Have we entered a ‘police’ state!

[David6]

So disturbed & outraged that Airbnb have excluded my dear friend  @susan17 from this community!

Susan is a real. Susan was here from the beginning. She is a SuperHost with most amazing reviews. Reviews of the kind  we only could dream of. Guests all rave about her hospitality. She will arrange a taxi to go buy ANY THING YOU WANT. Guests on a weekend away, want her kind of hosting. 

Susan is my friend. When my apartment was trashed by a party crowd and they threatened to kill me. They caused £12,000 damage. Yes I involved the police. But Susan reached out EVERY DAY to ensure I was ok! She is most amazing asset to this community! She cares about people! She cares even more about hosts! 

I am disgusted that Susan has been excluded. This CC is turning into a police state.

No! Hosts need an outlet to express their frustration. Who are you admins to state a post is ‘negative’!

How dare you exclude a host who supported so many of us!!! Outraged! Absolutely disgusting you could turn against one of the most supportive hosts out there ! Total disgust that you hung @Susan17  out to dry!!! 

[Ute42]

.

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0  

Susan won the war

You are right, Susan always fought for the small independent hosts and against the big operators.

And here's what Brian Chesky said on may 5:

• A more focused business
  
  Travel in this new world will look different, and we need to evolve Airbnb accordingly. People will want options that are closer to home, safer, and more affordable. But people will also yearn for something that feels like it’s been taken away from them — human connection. When we started Airbnb, it was about belonging and connection. This crisis has sharpened our focus to get back to our roots, back to the basics, back to what is truly special about Airbnb — everyday people who host their homes and offer experiences.
  
  This means that we will need to reduce our investment in activities that do not directly support the core of our host community. We are pausing our efforts in Transportation and Airbnb Studios, and we have to scale back our investments in Hotels and Lux.

Susan won the war, with the help of Corona.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Ute42 

I will reserve judgement on "Winning the War" as I would classify this only as a battle.

And thing with wars and battles is "You keep your friends close and your enemies closer".

Airbnb refocussing their efforts back towards their roots has not helped those "root" people very much has it? If all the money raised by Airbnb via hosting hadn't been flittered away on fantasies we would all have received our contracted cancellation fees, and Airbnb would be in a far better place. Will we now find that with the greater reliance on 'us' we will be treated more fairly? 

[Garrett48]

Absolutely.

Susan's longstanding crusade was to expose Airbnb's bizarrely self-destructive zeal for prevarication, equivocation, misleading duplicity. She wanted Airbnb to end its abusive treatment of hosts and guests, alike. She wanted Airbnb to stop telling lies - just tell the truth and be honest. That's why she was banned.

But it doesn't matter now because even the hundreds of millions of dollars spent on marketing to conceal and put a deceitful spin on Airbnb's janus-faced hypocrisy and phoniness has been undone by the pandemic. We all saw how quick Airbnb was to shaft its hosts, guests, contractors, and - most disgracefully - its own employees.

Her job is done.

[Jennifer1421]

@Garrett48 

I simply want to applaud your mastery of the English language.

Also: agree.

[Sharon1014]

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0  Not to put too fine a point on it, but I think this was purely a commercial decision - to refocus on Airbnb's roots.  The hotel industry will be scrambling all over each other for the next year for any whiff of business.  Large multinational chains can withstand loses for a year or more.  

Airbnb on the other hand, cannot.  Looks more like the company over-extended its reach in the quest to fatten up the inventory stock prior to IPO.  Except along came C-19 and the absence of effective risk management was made plain for all to see.  A corporate timing tragedy if ever there was one.

So this is a good decision, financially and for business strategy both short and long term.  Won't be at all surprised if there is another round of company downsizing in a few months time.  Tourism will be the last thing to recover.  Southern hemisphere is likely to see a surge from October onwards, northern hemisphere unlikely to recover properly until April 2021.

For Airbnb, it's now about survival.

[Sarah977]

@Sharon1014 @Ian-And-Anne-Marie0 @Ute42 

"This crisis has sharpened our focus to get back to our roots, back to the basics, back to what is truly special about Airbnb — everyday people who host their homes and offer experiences."

"Airbnb refocussing their efforts back towards their roots...."

Just because Airbnb says right now that that is what they are planning going forward doesn't mean it will be so. At this point, it's just more blah blah PR. They've always promoted the idea that Airbnb is all about caring and sharing and "belonging", even while shifting to promoting Airbnb Plus, Airbnb Luxe, hotel listings, and hosts who aren't hosts at all, but simply property managers with hundreds of listings, just as they continue to present their $1 million Host Guarantee in a way that leads new hosts or those who have no knowledge of how difficult it is to get reimbursed for damages to feel confident that they will be fully covered.

I don't believe anything Airbnb says in its PR material. I believe the actions I see.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Sarah977 

more blah blah PR

I think that sums it up precisely. It won't be reflected in actions, it never has been. Remember this statement was more towards employees, not hosts. 'Reason for sacking you: We're changing'.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

Just because Airbnb says right now that that is what they are planning going forward doesn't mean it will be so. At this point, it's just more blah blah PR.

@Sarah977 

Exactly what I was thinking~

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Sharon1014 

They've not though - focused on their roots - Once they've recovered their company on the backs of hosts who they've forced down a flexible cancellation path - and they've recouped some losses, they'll be back with their fantasies.

You did read that they stated:

we are pausing our efforts in Transportation and Airbnb Studios, and we have to scale back our investments in Hotels and Lux.

My heart bleeds! Meanwhile hundreds of thousands of hosts are fighting to keep their homes and continue with their STR starved of cash withheld from them, which Airbnb SHOULD have been holding in cash, but obviously weren't!

They state nothing about selling up or abandonment of their fantasies. In the trade off between Employees/Assets... Assets won.

[Sharon1014]

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0  Steady on. 🙂  Did you keep your cleaning staff on the payroll despite having no work?  Of course not.  Your "asset" won.  It's called business.  It's not a charity.  Yes Airbnb should have handled the refunds matter far better.  I for one have gone to strict cancellation policy and will never go back to flexible or moderate.  I would however prefer to see 50% of what guests pay when booking go directly to the host, so the responsibility is shared and hosts are cashed up with meaningful equity in the transaction as soon as the guest books.  Airbnb decide what to do with their half, we decide what to do with our half.  That arrangement looks more like a partnership to me.  It's early days yet.

@Sarah977  I don't think Airbnb will have any choice in the matter but to focus on what they do differently to the hotel chains and property managers.  Time will tell.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Sharon1014 

I think you're half getting the point with your setup and expectations I would like the same and get it in private contracts and other platforms 🙂 

Airbnb didn't sack cleaning staff (?) I very much doubt they employed any. Subs maybe? They weren't covered in this round of sackings.

But they kept all those assets which are not part of their 'Roots' - Check. Check. Check.

They did allow 'some' employees on those teams (not part of roots) to remain - Check. Ahhh!

You: (Wishlist)

Airbnb should have handled the refunds better - Check.

Strict Cancellation - Check.

Hosts should retain deposits - Check.

Shared Responsibility or equity in the contract - Check.

50% cash held by host - Check.

Are you bothered what Airbnb does with their cash - No.

Do we have a partnership - No.

Airbnb: (Reality)

Strict Cancellation - No. Recommending and positively promoting 'Flexible'.

Hosts should retain deposits - No. Instead hosts provide 100% cancellation cover for free.

Shared Responsibility or equity in the contract - No. Hosts have full responsibility and no equity.

50% cash held by host - No. Not a hope, this is now even more needed to finance Airbnb loans.

Bothered what Airbnb does with their cash - Check. Guests and Hosts need confidence.

Do we have a partnership - No.

Is a partnership claimed - Check.

From your previous reply you would definitely be benefitting from @Susan17 equality drive. She would have stated the same objectives and probably said "Time will tell" four years ago. I would doubt that could ever be said now.

[Sheila22]

That is not true because what Airbnb says in fake PR messaging is different from what the Bots on the platform are actually doing.
For example:  Airbnb is currently sending messages to Guests telling them to book a hotel room.  We don't understand what the heck that means or why it's happening, but on other Host forums screen shots of these messages from Airbnb are being posted.

[Paul1255]

Has Airbnb's short-sighted and poorly timed banning of @Susan17 from the CC inadvertently created a face for the rebellions uprising against the Capitol?

@David6  @Ute42  @Ian-And-Anne-Marie0 

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Paul1255 

"Arriving on phone backgrounds near you"

[Jennifer1421]

@Paul1255 

BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Thanks for making my morning a bit more chipper! May the odds be ever in your favour!