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!*

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Margaret928 

Very interesting point you just made. You very likely received an email containing the details of previous hosts you gave 4/5 star ratings to without that recent €600 cancellation host included.

That's rubbing salt into the wound, and making you judge the remainder of your hosts by your most recent experience. Ouch!

Many hosts do not want to be part of this but are being forced to take part, so just let @Airbnb know.

Thanks for the post.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

Airbnb are taking a battering in the media over these "Kindness Cards". Many Twitter users are venting their anger towards Hosts rather than towards Airbnb, citing "Greedy Landlords" and *bleep* *bleep* *bleep*'s. This is going to end up as a bloodbath over the coming days where hosts are being unfairly aligned with Airbnb and being made the focus of guests' anger.

https://www.businessinsider.com/airbnb-asking-renters-to-donate-kindness-cards-backlash-2020-7?fbcli...

https://nypost.com/2020/07/14/airbnb-appeal-for-contributions-to-barren-hosts-fuels-rants/

And the gists of Twitter/Reddit:

[Jennifer1421]

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0 

As @Anonymous pointed out on page 3 of this thread:

"The closest precedent I can think of here is not looking good, In 2013 and 2014, Wal-Mart got some seriously bad press when word got around on social media that some of its stores were asking for canned-food donations for their own staff. The corporation defended the practice with some "community spirit" hogwash...If @Airbnb proceeds with this plan, it will be ridiculed in much the same way, even though hosts are not employees. Even the most subtle hint to your customers that they should treat property owners as a charity is outrageous and tone-deaf."

It was only a matter of time before the chickens came home to roost on this initiative. The reputational damage hosts will suffer through having our wishes ignored vis this program remains to be seen.

Here's a hint, Airbnb: when the users who are engaged with the brand enough to take the time and trouble to be involved in the Community Centre provide you with valuable feedback here, please be so kind as to actually TAKE IT.

As an aside, my request to @Airbnb via the seemingly total void that is their "feedback" form, in which I expressly revoked my permission for my image, profile, account, username, etc. to be used in connection with this program was totally ignored, as I received a "Kindness card" the other day. I'll just go ahead and point out that that is a .78% uptake on these cards from my guests - all 128 5 star reviewers. I guess not many guests were truly clamouring for a way to send us some love, in spite of the mods claims.

[Anonymous]

@Jennifer1421   I'm sure the bright folks in Airbnb's social media team could have easily foreseen how ridiculous this was going to look. But in a toxic workplace, the qualified and competent are silenced when they don't pledge allegiance to the bosses' bad ideas and parrot their total disconnect from reality. 

[Helen3]

Thanks for posting @Ian-And-Anne-Marie0 

I was one of the hosts that responded to the initial announcement and said how appalling it was that Airbnb was contacting hosts with a begging bowl asking them to finance a hosts business.

Their PR people should be sacked for not pointing out how damaging this is not just to the reputation of Airbnb but to hosts who of course are seen as the ones asking for money.

Despite the vast majority of hosts pointing out that they want Airbnb to send out requests for guests to give us money or a card, Airbnb ignored us and still went ahead.

I don't need Airbnb to help me stay in contact with my guests, we do that anyway.

@Airbnb  please stop!

[Sarah977]

@Airbnb  We told you, overwhelmingly, that this was a bad idea- that it would backfire and offend our guests, and it is certainly humiliating for a lot of hosts.

But you refuse to listen to the hosts, who understand the host/guest relationship far better than your corporate policy makers. So now, exactly what we predicted would happen, has happened. Really bad press over this, negative comments all over social media, angry guests and hosts.

Congratulations for creating bad press for yourself and by extension, for hosts, and alienating guests, all because of your unbelievable arrogance in thinking you know better than all of us.