Why honest reviews are important: Ask Georgie
Disruptive innovation and uberisation might be the buzzwords of the moment, but tech firms shouldn’t lost sight of the real people in it all
WHEN pioneering sharing services such as Airbnb, Uber and Snapgoods were launched, they were hailed as democratising the economy, allowing anyone to become ad hoc retailers, hoteliers, taxi drivers, dog sitters, employers or whatever else tickled their fancy, when it suited them.
In this shiny new world order, technology was viewed as the saviour, connecting people to services.
It made sharing assets cheaper and easier, giving people and companies access instead of ownership – which is why Uber and Airbnb quickly grew to become the biggest taxi and accommodation providers in the world – without their owning a single vehicle or property.
Yet for all the feel-good revolutionary hot air of this “sharing economy”, there’s a dark side: companies are unregulated, they hide behind a middleman status and, in cities such as Cape Town, their existence has caused dramatically skewed property prices.
Still, consumers are lapping it up, ditching their cars in favour of “ubering” and booking through Airbnb instead of traditional hotels. ‘Like a local’ Airbnb, where you can “book unique homes and experience a city like a local”, markets itself as “the easiest way for people to monetise their extra space and showcase it to an audience of millions”.
It’s marketed as an attractive option for travellers who don’t want to stay in a traditional hotel or guest house. In fact, why not stay in a villa or castle?
Airbnb receives commission for every booking and if hosts want to offer additional experiences such as food trips, art walks, cruising, surf lessons, climbing the Hollywood Hills with “adorable pups”, or cigar rolling in Cuba, they pay a commission.
It has millions of listings in 191 countries and 65 000 cities – and 200 million guests have used its services to date.
Like millions of others, Patrick Leclezio is a fan of the concept, but a recent trip to Rio made him rethink his support for Airbnb.
He had booked a flat in Rio de Janeiro for three people – occupancy was meant for two, so they were liable for a $25 (R330) surcharge a night. When the third person withdrew from the trip, they told the host – shortly before arriving.
Leclezio says the accommodation was pleasant, but the flat was next to a crèche, which meant no late sleep-ins, something that would peeve most travellers. The host had also offered to give them access to his driver, “free” of any commission, for transits from the airport, but they later discovered the driver had cost 25% more than Uber. Sanitising reviews? Lessons learnt, but when they noted these in their review on the Airbnb site, their review was edited.
“On seeing our review, the host went postal – a reaction, an attack really, that ranged haphazardly over a lengthy international telephone call and then a series of emails, to eventually stalking us on Facebook, slinging mud and spewing lies. (The gist of it) is that he wanted the review removed, which on principle we refused to do,” Leclezio said.
“A month or so later I checked on the review. It was gone. We got in touch with Airbnb, to be told that our review had violated its content policy.
“After tweeting our discontent – it’s a little frightening that it takes public exposure to beg some common courtesy from a place where you’re spending your money – we were (told) it had violated another policy that precluded reviews from mentioning company names (ours mentioned Uber). A recent policy change also meant that reviews could no longer be edited, thereby neatly taking the option off the table for me to make a quick change to remove this offending mention.”
He questioned the point of the review system if Airbnb was “scrubbing” reviews to let hosts off the hook.
“Why would an organisation that (in its own words) considers reviews to be the ‘backbone’ of its community choose to delete one in its entirety, when a basic redaction would have brought it back in line? It should, one would think, be bending over backwards to encourage and enable a preponderance of reviews.”
Leclezio rightly wanted to be refunded his surcharge. For eight nights, he paid $200.
“I may as just as well have been mugged in the backstreets of Rio, with the police stopping just short of cheering for the muggers.”
This too was denied, in a blur of policy talk.
Put into perspective, $200 would buy you a double room in a mid-range hotel; dinner for two in an upmarket restaurant; a jungle trip for two; or two plush tickets to the carnival.
“I was charged for something that I advised upfront I wouldn’t use, that I then didn’t use and that didn’t cost anyone anything.”
I contacted Airbnb about the redaction and surcharge, asking whether they were scrubbing reviews in favour of hosts and why Leclezio was made liable for the surcharge. After all, two guests consume less than three and he had notified them beforehand. Honest reviews Public affairs manager Simon Letouze responded: “Open and honest reviews are core to making Airbnb a trusted travel platform for millions of hosts and guests in 191 countries around the world. Airbnb’s review system allows hosts and guests to leave reviews only after a stay has taken place, adding to the authenticity of each booking.
“Unfortunately, we made the wrong decision to remove the review. We’ve apologised to the guest and worked to make things right.
“The review mentioned ‘Uber’, which would class as a violation of our content policy for reviews where we state we don’t allow advertising or other commercial content, company logos, links, or company names. As a result of an investigation, we have reinstated the review.
“We regret that the decision made by our customer experience team member and we have taken steps to ensure that doesn’t happen again.”
Presumably those steps would entail allowing hosts and guests to revise their reviews. Leclezio has been promised a refund of the surcharge.
For Leclezio’s full version, visit https:// indypat.com/2017/08/25/lies-obfuscation-and-contempt-an-airbnb-story/