Airbnb Responds to Two Major Complaints: Hidden Fees and Chores

Airbnb has determined that fees that are traditionally added at the end of a user's selection will now be displayed at the top of search results.

The decision was made after receiving numerous complaints that rates rose at the end of the booking period. Cleaning and servicing fees will therefore no longer be hidden from the user. Taxes, however, will not arise until payment is made. Additionally, the total will be displayed on the map, filter, and listing pages. The organisation added that they will inform hosts that any requests made by departing guests must be acceptable and communicated to them prior to booking.

Desire for excellence

The abrupt reversal is a result of people' complaints on social media about a laundry list of duties they had to do before checking out. Apparently, several compared the event to being assigned tasks.

“I’ve heard you loud and clear — you feel like prices aren’t transparent and checkout tasks are a pain,” CEO Brian Chesky said on Twitter.

The most important alteration to Airbnb's search-ranking algorithm is the addition of the entire price rather than just the price for a single night. This means that the houses with the highest quality and the lowest total prices will be ranked first if there are comparable properties in the region.

“Highest quality” refers to “a number of factors, including reviews,” spokeswoman Liz DeBold Fusco said.

Today, affordability is essential.

“We started as an affordable alternative to hotels, and affordability is especially important today,” Chesky wrote on Twitter.

“Guests should not have to do unreasonable checkout tasks such as stripping the beds, doing the laundry, or vacuuming when leaving their Airbnb,” the company said in its news release. “But we think it’s reasonable to ask guests to turn off the lights, throw food in the trash, and lock the doors — just like they would when leaving their own home.”

Nevertheless, what the statement didn’t make clear was if those guidelines would be enforced by the hosts. At present, if a request before booking is confusingto a user, Airbnb will work with the host to “address the feedback,” the Airbnb spokeswoman said.

In addition, the company has yet to determine when the new pricing system would be implemented.

The cause of change

The adjustment was precipitated by a Biden administration-wide assault on Airbnb's frequently concealed fees. In September, for instance, the Department of Transportation proposed a new rule mandating that airlines publish certain costs alongside fare and schedule information.

The Federal Trade Commission announced last month that it was soliciting feedback on the harms caused by "junk fees" or "unnecessary, unavoidable, or unexpected charges that raise expenses while delivering little to no value." The goal of the department is to investigate a new rule about the topic.

Airbnb reports that 45 percent of active listings around the world do not include a cleaning fee, and for those that do, the cleaning price amounts for less than 10 percent of the entire cost.

According to Airbnb, countries like as the United Kingdom, Ireland, Switzerland, Australia, Canada, and Korea already compel the firm to display the complete price, including of fees and occupancy taxes.

By fLEXI tEAM