would cost less than $ 250 a night. And we all know what it means, when Airbnb is mentioning certain thresholds :-( ).
The program seems to have been welcomed with mixed feelings. As we’ve seen comments here where only a few hosts were happy to be on the program. But quite a large number of hosts, want to either opt out or at least had negative feelings on the program (such as @france). Obviously the program is still somewhat in an infant state.
The Plus team seems to be overwhelmed with requests and does not seem to be very well organized. As in: On-boarding and follow-up certainly does not seem to be a smooth process.
We’ve even seen comments, where it was mentioned: The project to have been restarted some months ago.
Financial impact: What value is in there doubling your page views, and cutting down your bookings (that’s been witnessed too)?
For now, we will most likely wait to join the program, when it comes to ‘our’ area.
And we will keep a very close eye on what our competition does (the problem of course: Throughput time). I.e.: For quite some time, nothing will seem to happen. And then all of a sudden and in a couple of weeks’ time. You will see them popping up, all around you.
It’s funny to notice that potential guests would value a listing higher, when having been ‘verified’ by an external photographer. Whom did not even sleep there, to begin with. Just walking around with the camera and the 100-bullet list of Airbnb. Obviously most guests won’t know this. And will tend to think that Airbnb management has stayed at the place and carried out the inspection themselves.
But maybe guests just want to be fooled, by marketing :-)
Cor
Cor in Langerak, Netherlands
Level 10
10-17-2018 09:29 AM
Well, the first Plus-listing has popped-up this week in ‘our’ town.
The host is a competitor of ours, and they opened this listing only pretty recently (as a regular listing).
A nice studio, but at outrageous prices!
But nevertheless acquired quite a number of reviews in a relative short period of time.
So I will just sit back and watch, how they move on with this listing :-)
Fred
Fred in Placencia, Belize
Level 10
09-17-2018 09:25 PM
"Brian C. mentioning a typical Plus listing would cost less than $ 250 a night".
That is interesting, so they are somewhat 'pricey' listings, but in Airbnb's vision? I wonder who they are targeting - business people?
Gillian
Gillian in Seattle, WA
Level 2
10-03-2018 04:47 PM
Waste of time and money. I am angry. They did not tell me they would be deleting all my photos and that I would lose control of my photos. They changed my well though out written description, which I changed back, which they then changed again, so I changed it back again! The new photographs are a total disappointment, and I cannot add any of my own or re-order them, or change the cover photo. I also cannot reach anyone from the Plus team directly.
It's as if they hired some interior designers to control your site. Now I have a cover photo that consists of the back of the dining room chair and my neighbor's roof instead of the cathedral ceilings and views of the lake. And apparently a close up of a throw pillow on the couch is their idea of a great photo. We have lake views from the bedroom, but the photographer took a photo of the bedroom window with our neighbor's house instead of the one with the views.
I also tried to get my money back. Haha.
Letti
Letti in Atascosa, TX
Level 10
10-03-2018 05:01 PM
gillian Join the growing list the have discovered the Plus program is just not working for them. They control all descriptions and photos. A 2-3 sentence description will have guests constantly sending inquiries to get answers, so more of your time is spent responding to them. The majority of Plus hosts are saying they get lots of views, but no bookings.
3 Replies
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David
David in Kirkland, WA
Level 2
09-26-2018 04:00 PM
I can add to this discussion with similar experience. I have a 1 bedroom guest home that has been booked solid for 6 months. Its new, with great views and very nice design. Finally got the Airbnb plus credentials but the photos are just ok. My main issue is our primary feature - 180 degree view of lake and mountains, was completely ignored. I specifically told photographer this was our top selling item. They did not add one photo of the view. I have reached out to airbnb plus 3 times, with no response. You can't add photos, so your at the mercy of someone at airbnb opinion of your best features.
Sara
Sara
Level 1
Monday
How do you even reach out to Airbnb plus?
Shelley
Shelley in Seattle, WA
Level 2
09-30-2018 06:54 AM
I’m also very frustrated with our newly “plussed” listing. Our listing has been booked solidly since we listed it last December. I haven’t seen any more booking activity than before the plus designation and I’ve actually lost at least one booking because the photos don’t show enough information, and I can’t add photos or information.
The Airbnb plus photographer/inspector hung out for 4 hours in our 450 square foot suite, but he barely photographed anything. There are 8 photos of the bedroom, and not one of the sofa bed or exterior.
Even more frustrating, the written description no longer shows up in the listing. That means there’s no way to tell people about the sleeping arrangements (3 beds) aside from photos, which only show 1 bed. I’ve lost a booking already because of this. They had to ask about the beds, and ended up booking another listing that showed the beds by the time I responded 15 minutes later.
I’m really regretting my decision to go with Airbnb plus. If Airbnb will make it impossible for me to show what’s offered, then I’ll be going back to the regular listing. What a waste of $150 and my time.
Romanos
Romanos in Athens, Greece
Level 1
10-17-2018 11:32 PM
Hi Shelley,
My listing is in Athens, Greece, a wonderful apartment contained within a historical building in the center of the city. Our capacity is really high but they have chosen us to enter the Airbnb Plus category. After six months of waiting, they have finally sent us yesterday the pictures which are not good, totally overexposed etc. Are you aware if and how can I return to the normal Airbnb if I'm not satisfied with the performance of my house on AIRBNB pLUS?
Thank you!
Marietta
Susan
Susan in Dublin, Ireland
Level 10
10-18-2018 01:13 AM
Interesting article...
www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-you-should-think-twice-before-signing-up-airbnb-plus-lansdale
Frank
Frank in Englishtown, NJ
Level 2
10-26-2018 08:37 AM
Hello All,
We are very sorry to hear of all your problems. My wife and I are considering joining AirBNB Plus as freelance photographers, but from what we're reading, it seems we'd be better off just doing what we currently do.
We are based in Central New Jersey and cover an area roughly 60-70 square miles from our central location. That includes NJ, parts of NY and even PA. We've done a fair amount of work for both residential and commercial real estate, both exteriors and interiors.
While we like the idea of steady leads and a (somewhat) guaranteed rate, we're not keen on getting involved with a haphazard service that causes more problems than it solves.
That said, if any of you in the NJ/NY/PA tri-state area are experiencing issues, please feel free to contact us for a quote. Our contact information is listed below. You can view our work at both our website and our Instagram page (also listed below).
We sincerely wish all of you the best and hope your problems are resolved.
Frank & Rose, Photographers
Website: UrbanViewPhoto.com
Instagram: @urbanviewphoto
Email: urbanviewphoto@gmail.com
Francesco
Francesco in Naples, Italy
Level 8
11-07-2018 02:39 PM
Same problem here. I'm very frustated.
Jocelyn
Jocelyn in Seattle, WA
Level 2
11-10-2018 01:07 PM
I received my Plus photo shoot pics back a few weeks ago and echo our disappointment! My husband and I have not responded to “the next step” notification from the Plus team as we were honestly shocked by the mediocre photography. Overexposed and ill framed pictures... as example our outdoor balcony photo prominently caught the next door home mid roof repair with workmen in the frame and blue tarps.
The existing balcony photo not only shows two chairs with glasses of wine on our table...but panaramic views. Why would the Plus department think their photographer captured our home? We looked at other Plus homes being introduced new to Seattle and most look like Pinterest pages.
Not so with our shoot.
So with the additional loss of control with written description...we are surely having second thoughts on moving forward.
Anna
Anna
Level 1
50m ago
The photos taken of our villa were so bad we couldn't put it live. Now it seems airbnb have hideen our listing in a way to force us to ho live. We used to be booked out now we are empty for 3 months. Never join this program. You can't contact airbnb. They won't reply to anything we have asked.
6 Replies
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Keith
Keith in Scottsdale, AZ
Level 2
10-27-2018 08:26 AM
I wanted to post a little of my experience with the Plus program. I’ve been a Superhost for a while and we take a lot of pride in the unique home and guest services that we offer.
When I was first introduced to the Plus program I thought it was a very good idea and I was interested in it. The more I looked into it and the more time that I’ve invested in it I can tell you that I feel that I’ve wasted a lot of my valuable time and resources. The program does not seem ready for prime time and the implementation of it is lacking, in my professional opinion. It’s easy to get pulled into this program, especially if you are a host who really cares about offering a top notch listing, but then you realize later that the program runs contrary to your goal of being a great host. If your goal is, like mine is, to have a top listing with good photography and great descriptions and excellent reviews, you might want to look elsewhere.
To be a great host you need to really think about what makes your particular listing unique and special and market it accordingly. The Plus program, on the other hand, is simply a forms-driven website and interface that is more focused on trying to shoehorn your listing into a format that likely won’t represent your special property in the manner that you feel comfortable with. So much of the inner workings of Airbnb is forms-driven to the point that the organization looses perspective of what makes good common sense. I’ve seen thus over and a very in my communications with Airbnb.
The Plus program really needs to be thought through better and needs a lot more flexibility. Just read many of the complaints that other experienced Superhosts have been providing here. I wished I would have studied the community forum posts before getting involved with this program.
I could think of a number of ways that this program could be improved:
+ the experience of working with the Airbnb assigned photographer really needs a considerable makeover. Much more flexibility is needed here to ensure that the host gets a good set of photos that he/she can really use. Most hosts just need a little help with their photos. What they don’t need is someone to come in and take over and produce a set of photos that don’t authentically represen their property. This certainly happened in our case. It’s not just an issue of are the photos simply good or bad. The real issue is that to do marketing properly you need photos that tell your authentic story of your property and listing, and not a “fairytale” version.
+ Airbnb needs a much better communication system to explain how the program works and what is really involved in the review/setup process. We had a number of surprises along the way as we went through the process, most of them not at all positive. The process takes a lot longer than mist people think, it takes up much more if your hosting time, and it is desruptive,but not in a good way. If you do decide to go forward with this program, do expect to invest more time and resources than you might at first think.
+ Airbnb needs to be careful about how it markets this program. It is marketed to hosts and guests as a “premium” product/service but in actuality it is more of a search engine and listing format that strips the flexibility from a standard listing. What makes Airbnb work well for many good hosts (over other competitive listing services) is the flexibility and uniqueness of their listings. The Plus program, in the way that it is implemented, turns the clock back and makes a listing less flexible.
+accuracy. We found that going through the process of having new photos taken and new formats made avaialable for our text descriptions shoehorned our property into a format that made the listing less accurate and far less authentic. For example, our property is a unique art-filled, stand-alone guesthouse and the listing conversion to the Plus program almost made the listing look like a room in a house—not at all what we are offering.
+ impact on reviews. We realized that if we went ahead with the conversion to the Plus format and listing that the quality of our marketing and accuracy of our listing would deteriorate and likely our future guests would not be happy and we would get some negative reviews. As a guest I would not be happy. This runs contrary to the type of tools and resources that Airbnb needs to be providing to us as hosts.
+ does the program really increase bookings? At the end if the day, this is the question we all have. Airbnb likes to market the program as a revenue enhancer but I really wonder about this. Just commonsense business experience after a lifetime of running very successful high tech businesses tells me that if the quality and accuracy of my listing deteriorates, that I’m going to loose business over time. Also the quality of my reviews will go down. My customers will simply have expectations that can’t be met due to the misleading format of the Plus program.
I also believe that Airbnb puts out statistics that can be very misleading. The statistics show that Plus listings achieve x% higher bookings. I’m sure however they are comparing this to the bookings of all lustings overall, many of them just average or may be poor listings. Now if you compared the actual bookings of reformatted Plus listings to thise offered by good performing Superhosts (who through their experience have learned how to make good listings), I bet the stats would look quite different. Don’t be mislead into making a decision by misleading data.
In summary, I would give the idea of the Plus program 4 or 5 stars. I would give the implementation of the program 2 stars.
I do believe that Airbnb needs to involve more experienced hosts in this process of trying to create a program like this, instead of simply relying on the expertise of a set of software engineers. All of the clever programming hacks and latest AI algorithms simply wont get the job done. Trust me, I have a lifetime of experience at this game.
i hope these notes help other hard working Superhosts take a more informed crit al look at these programs.
Julia
Julia in Wootton, United Kingdom
Level 2
10-30-2018 09:54 AM
I genuinely think what they are doing could be classed as criminal. I had the viewing and photographs WEEKS ago, I have written to help and get fobbed off constantly - the team are very busy etc. Well employ more staff then to look after your business in a proper, responsible manner! Airbnb have taken my money and given me NOTHING. I have seen no photos, no change to my listing, no communication - NOTHING. And then when it is live, and I had no idea as they don't tell you, they will control my listing which I hate the idea of, as we spend a lot of time crafting it, and tried different things to increase bookings - with success. I don't want to lose all that hard work - why should I? And they say we are not ever going to get a refund - why not? They have not delivered, I do not want the product now I understand what it will mean and they therefore missold as well as failed to deliver. Totally unacceptable from a huge company with huge profits - it does not need to be this way. If you are thinking of paying to join Airbnb Plus - DO NOT DO IT.
Dan
Dan in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Level 2
10-31-2018 03:35 AM
This is crazy. I have my plus inspection scheduled for Friday and after reading all these comments, im seriously thinking about cancelling it. Also, when i was invited to join, it didnt mention the $150 fee anywhere. I was also sold on the idea of a dedicated helpline with faster support yet everyone here says there is less support?!?!
Surely, if there is a high number of superhosts complaining about this it will have to be fixed or dropped completely right? Air Bnb is meant to be about community, this looks like a piss poor attempt to take it more corporate and less personal. They are framing it as a premium product but clearly havnt made the planning or investment required to deliver a premium service.
AIR BNB - ARE YOU LISTENING???
Leonie
Leonie in Bondi Beach, Australia
Level 2
11-08-2018 03:40 PM
DON'T do it!... the whole process takes WEEKS if not months... photographs are TERRIBLE ... and your listing will lose all of its unqiness and charm! TRUST me
Debbie
Debbie in Phuket, Thailand
Level 2
11-04-2018 12:02 AM
I was invited to join and appointment booked for 22nd November, no mention of a fee or new photos being taken. After reading the various threads on this I asked for clarification and have been informed that I would have no control over the photos but would have control of the description and rates. I decided to cancel as we are continually improving the villa so updates to photos are necessary and I do not see how a 2 hour photo shoot can cover 15 indoor and outdoor spaces nor would there be any night time shots.
Waiting to see if I will be charged for cancelling the appointment.
Adam & Ike,
Adam & Ike, in Austin, TX
Level 9
Friday
In case it hasn't been discussed yet, AirBnb is now inviting hosts to join the Plus program for FREE.
We had applied to be a part of the program earlier this year when it first caem out, but were told that our place basically wasn't good enough, even without an inspection. Fine, no sweat off our backs. And not sure if this new promotion would just be for people who applied before and didn't make the cut.
We just got an email the other day saying that our place looks great in the photos... Mmmhmm. Weird, since that's what they must have based their 'no' on earlier this year... They are saying that we can join at no cost. Here's a screenshot of part of the email:
Screenshot 2018-12-14 at 4.50.43 PM.png
Based on people's reactions to the program, I don't see any way that we would do this, but figured it might be good for other Plus hosts on here to be aware of this new promotion they are running.
I can't believe that they control pricing!!! That is absolutely insane. (Unless I read that wrong in other comments.)
Adam & Ike,
Adam & Ike, in Austin, TX
Level 9
Friday
As a side note/question... for hosts who are currently a part of the Plus program...
Putting all the frustrations aside, have your bookings and revenue increased or decreased?
I only have guests from Airbnb so I don't know any different.
