@Lizzie
Thanks for bringing this up. I’ve found it to be...interesting as I’ve searched for insight and tried to leave comments and send messages.
My reply to your thoughtful query goes beyond superficial topic organization to functionality and community safety and morale which are foundational to this community.
1- I think it’s important for guests and hosts to have separate areas to address matters specific to each, AND a combined area to post community concerns. Many sound reasons have already been offered. The aspect of scammer guests searching for loopholes and malicious guests seeking ways to express negative agendas is valid because I’m dealing with a disturbing one myself who learned all they needed to know by trolling this forum. A minority, yes, but a valid concern that isn’t taken seriously by staff we are required to deal with, knowing that if it were a guest reporting the same it would be addressed quite differently.
2- better search engine that goes beyond tagging so we can find all posts relating to a particular issue ...and btw, this is also an issue for guests searching for prospective properties...what comes up in searches is often not what we seek, inspiring many go to other platforms.
This tech area needs attention site-wide for accuracy to address “fatigue,” frustration, wasted time and walking away. Guests have mentioned this several times, especially my repeat guests. They can’t search for my listing based on title or by searching for me so in thier frustration they reach out to me in our already established message feed because properties over 100 miles away appear instead of what they’re searching for, and before listings that are specific to thier searches.
Others have commented negatively on not being able to filter out commercial properties to find “real Airbnb’s.” I’ve inquired with CS and the primary response has been “giving exposure to outlying properties”. That can still happen, but when someone searches an area, it’s where they want to be, and other areas close by should come up in the queue AFTER the preferred area.
3- add a “classifieds/services” section so people can find each other for co hosting, cleaning, the occasional home swapping option, etc. The “connect locally” category is only for major global cities. The rest of us have no way to connect. Organizing it by requiring a subject/title including our location and need would make it easy to search, as long as that line is included in searches, rather than just tagging.
4- the pinned post at the top of the forum and in each category stating what it’s for and how to navigate would be helpful
5- the reply glitches previously mentioned are real, along with the phenomenon of having to copy our messages and replies before pressing “reply/send” because the system just messes up and they are lost leaving error messages stating our presence isn’t “authenticated” “oops we can’t send this now, try again later” or similar time waster apprears with no way to recover what we just put sometimes 40 minutes of valuable time composing (even though we’re signed in and haven’t moved an inch and our WiFi is excellent) and we lose everything we’ve composed (unless we remember to “select all” and “copy” before sending).
This isn’t just frustrating, it’s inspired me to spend less time here because I don’t have it to waste. (I’m going through that extra unannounced required copy step now). The same thing happens in our community inboxes and message feed with guests. It’s truly maddening, leads to “demerits” for hosts based on the resulting communication delays, and needs attention. I’ve actually learned to save screen shots of my message feed and call CS to advocate for myself to avoid being penalized, and CS agrees it’s messed up.
6- device/entry method (in)compatibility: I get very different layouts and experiences with timing and useability between my pc, tablet, and IPhone with the site and app, with the iPhone being my most used and most frustrating across the board with so many glitches and delays I’ve begun to set aside specific times to reply here (and to guests requests) for 3x/day when I’m home working on my PC to avoid them. It runs the gamut from inability to post images to “accept”and “send/reply” buttons that don’t consistently work. “Feedback” and calls to support yield either no resolution or no reply. Asking to be “escalated” to tech support is spotty, and they’ve been mystified as well, especially with all of the various unannounced rollouts effecting the weirdest things...
...which also effect my “response timeliness” when the “accept/decline buttons simply don’t work at times on various devices...all corresponding to rollouts. More valuable time spent to address situations directly effecting my ratings and ability to do business I have no control over.
7- new rollouts: we totally NEED an active category for this with the ability for Q&A and useful replies not just from community members, but staff and management who are qualified to respond with useful answers.
We have to deal with whatever comes our way with tact and grace, and it’s like being on a ship without a captain or compass some days because of myriad “platform upgrades” being rolled out without notice, and the consequences we have to deal with on the front end, many of which were not foreseen by the very creators responsible for making things work. The “left hand” (corporate) makes decisions as they wish with seemingly no regard for possible incompatibilities aka what the right hand (hosts and guests) have to deal with as a result. Many of these “rollouts” have created significant dysfunction and security issues.
I think creating a category for this would create a sense of mutual respect and level of accountability that would improve morale all around, and alleviate thousands of frantic calls to support/CS staff that have no idea what’s going on, don’t possess the expertise to help, and get fatigued and frustrated with us, with the scripts they’re given to reply becoming insulting to everyone.
Ive truly enjoyed the wisdom, comeraderie, and learned much from this forum.
BTW, I’ve shared much of the foundational issues via direct reply to CS and “feedback” which is like throwing a coin into a bottomless wishing well...
Thank you for all you do.
