Airbnb's new direction.

[Robin4]

I took part in one of the hosting workshop meetings this morning, and I don't envy the job of the moderators in setting up this Host Advisory Board which is being so vigorously touted.

I would say, the reaction from the group was.....cool. We would love to see it happen, it sounds good but, we have been down this path before.

Each year since I have been associated with Airbnb the CEO comes out with one of these 'hosting path to glory' statements which seems to be designed to quell unrest amongst the ranks. We take the company at his word and wait for the promised assistance, support and benefits......and we wait.....and we wait! But each year we see our job as hosts become more difficult, less transparent, more of our hosting tools disappear and meaningful support being harder to get.

* Once upon a time I used to see a picture of every guest before they booked, even if it was simply an enquiry. To use the Airbnb platform guests had to supply an image identifiable with a current drivers licence or passport. A guest can get away with a dog on the beach, or a favourite pot plant, or even a generic grey alphabet letter in a circle these days.

* I used to be able to log-on and from the drop down menu go straight to my inbox to respond to a message. I now have to access 'Manage Listings' and from there in the toolbar, go to my inbox!

* All the information relating to a booking used to be on the message page. Payment details top left, then guest photo, address and contact details, then a calendar to see how the booking related to others in that month bottom left with the message stream on the right......no scrolling between different pages........

Oh to have the simplicity and downright user friendliness of that page again. Nobody that I am aware of asked for that format to be changed, it worked well.....that was probably its problem! 

* My statistics used to give me an accurate way of tracking my hosting progress. My 'Views' page showed me not just how many views I had in the past 30 days but, also how many bookings and on what days those bookings were  made.....

I used to be able to accurately track my star ratings. I could see how many stars I had in each category at a glance just by clicking an arrow in that category.....

These tools which were valuable to me as a host have been taken away and I am now bombarded with promotional tips on every aspect of my listing that are designed to send me bankrupt in order to satisfy Airbnb's algorithm.......

 I can see a Host Advisory Board as a good thing if it can be a place where hosts feedback can be gathered, correlated and suggestions put to the company that will be acted on instead of simply being ignored as they have been in the past. Surely management must see why we are not leaping out of our skins with enthusiasm.......This is a path well traveled!

We have had lots of words, now lets see if Mr Chesky is going to be true to his word this time!

As the Jeep ad says....'I'm in'..... but I wish the moderators luck, turning the ship around and getting hosts on board is going to be a tall order! We are going to want to see some action this time!

Cheers........Rob

[Fred13]

Consider it as a fun affair where you get to meet (and see) fellow hosts. And to tell Airbnb directly your thoughts. They get something out of it great, they don't it is not the end of the world anyway. Who is bringing the popcorn or should be all bring our own, how about the Cheetos?

[Super47]

@Fred13

"Consider it as a fun affair where you get to meet (and see) fellow hosts.."

And therein lies the root of the problem, and likely one of the main reasons why all these endless Host Committees, Advisory Panels etc that we've seen over the years never result in any real, positive or tangible change for hosts.

These panels aren't meant to be (or at least, shouldn't be) chummy little chat sessions for the Golden Few, who are largely immune/oblivious to the very real and very damaging struggles that countless thousands of their fellow hosts are facing on a daily basis, and who can only see and relate things through the prism of their own much more fortunate experiences with the company.

But invariably, those are the very candidates that Airbnb carefully cherry-picks for these 'initiatives' - the ones who will tell them what they want to hear, rather than putting any proper effort into telling them what they need to hear. And that's why, sadly, nothing good ever comes of them. 

[Fred13]

@Super47 If you knew me at all you won't ever accuse me of being lackadaisical about anything. I just have learned that when dealing with intense people like me, and I suspect you, light-hearted pauses makes us a lot more effective. 

   The above statement, which you chose to cut off in half, adheres to Dale Carnegie's principal of - 'what is the worse that could happen'.

[Helen3]

Actually that’s not true @Super47  @Robin4  and I are not backward about coming forward about our concerns about how Airbnb works and neither were the hosts on panels I have joined.

The reason nothing good come out of them is that despite its huge marketing and community resource Airbnb has little idea about how to run focus groups/panels, there is little structure to conversation, or clear objectives for the sessions.

Not do Airbnb provide any feedback to participants or reward them for their time, Both basic tenants for meaningful , effective engagement. 

[Robin4]

@Helen3 

Thanks Helen, you know what goes on and the effort we try to put into these workshops that come along. I don't set my alarm to get up at 6 in the morning for the sheer fun of doing it!

The moderators here have kindly sponsored zoom meetings every now and then where some of us can simply exchange pleasantries, and I enjoy those that I have attended. Yes they are simply chat sessions with no structure!

But I genuinely go into a workshop meeting hoping I can achieve and learn something. Like you Helen I have had reservations because in the workshops I have been involved with the underlying theme appears to be .......

"What scenarios would users be prepared to accept", not what do they want!

We are given a series of options to which we are asked for our preference. To my way of thinking this is not the way to learn something. That is not looking for ideas......that is simply asking for the corralling and confirmation of ideas you are prepared to entertain! Each time I look at one of those my reaction is...."Well that really doesn't solve the problem, it's not what we asked in our feedback"!

But I don't regard those sessions as pat on the back chat sessions, In the 3 months I was involved with one workshop, I never got to meet or talk to another soul, each week was virtually a feedback form! 

On the other side of the coin, @Super47,  Penelope we do need someone to champion our cause and every year a 'champion' comes along. Last year (as you know) it was Susan from Dublin in Ireland who had a very interesting few years here. Susan, through Airbnb's hosting interference, went from being a very competent contented Airbnb host to an extremely vocal critic who in the end decided to write a book and was restricted from using the CC.

This year you Penelope have come along and, we (or at least me) would love to put our faith in what you are trying to achieve. 

Now I may have missed something......I don't spend every hour of every day here, there is a lot going on in my life and I certainly don't read every post but, we all like to see people's credentials though! Through my working life I owned a mechanical services company and when Ade's illness forced me to wind  back I had 27 employees and 11 service vans. I would never have employed an individual that came to me without a background. My record and my past are abundantly illustrated here on the CC, I make a point of backing up what I say. There is more visual imagery of me and my hosting on the CC than any other contributor!

You know a lot about the way Airbnb runs and from your posts you draw on years of experience, which is comforting Penelope. Your heart is in the right place and I utterly respect your privacy, but it's hard to put your faith in someone you can't relate to. From your 'cleanskin' profile I would love to know what motivates you.

Sorry if I appear to be critical but when someone is fighting in my corner, I need somewhere to hang my hat!

Cheers........Rob

[Super47]

@Robin4

No worries, Rob! Feel free to be as critical of me as you wish - that's entirely your prerogative. I'm not the type to take offence because someone doesn't like or agree with what I have to say - it's all water off a duck's back to me 😉

Whether or not people want to put their faith in me is entirely their own prerogative too. However, considering that I did become top contributor on the CC within weeks of coming here - and remained there ever since - I'd say that indicates that there are a significant number of hosts reading my posts who do find them relatable, and who do trust what I have to say, without feeling the need to know all about my seed, breed and generation.

I'm sorry but I don't get the analogy about your employees, or where my credentials come into that at all. I'm not looking for you to give me a job, any more than I'm looking for the owners of the company to which the running of the CC is outsourced to give me a job, so quite frankly, I don't need to prove my credentials to anyone.

Nor am I here to use the CC as some sort of private little clique-y chat room. I have already clearly demonstrated that I am more than willing to offer relevant, practical advice and active support to fellow hosts in genuine need - surely that should be the top priority for any member of any community worth its salt? Playing fun games and cosy little in-house banter between small group of regular contributors is all very nice, but a sizeable proportion of new posters come hear with very serious issues, and are in desperate need of real help and assistance. Sadly, many of those posters either never even receive a response, or (far worse) are treated with scorn, condescension and sometimes even hostility by certain (though not all, thankfully) members of the group.

You asked what motivates me? Well, I would have thought that the (factually accurate and provably true) content of my posts are clear evidence of what motivates me. It deeply upsets me to see good, decent, hardworking people being abused, exploited, cheated, robbed, hoodwinked and lied to. So getting the truth out there is what motivates me. Unspinning the spin motivates me. Letting shafted hosts know that they do have rights, and that they don't just have to just roll over and take whatever sh*t is dumped on top of them, motivates me. Fighting for fair, ethical and lawful treatment for all hosts, motivates me. And standing up to unscrupulous, tyrannical bullies motivates me.

How about you, Rob? What motivates you? 

[Robin4]

@Super47 

Please, don't treat me as the enemy, I agree with what you are trying to do, in fact my very first response to one of your posts was to tell you that, having a voice is fine but be aware that having too strident a voice was a surefire way to have that voice removed from the platform and, I did not want to see that happen.

I also find your posts relatable, not altogether through my own experience with hosting as such, which in the main has been as good as I could have wished for, but through the thousands of pages of posts here. 

All I was saying is Penelope, you appear to be our knight in shining armor without having ever ridden a horse, and I was simply wondered why that was! It's not a criticism of you, it's an idle curiosity on what level I should relate to you!

What motivates me......... I guess like you, helping people. Apart  from looking after a disabled wife who's legs don't work any more,  for 6 years I ran the local kitchen for a volunteer meal delivery service (Meals on Wheels)........I volunteered for a steam rail restoration/preservation society (Steamranger) , I have had 12,787 posts here on the CC, which I think ranks me second in volume behind @Sarah977 , and in what's left of my time I run a reasonably successful STR cottage......

I want to see this platform perform at it's best, I don't want to simply roll over and accept the inevitable, I want to make a difference in any way I can.

I want you to make a difference too but, I don't want to see you shoot yourself in the foot here in the process of doing it!

Cheers.......Rob

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Robin4 

I want to see this platform perform at it's best, I don't want to simply roll over and accept the inevitable, I want to make a difference in any way I can.

We've had this conversation before...

You have decided to roll over and accept the inevitable because your dissent in your early years of the CC went nowhere, had no effect and made no difference WHATSOEVER.

Anybody only needs to read back through your posts to see your demise and your resignation of believing you could bring about change.

Sadly, your comment is highly hypocritical. You know you are in no position in here to make any difference and that your input only falls on deaf ears - always.

@Catherine-Powell  We're still awaiting the update to your NDA about joining these help groups, chat sessions, workshops, Global groups, listening groups that you were going to get your legal department to look at since they all potentially tied up hosts ability to bring legal  action from either disclosed or disclosed-to information. This sort of neutered agreement is not good grounds for equal discussion of any subject. Despite,  it may suit you and Airbnb well.

[Robin4]

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0 

Thanks Ian.....good one!!

Rob.

[Katie]

Hi @Ian-And-Anne-Marie0, it was really nice to see you getting involved with this topic in a positive and supportive way earlier in the week, but I can see that again you are becoming pretty confrontational and making personal attacks here.

I know you are familiar with the guidelines we have here, so please try to be respectful when contributing to the Community - attack the debate rather than the individual. 

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Katie 

The debate is not the hypocrite. Sorry. That's the way it is. There is no evidence anywhere that working with Airbnb produces benefit. That was previously agreed in past posts. I didn't say anything wrong.

[Robin4]

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0 

I think what @Katie  is trying to say is....I would never personally attack you for your opinion Ian! The environment you host in is entirely different to mine......what works for me would not necessarily work for you.

I understand from a couple of your previous posts that some bitterness may be present at the moment with the restrictions that COVID-19 is placing on your business that it is not on mine....and I agree, that is not fair! But that is a reality that I have no control over, unless you expect me to shut down my business in sympathy with your situation!

I respect what you bring to the CC Ian, and I ask you to do the same of me. Don't call me a hypocrite because something I said back in 2017 has been discredited......we all move on, we all learn from our experiences, and hopefully that makes us better hosts...... and better people.

Lets give each other a go hey!  That's what this CC community is all about.

Cheers........Rob 

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Robin4 

You stated that it was pointless working with Airbnb Late 2019/Early 2020 and that previous complaints had been pointless.  I'll check the dates.. Yet now you are advocating making a difference in a way you know doesn't work, has never worked and comes with no evidence of ever working. That's hypocrisy. It always will be.

Bitterness.. well there's a complete story in itself, however, lawyers around the world seem to be fixing all that for all hosts it seems, without further contracts to talk, workshops, listening sessions or socials. This intentionally attempting to bring about the fair and equitible partnership we should already be enjoying based on our contracts and law. Ironically, Airbnb have found themselves in this position by not applying their law and their contracts as we have been stating (on here) for years. They should have took more notice of the bitterness.

Nothing ever gets resolved through here, you were definitely right on that one. 

[Super47]

@Robin4 

".. it's an idle curiosity on what level I should relate to you"

You can relate to me on the level of a fellow human being who believes that everyone deserves to be treated with fairness, respect and dignity Rob.

I'm nobody's knight in shining armour, nor have I any wish to be. It's up to each person to stand up for their own rights, and fight their own corner. I'm simply trying to get the message across that we do have rights, and they are worth fighting for. And the more we fight back against unfair and unjust policies and practices - collectively and individually - the better chance we have of eventually forcing Airbnb to play a clean game.