Experiences removed

[Alexis575]

I just received a message from support saying that 7 of my experiences will be deleted on June 20 because they don't meet the Quality Standards (I upload this on May 17, 2024), but they didn't give me any particular reason or opportunity to improve what doesn't meet the standard.

What is surprising is that 1 of the experiences (Callejoneada with Guanajuato student) has 480 reviews and an average of 4.8 rating stars, while another one of them has 300 reviews and 4.8 stars as well. These are tours that have been online for over 3 years and I have never had any problems.

My other experiences that will be removed have fewer reviews but none are less than 4.6 stars.

Airbnb is practically running me off the platform because I will only have 1 online experience left and as we all know they are not accepting new experiences.

I just don't understand what is going on and I am overwhelmed.

Is there something i can do??

[Mena5]

Hey Alexis,

I am on exactly the same boat. I received a message from support saying that my experience, which has raving reviews, meets all the criteria, is an UNIQUE experience and has been operating successfully over 7 years, will be removed by june 20th because i dont meet the criteria. This is absolutely insane. I meet the criteria above and beyond. My experience focuses on off-the-beaten path places, local and family run businesses and creates meaningful connections between guests and locals. 

My experience (Vegan/Veggie street food adventure CDMX https://www.airbnb.com/experiences/137995) is the best selling vegan/veggie food tour in Mexico on Airbnb. My reviews are mostly 5* and I have a rating of 4.83 with 486 reviews. I provide a valuable service by connecting guests with local businesses and family-run projects. 

This experience is also my livelihood and I depend completely on its success and visibility. Not only me, but many local businesses I work with are highly dependable on the availability and bookings of this tour. I am truly surprised that Airbnb, who likes to call itself a responsible company focusing on empowering local economies would be looking into deleting an experience which is completely based off of responsible tourism and the empowerment of meaningful small businesses through travel.

Same as you, I am overwhelmed and shaking with rage, frustration and disappointment.

However, I cannot help but notice that you are from Mexico, same as me. Is this a targeted attempt against Mexican hosts? What is going on?
I filled the appeal form and I am waiting for a response. I spoke on the phone with support and told me I had to wait.

I am BEYOND furious.

[Alexis575]

Hello Mena, when did you receive the message?

I contacted Airbnb support and they told me that they can't help me because that information is handled by another department (the ones who sent me the removal message), basically they told me that they don't have access to that information so there is nothing to do but fill out the complaint form.

The lady who answered the phone told me that I am not the only one who received this message, but that she cannot help me. So let's hope it's just a stressful mistake....

[Mena5]

Hey Alexis,

I got it today about 1pm México city time.

I also called support and they told me the same thing, that I can only fill the appeal forms (which I did before I contacted support) and wait for an answer. They also told me exactly the same they did to you: they have no access to the information and it is handled by another department. Did you fill out the appeal forms?

I truly believe this is a bug or a mistake because it makes absolute no sense. Hopefully this gets resolved quickly because I am furious and so worried. I am also curious that people affected are from Mexico. I have a plan to fight this in case they give me a negative, but I hope I don't have to resort to that. I mean, they are the ones breaking their terms and conditions.

As you said, hopefully this is only a very stressful mistake.

I'll keep you posted if I receive an answer.

[Bhumika]

Hi @Alexis575 ,

Within the communications you received, you also received a link to appeal this decision. Please complete the appeal process and the Experiences team will review. You have until 5 pm PT on June 16, 2024 to submit your appeal. If your appeal is successful, Airbnb will let you know by June 20, 2024. 

Thanks,
Bhumika

[Mena5]

Hello Bhumika,

I am replying to your message because I am in the same situation as Alexis. The point is not really procedural--- the point is that Airbnb should not be removing our experiences, as they meet each and every single one of the requirements and expectations. This is nonsense. My experience, for example, covers all the "highlights" airbnb so proudly boasts about on their marketing like insider access, creating meaningful connections with guests and offering spots that guests would not be able to find on their own.  Why do i have to stress if I am doing *everything* right? Again: nonsense and insulting!

[Giuseppe1751]

Hello Mena, same issue with me here in Italy. I'm so frustrated and sad, this can't be true. I hope they reconsider this absurd decision.. The operator who I talked with told me to fill the complaint form and wished me good luck hoping they will resolve this problem in the best possible way. 
I guess it's a worldwide problem and not just related to Mexico...

[Mena5]

Hello Giuseppe.

I am beyond angry and frustrated with what is happening. I am so sorry yo hear you are going through the same. Hopefully we get an answer soon. I am thinking of writing to media outlets to make some noise, as this excuse of "your experience does not meet our standards" is a flat out lie. My experience meets all airbnb standards and BEYOND. It is an experience based on empowering local businesses and the local economy. Anyway--- This is really stressing me out.

Much support from Mexico, 

-Mena

[Mena5]

Email me. I think I can help

Tarabmexico@gmail.com 

[Olivier1497]

Hi @Bhumika,

As a community manager working for Airbnb, you do know that these situations are not isolated but are the visible part of a mass removal of Airbnb experiences. You also know that sending the same automatic message  can be viewed as a lack of consideration since there is a major negative impact for the community.

one of the press articles about it:

https://skift.com/2024/05/18/airbnb-ups-its-experience-delistings-amid-strategy-revamp

As community members, i guess we all expect from a community manager to give consistant information when it comes to suppress what many of us do for their living. 

So please, can you tell us the real reason why Airbnb suppressed many experiences without any disrespect to the Airbnb experiences criteria or what are these new standards we're supposed to not match any more?

(the removed experiences we're talking about were running for years with tons of positive reviews)

Thank you for replying with the consistant information we all expect

[Mena5]

Doubt she will reply.

All of these "community managers" seem to be robots who reply with the same script. They don't care about us or the fact that airbnb is lying.

[Bhumika]

Hi @Yeonsu1 @Olivier1497 @Mena5 ,

Thank you again for raising your concerns here. 

I want to clarify that , as Community Managers, we don’t have access to your accounts or cases. We try to provide as much information as we possibly can, but we’re not the Community Support team. We try to deliver personalized responses, however there might be instances when our replies appear similar – this is mainly because as Community Managers we might be trying to tackle the same issue in several conversations.

In this instance, we suggest reaching out to Support. They are best positioned to handle these inquiries and will hopefully give you more information about your case. 

Regarding appealing, Hosts whose Experiences were removed for quality issues or low ratings were provided a link in the initial communications about their removal. 

If you've filled in the appeal request, the form will be reviewed by the Experiences team. However, Hosts who had their experience removed due to a policy violation cannot appeal the decision.

Thanks for your understanding and keeping the conversation constructive. 

[Mena5]

Bhumika,

No. Sorry, but no. You keep placing the blame on US as hosts saying that we got the email about the removal of our experiences because of low rating or quality standards: THIS PREMISE IS WRONG. I fulfill every single requirement imposed by airbnb and my reviews are fantastic. There is absolutely no reason for airbnb to flag my experience. And this applies to many who have replied to this message. Instead of giving us the run around just say you have no idea why they are doing this. It would be more respectful to us, instead of implying we did something to have airbnb remove our experience.

Seriously, the more you reply with generic messages the more insulting you become. My experience goes beyond what airbnb requires. Don't place this inane decision on me. I have not done anything wrong.

[Alexis575]

Hi @Bhumika 

As we said, support did not help us so it is not an option, did you read the thread? It's easier for you to be honest and say that you can't help us at all because you just responded generically again, just like everyone else in support.

Personally, if this is not solved, I will never again make a single reservation or booking on Airbnb, nor will I recommend anyone else to do so, given that there is no user service and you do not care about the welfare of their employees.

Too bad.

Regards.

[Olivier1497]

What we learned here is that Community Managers can't help and Community support will HOPEFULLY give more information. Sometimes no answer is an answer and I am very pessimistic if we don't have a common action.

Airbnb DECIDED to remove some experience because they can do it. They sent an automatic email with elements which obviously do not correspond to the facts to justify their decision. This is definitevely not an appropriate way when the consequences are that some people will be unable to pay their bills in the coming months. I imagine the right thing to do now is ORGANIZE

We all feel that there is a difference between what Airbnb says about the way they care for their community and what we could observe. I believe Airbnb is fair and would reconsider its position if we bring and highlight some facts. And to get more attention and consideration from Airbnb, we could use the press and the social media:

For example, I was thinking that we could make one screenshot of our great experiences and rates, another screenshot of the automatic email from airbnb, and another one of some official Airbnb communication saying that they care for the community, and post this on social media with the appropriate hashtag #airbnb for example at the same moment when we are ready.

Airbnb admitted they removed 5000 experiences, this is enough to make a group on facebook and organize. And here's a way to find and contact the people whose experiences were removed: just list the available experiences before the 21st of june and spot the differences with the available experiences in july for example (I did it for my city Toulouse: 50% where removed... how many in Mexico?). Then we can contact these community members to join this campaign. Plus we could contact the happy people who participated to our experiences (some hundreds for mine) to repost, etc. This would make a lot of people, isn't it?

This is just an idea but I do think we could act as a real community and play as a team, not as competitors. We have nothing to loose, we feel this is unfair, we are thousands and able to organize together through social media, we have 4 weeks from now and... it could be fun because it has to!

What do you think about a this idea of a campaign? Any idea for a hashtag?

Any idea / feedback welcome!