AirBnB.com removing sort by price, and now allowing only step-wise price increments

[katewes]

Is anyone else out there totally (*@&$(*%&@# by www.AirBnB.com 's recent design change to remove "sort by price", and then limiting the price increments to step-wise increments?

[wonderspark]

Uh oh... when did this happen? I better log on and check this out.

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Whew.

Nope, I think it's fine. I can slide that range band way down, and find rooms in a very narrow band that works fine for me.

I appreciate you bringing this to my attention, but you had me going for a bit!

[katewes]

@wonderspark, I'm not kidding. See screen shot below. The "sort by price" feature is definitely gone. As for the slider-scale for price, over the last few weeks, it seems to come and go. I suspect AirBnB are experimenting with their code. Sometimes the price-slider is there, sometimes the increment-price is there.

I think, with the increment-slider coming and going, AirBnB might be testing the market to see if there's any outcry. Remember, if people are prevented from finding the cheapest accommodation, AirBnB makes more money since they take a percentage cut, not a fixed fee.

The incremental steps are so great that the AirBnB site now forces the users to scroll through sometimes dozens of pages, because the rents that are in your price range, are now jumbled up randomly with rents in significantly higher price ranges.

[wonderspark]

Oh, wow... no, when I just checked a bit ago, I was able to slide the right side to $50, making a range of $10-$50.

If I can get in that range with that other odd slider set-up, I'll be ok with it, but not nearly as happy as if I have the actual numeric digits to work with. If I see the lame-o dollar signs (or £ or €) then I'll be bothered enough to formally complain to AirBnB.

Thanks for this... I'll keep an eye on it.

[katewes]

Originally Posted by wonderspark

Oh, wow... no, when I just checked a bit ago, I was able to slide the right side to $50, making a range of $10-$50

Something very strange. Using my iMac and MacBook Air, doing an AirBnB search on each within seconds of each other, the iMac's search displays the slider-scale, whereas the MacBook Air shows the increment-bar.

Both using Chrome browser.

Just to confirm, though, this is not a technical error. I complained to AirBnB on their live-chat, and the helpdesk person said the change was due to AirBnB's desire to make it a more level playing field, i.e. AirBnB don't want users just zeroing in on the cheapest rents. AirBnB wants to force you to see the more expensive rents. That was officially from AirBnB.

Here's another AirBnB user who was, in his words, "bummed out" by this change to the AirBnB website.

http://www.quora.com/Airbnb/Who-is-A...st-competition

https://plus.google.com/106075758531...ts/19rcxLEZWbz
https://twitter.com/Charbax/status/269852493192765440

Feeling the same way, I searched Google for -- AirBnB alternative -- and there are competitors to AirBnB.

http://www.quora.com/Airbnb/Who-is-A...st-competition

When a company like AirBnB makes decisions to grab more money, without consideration for its users, with that sort of attitude I like to put a diary note for 5 years time and see if the company has gone down the gurgler.

Here's another website from someone searching for AirBnB alternatives:

http://lifeinasack.net/2011/07/18/ai...n-rabbit-hole/

It makes you wonder why, if AirBnB is to so great, why are there blogs actively searching for AirBnB alternatives.

A massive problem with AirBnB's website is that there is no user-forum, so there is no forum for users to voice dissent.

[katewes]

Here's an online petition against AirBnB

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/b...sort-by-price/

[wonderspark]

That's too bad.

There are plenty of people that specifically look for higher rents, because they feel they get what they pay for. Not only that, but the market dictates what the rents should be, generally speaking. If someone offers $38 a night for a place, and they're booked full every night, then they have a good price in place. If the next door neighbor with the same accommodations and features sets their price at $80 a night, and gets only half as many bookings, they both make the same income, but the expensive place spends half as much time cleaning and prepping for the next guest.

These things work themselves out without AirBnB attempting to force things. I'm still going to seek out and pay what I want to pay, or find the best deal, no matter what they force on me. If they want more money, they can try to charge me more, but like you and others, it just sends people to alternate sources. Oh, well.

[merlinbeard]

Here is a solution http://ow.ly/hzKQs

[katewes]

Originally Posted by merlinbeard

Here is a solution http://ow.ly/hzKQs

I tried it, and it didn't seem to work, however, in the past few weeks -- although the sort by price feature is still missing -- nevertheless, airbnb seems to have gotten rid of that ridiculous indent ruler which forced you to see properties in only three increments. Now, they seem to allow the free-slide ruler that lets you set upper and lower prices. Maybe that's a fair compromise.

[merlinbeard]

Really? Airbnb Sort By Price seems to work perfectly for me! Gets all results nicely sorted, and lets me choose type of accommodation too. Clicking on links on Airbnb breaks the sorting order though, but then you can select the correct page number to jump to from the page and it works like a charm,