Some hosts are threatening to strike, while others are plotting ways around Airbnb’s new restrictions. Guests, meanwhile, are celebrating.
AIRBNB HOSTS ARE melting down over a new policy banning them from making guests complete tasks that “would typically be performed by a cleaner,” like “stripping the bed, taking trash offsite, or washing and putting away dishes.”
The change, which applies to all bookings made on or after November 20, quickly sparked outrage after it was announced in an email to Airbnb hosts on Wednesday. Many began fuming online about losing the right to make their guests clean up after themselves.
“As hosts, we have a responsibility to protect our investments, our homes, and, in many cases, our personal living spaces,” one person wrote in Airbnb’s official forum for hosts. “The problem is that Airbnb increasingly expects hosts to accept the risks while limiting our ability to protect ourselves.”
That’s literally how that works though, so you likely have a big problem with all work being done. How do you think they pay rent for the shop space or keep the lights on? There is no “this goes to keep the lights on” surcharge. It’s built into the pricing. A business generally cannot charge exactly what their employees make. It’s not even a “capitalists shave money off the top” issue. I literally run my own business and I don’t pay myself what I charge by the hour. Some of that goes into paying for software or hardware or general business overhead (accounting, website fees, etc).
I agree that in general some margin on labor can be expected to recoup capex. But ~70% is just too much, especially for the original example of a “cleaning fee” on top of the “everything else” charge that you already have to pay.
Actually when I still had a car and took it to my favourite shop, the itemized bill included parts, labor, and a “workshop charge” to pay their rent and stuff. Speaking to the mechanics they did actually get all the money in the “labor” item (minus payroll taxes). I liked that approach.
Oh, the Airbnb cleaning fee is a scam for sure. I thought you were taking issue just with the fact the mechanics are not paid the full labor amount. I don’t work with cars so I’m not going to speculate on appropriate overhead or shop/mechanic price split, but I have never personally seen a bill itemized as you describe for basically any of the trades. I’m not saying it doesn’t happen, I’ve just not personally experienced it. Glad to see it working for that shop though.