Brian, Joe, Nate...
"We did not want Airbnb guests making the decision to put themselves in unsafe situations and creating a public health hazard because of a commitment to their bookings"
Well it's a worldwide pandemic, so if that's how you really feel, surely you'd have cancelled every booking, in every affected market, with immediate effect?
Speaking of which.. why is Airbnb emailing guests who have bookings in regions, even where there have been no reported cases of coronavirus, with stark warnings of "incidents" affecting the area, and offering the guests full refunds to cancel?
Why also is Airbnb actively blocking bookings of entire homes in many cities, whilst simultaneously urging the guests to book an Airbnb-affiliated hotel instead? Surely you're creating much more of a public health hazard by shoehorning lots of unrelated strangers into "boutique" hotels, than would be created if each person/couple/group were accommodated in a stand-alone, self-contained unit?
And you must have forgotten to include the paragraph about the "bold ideas to support our hosts" that you promised us three days ago? Perhaps you're still "working on them", but you could at least have given us a little teaser or two on what exciting initiatives you have in the pipeline to help us out, after you so generously gifted our guests with 100% refunds and left tens (or hundreds) of thousands of your host "partners" with zero income for the foreseeable future.
"We are partners, and we will get through this together"
Hmmm. Well, that's a tad confusing, because your T&Cs explicity state..
"...your relationship with Airbnb is limited to being an independent, third-party contractor and not an employee, agent, joint venturer or a partner of Airbnb for any reason, and you act exclusively on your own behalf and for your own benefit"
So let's get this straight then.. we're your partners when it suits you to use, abuse and rob us blind - but not your pertners when it comes to our rights and autonomy? That's not very community-minded now, is it?
"The desire to connect is in all of us, and we will be together again"
Lol! You guys...!! Are you high? Or just plain deluded? Look around you - everyone's searching for a way to escape your corporation's oppressive, exploitative clutches. Big hosts, small hosts, co-hosts, mega-hosts - all planning to bail. And make no mistake - they'll be out the door just as soon as a better, fairer, more ethical offer comes along. And good luck with trying to replace us - despite the super-generous referral fees you're currently offering to reel in fresh blood - new hosts aren't going to touch your outfit with a bargepole, after your little 100% refund stunt.
And finally...Brian.. if you do ever get to read this yourself (and I really hope you do).. remember our long late-night chat, after the launch party in the Watermarque Building, when I mentioned I'd read that your buddy and mentor Jeff Bezos had told you that your company was going to be massively successful, as long as you didn't f**k it up? And I said to you that if you didn't take care of your hosts, that you'd f**k it up? Well... you f**ked it up. Royally. And you f**ked your loyal, hard-working, committed hosts over along with it.
Our turn now, Bri. What goes around, comes around.