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!*

[Susan17]

@Trace386

This doesn't come across as a scam at all - more as a genuine, heartfelt letter from someone desperately trying to keep their heads above water, any way they can think of. 

It's important to note here that credits for a future stay were offered in exchange for any money donated, so it's not as if they were looking for something for nothing. It may not be the best way to go about things, but everyone's just trying to survive, whatever way they can, and some have been much, much harder hit than others, so it's not down to us to sit in righteous judgement of anyone else just trying to make it through. 

Have you contacted the host directly to confirm whether or not the email was genuinely from them, before posting potentially private communication, with personal information, on a public forum for everyone to speculate over? Because if not, that's definitely not cool either. 

[Susan17]

@Lizzie @Stephanie @Quincy @Nick @Liv

Can someone remove the personal details and identifying information from the post above ASAP, please? 

[Trace386]

**[Inappropriate content hidden - Community Center Guidelines]

[Susan17]

@Trace386

Nice response. Thank you.

Oddly, you never mentioned a word about emailing the host and not receiving a response in your initial post, which would seem like a crucial bit of information for leave out. You would have had their phone number too from when you stayed there, so I guess you phoned them too, just to be double sure, before posting the letter with personal identifying information on a public forum, did you?

Nobody was forcing you to send them money, just the same as nobody was forcing you to take a voucher from them to buy food for your family. I did say it may not have been the best way to go about things, but you clearly chose to ignore that. However misguided it may have been, it was a request, plain and simple, not a demand.

And if you didn't know for sure the email wasn't legit, you shouldn't have posted it on a public forum. 

[Helen350]

@Trace386 

Hey! Don't shoot the messenger! Why the venom?

Your post came across as you saying you didn't know if this request for money was a scam or not... You DO know this is a HOST forum, (with the occasional guest dropping by), right? None of us work for Airbnb, except the 5 moderators Susan tagged.  The forum is so we can SUPPORT each other! As I read their replies, both @Susan17  & @Ian-And-Anne-Marie0 were trying to be helpful.....

If you read Susan's other posts on this forum, this thread & others, you'll see that she's very much on the side of hosts who've lost bookings = earnings, being a host herself! She also probably knows more about Airbnb & the background of how they operate than the rest of us put together, having done a lot of research over 10 years! She's knowledgeable about scams too! - The way you phrased your question about a possible scam begging letter made me think you did not know if it was genuine or a scam, so maybe she read it that way too?

And Trace, there's a culture of being polite & respectful to each other on this forum too! No defamatory language! 🙂

[Susan17]

@Helen350

Thank you so much for your support and kind words, Helen 😏

Tbh though, I have no problem with Trace's response and feel she should have the right to express herself and her feelings in whatever way she sees fit. We're all grown adults, we can choose to respond or to ignore. I may not like or agree with what another person has to say, but I defend to the death their right to say it, in whatever manner they choose. I find censorship of any kind - particularly censorship of a petty nature - to be infinitely more offensive than the open and frank expression of another person's thoughts or feelings, however controversial or harsh they might be.

And while it's true that I'm very much of the side of hosts who have been screwed over (mainly because this is primarily a host forum and we don't see much guest input here), I also stand for every guest, employee and man on the street who has ever been screwed over by the company too. Airbnb is, and always has been, an equal opportunities shafter. 

Besides, Trace has a valid point - I know I can come across as a high and mighty **bleep** at times, but sometimes, trying to remain aloof and detached is the only way I can keep going. If I started to let my true Irish emotions show, that would leave me too exposed, and weaken my position (plus I'd probably be banned from here in about five minutes flat!) 😉

[Susan17]

Lol! Speaking of petty censorship..

@Ute42 - the bleeped-out word I used there was our favourite 5 letter word, beginning with B and ending with H. but I stuck an A in the middle of it, to try and slip it by the censorship scissors. Nope. They got me on that one too!

Bollocks! 

[Helen350]

@Susan17 Thought so! lol! - If anyone can take it, it's probably you! (meant kindly!) 🙂

TOTALLY with you on free speech, & defending another's right to say it.... 

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Helen350 

The @Susan17  tag will no longer work. She’s been banned.

Very likely her statement “I find censorship of any kind - particularly censorship of a petty nature - to be infinitely more offensive than the open and frank expression of another person's thoughts or feelings, however controversial or harsh they might be.”

...was finally too much for them !

When details of a corporate action publicised on public media gets censored in an owned community then you can fully understand the truth in her statement. 

This server continues to have problems @Jennifer1421  there’s posts missing all over the place.

[Jennifer1421]

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0Yes - I saw that your kindness card sent to the 1000(ish) contracted employees in Barcelona, tossed out of work on International Workers Day, had disappeared for the 3rd time. Gee, these glitchy servers, eh?

Susan's been BANNED???? For asking questions??

Wow.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

Exactly @Jennifer1421 , Why the server keeps on dropping such information is inconceivable!

That "kindness card" I created using a free image license would have meant the world to those sacked workers. Even the information it contained was 100% factual. !00% factual and 100% legal.

Why would it just keep on disappearing?

All that it said was a basic "Thank You". Thank You for all their time, patience and effort in resolving a myriad of problems and adhering to corporate guidelines insisting that in order to resolve any problem the Host or Guest would need to insist in speaking to a supervisor three times!

You know  @Jennifer1421  there have been times where I believe I might have known my assigned CS specialist better than my own mother with the patience they shown! True !!

Trying to compensate for such a lack of empathy as explained here:

https://www.protocol.com/airbnb-contingent-worker-layoffs-coronavirus

where not even a "thank you" for their loyalty and contribution to the community was mentioned, those poor people were probably infuriated.

Smacks of Hypocrisy to me, in light of these 'kindness cards" and 'appreciation and encouragement'.

Maybe I should have asked for money?

[Stephanie]

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0 @Jennifer1421 

Thanks for sharing your concerns here. This is a personal matter, so I’m don't think it is fair to go into specifics, however we have been working with her for some time now regarding the CC Guidelines, which all CC members agree to by joining this forum.

Unfortunately, it has come to a point where we had to restrict her access moving forward. This is of course, an incredibly rare thing in the CC, involves many discussions, and never something we do lightly.

Out of respect for the user, we would ask that you reach out to myself or any other EN community manager with any concerns rather than publicly discussing further.

Lastly, I see a few of you have asked whether this is linked to providing negative feedback on Airbnb. I can strongly confirm this is not the case. The CC is a place that welcomes feedback (I’m sure you will agree if you look around many discussions here we are open) and ultimately we want to make sure we are always improving things for you and other community members.

Many thanks,

Stephanie

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Stephanie 

Lastly, I see a few of you have asked whether this is linked to providing negative feedback on Airbnb.  I can strongly confirm this is not the case.

Quite a few posts have gone missing in this thread, multiple times and with factual, publicly available information but I don't recall any messages ever asking this? Where might they be?

[Joan23]

I can’t believe this was a genuine email from a host, but having read on through the thread and reading about  the new “contributions” option in account settings, I assume that it was genuine... so,  do you think the host composed it, or was it composed by someone in Airbnb HQ and sent to you without the knowledge of the host? If the latter, I am cringing at the thought that something similar could have been sent on my behalf. Can I ask @Stephanie to clear this up for me, and for other hosts who may be similarly disturbed at being involved in this scheme. @Susan17 @Trace386 @Lizzie 

[Susan17]

And back to the more serious business again.. 

@Airbnb

Please take immediate note of Trace's understandably aghast  reaction to receiving a request for donations from a (relatively recent) former host, who was at least offering something of value in return for any contributions made - as opposed to asking for something for nothing, as you plan to do with the past guests of the countless thousands of hosts who remain blissfully oblivious to the fact you're sending out begging bowls in their names, to guests who may be in an even worse financial positions than themselves.

Not only are you wilfully and knowingly ploughing ahead with this reprehensible scheme - despite the vehement protestations of so many dedicated and experienced hosts here - but even worse, you're setting them up for a whole world of pain and abuse from justifiably disgusted and infuriated  guests who will assume these begging letters are initiated by the hosts themselves. Perfect way to bring yet more grief and trouble to hosts' doors than you've already done.

Are you "listening" yet??