Airbnb donation: should host and employee lives matter as much?

[Inna22]

It goes without saying that what happened to George Floyd is despicable and this thread is not about that. The question is: should a company that cannot meet contractual obligations to its partners (hosts of colors and backgrounds) and just laid off 1900 humans be giving a half a million dollar donation, no matter how worthy the cause is. For those not aware- Airbnb announced .5 mil dollar donation to Black lives matter

[Alexandra316]

@Robin4there's a sign in my house, one that I look at every day, and I'm sure you've heard it before: 

Illegitimi non carborundum - it's not really Latin, but its intended meaning is don't let the b*st*rds grind you down. I believe it applies here. 

I've also seen the misdirected negativity and mean-spiritedness from some. I'm sorry that I haven't said anything when I've seen it, especially if this is going to be the consequence of it.  Rob, you have contributed so much to these boards over the years, and I for one think that it will be a poorer place without you. I hope you reconsider. 

[Helen3]

Hi @Robin4 

Please don't feel you need to leave the forum just because some people have disagreed with you. You have brought some much to this community. I love reading about your experiences of hosting and the valuable advice you offer.

I agree the last few months have been so hard with all the understandably upset hosts posting about their Covid experiences, together with new hosts who have joined just to offload.

I agree when you feel like this a few weeks off can be helpful.

Try being a female poster on here. Sadly we have some misogynists on here who tell us that we don't understand what it is like to run an Airbnb business because 'we only have a listing which we use for pin money'  because we run a shared listing (not bothering to understand what our wider business experience is),  or it 'must be that time of the month' if they don't like the responses we make.

This sort of open sexism is something I haven't seen for years - so all the more shocking it is allowed to go on in the community of an organisation that is meant to be committed to diversity and inclusion.

And these are some of the milder comments. Sadly the mods do little to 'moderate' this sort of behaviour.

[Clara116]

Hey @Robin4 mate, NO......you have been my mentor, my jazz buddy, my rock of peace and calm when treading the Airbnb waters with crazy guests. 

People are all different right now.....when I was a volunteer at Hospice for 14yrs. there came a time when I had whats called Compassion Fatigue - so I left. 

I think you have a fatigue of sorts, I don't have a name for it. But its real and understandable. We are all fragile now, some more than others....and you have your life struggles beyond Covid 19 and that also counts. So I get it. And don't be too surprised that many are so preoccupied to notice and really read the post you wrote.  But people, hosts, GUESTS esp. are all seeming to be changed. I've just opened back up and 2 guests so far and oh wow - the waters are totally different - and seems the Airbnb App had a flaw/ glitch.....set many of our check in times FLEXIBLE.....oh my, what do you suppose that does? 

Anyway, I hope if you are taking a pause from CC you will remember there are many that are grateful for you and all you have contributed over these years. Don't be a stranger.....will miss you and your wise post. 

I'm hopeful you and Ade will have a really joyful rest of this 2020 .....take care,

your friend, Clara/ CB

[Alexandra316]

@Inna22 genuine question to you and the others who are objecting to the donation: would it bother you if they had donated money to a different charity, like a food bank or a homeless shelter? Does the nature of the organization it was given to come into play, or is just the fact that they're donating at all?

[Sarah977]

@Alexandra316  To me it has nothing to do with what organization they donated to. It's the fact that seem to have a half a million dollars to give away when they just laid off 1900 employees, resulting in CS response time that is even worse than it used to be, and cut back their marketing budget, are offering guests vouchers in lieu of refunds, while the host gets nothing, etc. 

[Alexandra316]

@Sarah977I believe that @Robin4 is correct, in that this is more a choice for optics - marketing, if you will. Maybe the money is even coming from that (now reduced) budget. I personally don't have an issue with the donation, because Airbnb is a private company and I don't feel that I have a right to anything more from them than for them to pay me when I host a guest.

As this situation has unfolded, I've received emails from many companies - companies who have sold me clothing, food, appliances, and all kinds of other sundries - telling me that they believe black lives matter. I find it a bit disingenuous, but I genuinely hope that it does what it's meant to do: makes people of colour feel less alone, and that they have advocates. At least Airbnb is putting their money where their mouths are, rather than just paying lip service. 

[Inna22]

@Alexandra316 it is the donation itself at the time when they had to breach contract with hosts because they were supposedly out of money or when they fired so many people. They have gotten involved with several other political actions that I do not condone so the ship has sailed for us to align that way long time ago. All I can do is offset it with donations to opposing causes from the money I make on Airbnb. To clarify, I am talking about offsetting past donations or actions that made me cringe. I do not want this to look like I am giving to KKK

[Alexandra316]

@Inna22 When you say they breached their contract with hosts, what do you mean there?

It's good that you give to causes that you believe in and align more with your values. I personally give mostly to food banks and animal charities, and I've been told by others that it's ridiculous that I give so much to animal causes while children still go hungry. I feel like no matter what causes you support, there's someone there to criticize.

[Fred13]

@Alexandra316 I am in the same club with you when it comes to animal charities.

[Anonymous]

@Inna22  I'm also confused by the "breaching of contract with hosts" part. Perhaps I'm out of the loop on something - have they been refusing to issue payouts on fulfilled reservations? Or do you believe that the Extenuating Circumstances cancellations constitute a breach of contract (even though the Terms of Service that facilitate them are very much a part of the contract)?

[Inna22]

@Alexandra316 @Anonymous  they are required to give us 30 day notice of change to EC policy. They changed it overnight in an attempt to both appease guests and minimize their own losses at the expense of hosts.

As for the donations you could not be more right, very well said. I give to my kids school and get comments about how our school is doing well already. I give to foreign causes and I get comments about how we have problems here. Even when I give to a Jewish organization being Jewish there’s always somebody who has a comment about how this or that organization is poorly run and why I shouldn’t be giving to them. And in all honesty while writing this I realized that I do it myself all the time. I guess the moral to me should be that unless the organization is doing harm, if a person is giving they should be applauded for giving.

[Helen350]

@Alexandra316 - Both! 🙂

[Alexandra316]

@Helen350 How can it be both?

[Dimitar27]

People, put the swords down and try to look the situation from a different point of view. It's a business. There is no bad advertising. 0.5 million $, given for a right cause, tomorrow can generate trust, trust will generate customers, customers will generate a market share, the market share will generate profit. More customers=more employees.

I'm totally out of the discussion about the black people's civil rights, about the police violence and illegal arrests. I'm too far from this. I mean- really far- on the other side of the globe.
Also about the D. Trump's theatrical performances.
A politician with a Bible in his hands is like a monkey with a grenade launcher.

[Fred13]

This thread is a perfect example how all political discussions always take on a larger and larger narrative to the point that they may become personal because they tend to open windows that are then very  hard to re-close.  To me, politics doesn't belong in a forum which is suppose to be dedicated to a specific subject, in this case -  hosting with Airbnb.  

    As to Airbnb's move to donate money to an organization as wild as Black Lives Matters, the subject at hand, it didn't surprise me. As long as they do not expect me to be part of their personal causes,  our present business relationship will remain intact.