A new way for guests to show you appreciation and encouragement

[Airbnb]

Hello everyone,

During this challenging time, we want to rekindle connections within our community and evoke memories of travel. Many guests have also asked for ways to support their favorite hosts. We’re delighted to share a new way for eligible guests to show appreciation or encouragement by sending personalized cards to past hosts who provided excellent hospitality during a stay or an Airbnb Experience. There is also an option to add a financial contribution that goes entirely to the host; Airbnb will not charge any fees.

How does this work?

There will be two parts to this program. 

The main part will be giving past guests the ability to send a virtual card with a personal message to prior hosts from stays or Airbnb Experiences they've rated 4 or 5 stars. In the coming weeks, eligible guests will receive an email from Airbnb informing them the feature is available. We hope these cards will make hosts smile, and bring a little joy to the guests, too. Here’s an example of a few cards hosts may receive.

The second part is that guests can attach an optional financial contribution to their card. 100% of the guests’ contribution goes directly to the host. Please note that the guests will not see any personal or financial information about the host other than their name, location, and dates of the past stay or experience. 

We heard from some hosts that they were concerned about the financial contribution element, so we've updated the program so hosts can opt-out of future contributions by going to their payments settings and turning the ‘allow contributions’ toggle to ‘off’. If a host receives a contribution they do not wish to keep, they have the option to donate an equal value to nonprofits, including those that are supporting COVID-19 responders. If hosts choose to decline future contributions, they may still receive cards if guests choose to send them. 

For more information - including how to automatically opt-out of future contributions, refer to our Help page. 

- Airbnb

*Have you received a card from a past guest? Share your story below!*

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Sandra126 

@Susan17  shared a screen shot how to opt-out. I also opted out as soon as I saw this. 

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/COVID-19-Discussions/How-Can-I-Opt-Out-of-quot-Contributions-to-...

[Susan17]

@Anonymous

Also worth mentioning that there were over 130 comments posted in Jennifer's "Opt Out Of Contributions From Guests" thread from 3 weeks ago, (link posted by @Jessica-and-Henry0 above), almost all of which were also vehemently opposed to this scheme, but were clearly ignored by the powers-that-be. 

[Susan17]

@Airbnb @Lizzie @Stephanie 

It's over a week now since I requested that the templates for the emails that would be sent to guests about this initiative, and the notifications they would see on their side, be posted here in order to dispel any confusion and misunderstanding. We were told (despite the Help Articles on the subject having being completed and published on the site over two weeks earlier) that they weren't ready yet, and that there'd be yet another "listening session" to show us exactly what our guests would be seeing. No such listening session transpired of course, and in the meantime, the programme is obviously already up and running, and hosts have already started to receive communications from past guests. Is there ever going to come a time when Airbnb stops treating is all like inconsequential, irrelevant fools?

[Lizzie]

Hello @Susan17,

Thanks for your message. This week, we've been putting everything together for the listening session relating to Kindness Cards, we are just finalising the details and getting the relevant product team members to join us–as you can imagine it's a very busy time for them and so we are moving as fast as possible. 

To confirm it will take place next week, I am sorry this is a little later than we had hoped–but we want to insure the session is useful to you and other members, as we acknowledge your time is precious.  

As soon as I have the date/time, I will share it here–as I say we are just finalising this.

It also nice to see you have a screenshot of the feature, so you will be well prepared. 

Speak to you very soon.

Lizzie

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Lizzie 

Reading @Susan17  post she is posting an ACTUAL communication to a host, not some screen grab of a proposal.

Airbnb are actually now doing this without the preparations you have just mentioned.

[Lizzie]

Hey @Ian-And-Anne-Marie0,

Sorry I think there is some confusion.

The team working on this has already received feedback from hosts and guests in order to design this feature.

The session we are currently planning for next week is to help walk through CC members specifically, as we know you had further questions on how it works. We hope this will help to provide more information off the back of the discussion shared here and elsewhere in the CC. 

I hope this helps to clarify things. 

Thanks,

Lizzie

[Helen350]

With respect, @Lizzie , we don't want walk throughs, questions, help or info! WE DON'T WANT IT AT ALL! - We want rid! We don't want someone sending a 'Thinking of you' e-card, cos they've been told to! Even if they are not asked for money cos we've unticked the box.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Lizzie 

Hey Lizzie,

No confusion on my part.

The information and templates regarding the format and statement of the cards was going to be disclosed here and discussed prior to your listening session I understood. To show us what the guests would be seeing.

Instead, you've already just gone ahead and sent the cards. You've just done it!

Also, I think you have a server problem. I've posted a couple of times here today on this thread and the posts have disappeared.

[Sarah977]

@Lizzie    Well, of course there's confusion.  "The team working on this has already received feedback from hosts and guests in order to design this feature."

The feedback that was received here on the forum was overwhelmingly against this. Pages of objections. Where did this supposed feedback from hosts come from, that they just went ahead and did it anyway?

[Sarah977]

@Lizzie  Airbnb doesn't need a listening session on this- and hosts certainly don't need to waste their time on such when there was already a resounding NO to this proposal here, as @Susan17 mentioned above.

Hosts are thoroughly fed up with Airbnb completely ignoring our input, barrelling ahead with their ill-thought-out and offensive ideas, and then acting as if they are "listening". It's unbelievably disrespectful and you are losing more and more hosts, at least as far as having any interest in wasting their time or having any illusions that Airbnb gives a hoot what hosts want. This kind of thing just layers up the non-trust in Airbnb which they have already garnered through their deafness and arrogance.

[Jennifer1421]

Strange how this whole thread seems to have gone off the rails. A recap of relevant posts:

24-04-20 Stephanie (4:03 am EDT): “we will be hosting a listening session next week to provide an overview of the program and share a demo of what a host sees and what a guest sees’

24-04-20: Stephanie (4.49 am EDT):

“The initiative isn't fully live just yet so I'll be checking in with the team for updates."

24-04-20 Lizzie (6:51 am EDT): "As Steph said, we will be running a listening session to walk you through it. Once the date/time is finalised, we will send around information to you all."

01-05-20 Susan17 (4:26 am EDT): “It's over a week now since I requested that the templates for the emails that would be sent to guests about this initiative, and the notifications they would see on their side (emphasis mine), be posted here in order to dispel any confusion and misunderstanding. We were told (despite the Help Articles on the subject having being completed and published on the site over two weeks earlier) that they weren't ready yet, and that there'd be yet another "listening session" to show us exactly what our guests would be seeing.

***Then shows a screenshot of the actual card that another host has received***

01-05-20 Lizzie (5:30 am EDT): This week, we've been putting everything together for the listening session relating to Kindness Cards, we are just finalising the details and getting the relevant product team members to join us..."

01-05-20 Lizzie: (2:30 pm EDT): "Sorry I think there is some confusion.

 The team working on this has already received feedback from hosts and guests in order to design this feature.

The session we are currently planning for next week is to help walk through CC members specifically, as we know you had further questions on how it works."

@Lizzie @Stephanie Except for 2, all other posts here have been negative toward this initiative. No one has asked how it works, though Susan has asked for a template of what the guest will be sent in the initial communication about this. Clearly, we all would've liked to see such a thing BEFORE it was rolled out, because we all have reputations to protect and wanted forewarning of the damage. Just as clearly that didn't happen.

How did we get from Stephanie saying that a demo of what the guest sees in the listening session, to Lizzie saying the listening session is to "walk us through" how to send (or, I guess, receive) a "kindness card"? Are you being disingenuous on purpose? Quite honestly, Lizzie, saying you're looking forward to sending some cards to your previous hosts when you could've been in touch with them at ANY point over the last two months via messages is ridiculous.

I understand that your job here is to prop up your employer, even through its most hare-brained schemes (and to scrub mentions of highly questionable timings for redundancies, a la @Ian-And-Anne-Marie0's twice or thrice posted mockup card), but you seem to fail to grasp that we don't respond well to obfuscation and sleight of hand. Nor do we respond well to potential damage to OUR reputations that are being put at risk here by the recalcitrance of your marketing and design team, and their refusal to recognize that they have miscalculated with this initiative and just simply pull it.

[Susan17]

@Lizzie

This is exhausting. Honestly. We have to go round and round in circles to get straight answers to the simplest, most straightforward questions. I can't fathom why there has to be all this convoluted palaver about every little thing, or why it's so impossible to make ourselves understood. 

The point I'm trying to make is that this initiative has already started. Hosts are already receiving these (ugly, btw) "kindness cards". All I asked for, plain and simple, is that you pop up the templates of the email that will be sent to guests (in our names), and options they will see on their side, in relation to whether or not they want to make charitable donations to us.

That's it. We don't need product teams. We don't need workflows. We don't need "listening sessions". We don't need to be told things aren't ready yet when they're already being sent out to guests.

Please, just whack up a few screenshots so we can all have a look at what our guests will be seeing/receiving, and be done with it. What can be so difficult about that? Why does it all have to be such a huge dramatic production, that wrecks everyone's heads? All this dithering and delaying and faffing around just makes it look as though Airbnb has something to hide. 

[Jennifer1421]

@Susan17Amen, sister!

[Trace386]

If this email is legit, I understand hosts are struggling, but I think in this current climate of phishing scams and covid 19 paranoia sending emails like the one below is just not cool.   It just opens up a whole can of worms for the scammers.  

email I received from a Host place I stayed at in Prague..I think. 

I hope this message finds you and your family well. It is a quite a while when we met each other in Prague and I hope you still have a great memories.

The last couple months have been devastating for all around the world. We wake up every day, in the middle of empty Prague, full of hope that things will get better soon. And that we can once again welcome you, and other travellers again. We would love to prepare an apartment for you, with fresh sheets, towels, and cozy a atmosphere, as we did for you when you stayed with us last time in our magical city of Prague.

On March 14th, when we saw the news that Czech Republic had closed its boarders to all countries, we were faced with a huge dilemma. We thought to ourselves, should we stick it out and fight to save our business, with hope of hosting our guests once again, or should we give up and move on? We have chosen to fight!

We love what we have been able to do over the last 6 years with Airbnb, and we love that we were fortunate enough to meet you. Hopefully we were an important part of your experience in Prague. 

The Czech Republic government has cancelled all tourism for the time being and the declaration for re-opening doesn’t look promising for the near future. It means we cant make it without your help. 

Please trust me, when I say that I hate myself for asking you for help. I’m absolutely aware that everyone is feeling the effects of this pandemic, so I apologize in advance, you find this letter inappropriate in any way.

With great humility, we are asking you to consider helping us financially, so we continue renting out our apartments in the future. Even a single dollar would be a huge amount of help and appreciated. We would also like to put your donated amount down as a credit towards any future stay with us. However, our goal for now is to hold onto these properties, so we can continue renting them out and bring joy to others lives.

I know it’s not likely that you would be planning another visit to Prague any time soon, or that a credit to your future stay would do you any good, but we’re hopeful that you will decide to visit Prague once again, and either myself or Sarah will be able to greet you at the front door, or pick you up from the airport with a big smile and warm heart. 

Thank you so much for considering this request, and I hope I did not insult you, because I really respect you and you were an important part of our life. 

If you would like to help and support our fight against Covid, please contact me and I will give you a details or you can use a Paypal with this link: paypal.me/janandsarah or international bank account number which is **. Then I will send you voucher for your next stay!

Sent from my iPad

I hope this message finds you and your family well. It is a quite a while when we met each other in Prague and I hope you still have a great memories.

The last couple months have been devastating for all around the world. We wake up every day, in the middle of empty Prague, full of hope that things will get better soon. And that we can once again welcome you, and other travellers again. We would love to prepare an apartment for you, with fresh sheets, towels, and cozy a atmosphere, as we did for you when you stayed with us last time in our magical city of Prague.

On March 14th, when we saw the news that Czech Republic had closed its boarders to all countries, we were faced with a huge dilemma. We thought to ourselves, should we stick it out and fight to save our business, with hope of hosting our guests once again, or should we give up and move on? We have chosen to fight!

We love what we have been able to do over the last 6 years with Airbnb, and we love that we were fortunate enough to meet you. Hopefully we were an important part of your experience in Prague. 

The Czech Republic government has cancelled all tourism for the time being and the declaration for re-opening doesn’t look promising for the near future. It means we cant make it without your help. 

Please trust me, when I say that I hate myself for asking you for help. I’m absolutely aware that everyone is feeling the effects of this pandemic, so I apologize in advance, you find this letter inappropriate in any way.

With great humility, we are asking you to consider helping us financially, so we continue renting out our apartments in the future. Even a single dollar would be a huge amount of help and appreciated. We would also like to put your donated amount down as a credit towards any future stay with us. However, our goal for now is to hold onto these properties, so we can continue renting them out and bring joy to others lives.

I know it’s not likely that you would be planning another visit to Prague any time soon, or that a credit to your future stay would do you any good, but we’re hopeful that you will decide to visit Prague once again, and either myself or Sarah will be able to greet you at the front door, or pick you up from the airport with a big smile and warm heart. 

Thank you so much for considering this request, and I hope I did not insult you, because I really respect you and you were an important part of our life. 

If you would like to help and support our fight against Covid, please contact me and I will give you a details or you can use a Paypal with this link: ** or international bank account number which is **. Then I will send you voucher for your next stay!

Sent from my iPad

**[Sensitive information removed in line with - Community Center Guidelines]

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Trace386 

Scam it might be. It might however be a heartfelt email from a destitute Host inspired by the actions of Airbnb. You will see from this thread, that type of email direct from them will be landing in your inbox in the very near future.

I like your statement: "I think in this current climate of phishing scams and covid 19 paranoia sending emails like the one below is just not cool"