First Live Q&A with Donna Boyer, Director of Product

[Lizzie]

Hello everyone,

I am pleased to share some very exciting news with you. We will be hosting our first Live Q&A session, exclusively here in the Community Center on Monday, June 19th at 12pm PST (San Francisco time).

[To make sure you are aware in your different times zones: 3pm EST (New York time) / 8pm BST (London time) / 5am AEST (Sydney time-June 20th)]

You might be asking yourself, what is a Live Q&A? In simple words, a Live Q&A is a live online event in which members of our Community will have the opportunity to ask questions to an individual from Airbnb, basically like an interview. During the Live Q&A this person will try to answer as many questions as possible in the allocated time. Sounds exciting, no?

So, who will be our first guest for our Live Q&A? It’s going to be Donna Boyer 🙂

Donna is Director of Product at Airbnb where she leads the Product Team focused on host experience. In addition to being a Superhost, Donna is a mother of two and has spent over 20 years empowering product teams, leading product at Hyperion Solutions, Yahoo!, RMG Networks, Callaway Digital Arts and Blurb. Donna also serves on the board of Girls in Tech, a non-profit focused on the engagement, education and empowerment of girls and women who are passionate about technology.

The Live Q&A will be a global event across all our Communities, so if you see another member asking questions in a different language – don’t be surprised and enjoy the diversity of our Community. We’ll do our best to give you a provisional translation during the event, so that you are able to follow the discussion.

Take out your calendar and set a reminder to be part of our first Live Q&A session, which is going to take place on Monday, June 19th at 12pm PST (please see above for a guide on what time this is in different timezones). Don’t miss it! 🙂

The following link will bring you directly to our Live Thread. Please note that the Live Thread will only be open for questions when the Q&A starts.

Thank you,

Lizzie

[Max135]

Hi Ms Dona

Sea Bay Resort has registered such a long time so no guest contact or booking why is that?

This is best  price for beach  front  and area   is 18 km from Colombo airport.

[James106]

I have c alled three times to ask why I am not getting email messages when potential guests ask?

EARLY THIS AM KNOWING THAT THE WEEKEND IS APPROACHING I went on line to discover that someone had in fact booked arriving today without any porior knowledge on my part, This is OK, however, there was a second inquiry when said zI could not accept it because according to my calendar the space was booked. NOT, NOT, NOT, Then later it prmitted me to send a special offer, and my price had already been cug to the bone by your automstic pricing when I regret I accepted.  I think I know this market better, but I was led into accepting because I am not getting messages. You are really scrfewing me over. You system used to work seamlessly, but it has now ripped. James ****

[Christine1]

@James106, Sorry to hear that you have had a difficult time.

I recommend that you go through all the options in your host tools, calendar settings account settings, notification preferences and booking preferences including availability periods and exclusion periods. and every other setting, Use a reliable PC and stable internet connection, using a suitable browser to get the best from your website. Ensure that your software is up to date, this too can be the source of problems and not all of them are due to Airbnb. When you have done all this go back over all your settings again after 24 hours to double check that your preferences were saved.

Look at your website from the point of view of a guest to see if things are as you wish as well.

You should discover that you have the ability to fix your settings, in such a way as to eliminate most of the problems which you mentioned.

Keep checking all your settings not just your calendar, on a semi regular basis in order to minimise the chances of problems in the future.

Good luck, and enjoy the process.

Best regards, Christine.

[Michael344]

Institutional Racism in the handling of Airbnb Cases by Case Managers : A personal experience

My name is Michael . This is my airbnb profile https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/2310297?preview_for_ml

I have an ongoing case with Airbnb that has lasted 5 weeks now. I was co-hosting for 3 individuals and Airbnb failed to pay me despite the fact that I had warned them that my money was not appearing in the transaction history.

The reason for this 4 week delay has been due to gross negligence on the part of Case managers who for most part do not respond accurately to cases and the Airbnb system failure that failed to include my pay-outs.

I have been calling airbnb on a daily basis, sometimes having to wait for hours... I have lost time, money, and I haven't been fully paid.

The Case Manager decided that I will not be compensated and I chose to appeal againist her decision. She refered me to her Supervisor who together with her I overheard them on my phone making racist remarks about my complaint.

Note : I have their conversations recorded on my phone and I'm willing to share this information with anyone willing to help. I was treated very badly by these two individuals and they have told me that there decision is final.

I hope someone out there iat Airbnb above these racist individuals can re-examine my case.

My case is still on my file and its been handled by one  -Kristina

[Lizzie]

Hello @Michael344,

Lovely to meet you. I am sorry to hear your frustation here, I have seen your other post on this elsewhere in the Community Center and as it is an on-going case I hope it gets resolved shortly and you can go back to being a fantastic co-host. 

In term of this thread here, it is relating directly to the Live Q&A session which will be held on Monday 19th June. All question for this have to be posted during the live event in the specific thread mentioned in my opening post here.

Also, I would just like to highlight so you can address your question appropriately, Donna is the Director of Product, so she will not be able to answer any specific support questions relating to an individual account or case. However, this is a great opportunity to wider your question and make it a more general regarding different aspects of the Airbnb product. 

I hope this helps and I look forward to seeing you on Monday.

Thanks,

Lizzie

[Suzanne87]

Definitely interested in taking part. 🤔

Suzanne R-P Sunshine NSW Australia 

[Lizzie]

Fantastic, I hope you can join us. 🙂

Thanks for letting us know @Suzanne87.

Lizzie

[Kate274]

I'd like more choices in setting up my profile.

My BnB has 2 possible rooms.  I'd like to offer multiple options, rather than just "whole house" or "rent room" only.

That way each room would have it's own separate charge; my guests could choose from:  1) "need whole house, without owner" or get a discounted rate for  2) "access to whole house, but owner may wish to stay."  Also, they could rent each individual room or both, with each priced independently.  It would mean I might make less money, but it would benefit my guests and give them more options.

[Lizzie]

Hello @Kate274, @James106, @Max135, @Hermina0, @Wessel1, @Irina87, @Magda36, @Anonymous, @Anna707, @Mary468, @Ellen110, @Madura0, @Bastian-And-Wayana0, 

Welcome to the Community Center, it is fantastic to see you want to join the Live Q&A. 

I just wanted to recap as I have mentioned elsewhere here, this thread is actually an announcement topic for the live Q&A session which will be held with Donna on Monday 19th June. All question for this have to be posted during the live event in the specific thread mentioned in my opening post here.

Also, I know you are keen to ask specific questions relating to you own listing, however as Donna is the Director of Product, she will not be able to answer any specific support questions relating to an individual account or case during this session. However, this is a great opportunity to perhaps wider your question, so that the whole community can benefit from her response.

Lastly, there is a lot of experience here in the Community Center, if you have a specific question that other hosts might be able to help with, I would suggest starting a new topic in the Help board. 🙂

I hope this helps and I look forward to seeing you on Monday.

Thanks,

Lizzie

[Anonymous]

Millstream inn South Africa

Why do you not have a contact number where we as guest owners can contact you.

I am upset

Danie Erasmus

[Beth44]

We used to get email notices with sign in/registration for webinar opportunities. Do we now need to check in on community/updates to find these opportunities?

[Bridget35]

The way people find Airbnb homes.  In the U.K. there are a number of areas eg: the

Cotswolds which is a range of hills which runs between Moreton-in-the-Marsh in the

the north to Tetbury in the south.  If some-one searches The Cotswolds for instance

they would not expect to find houses in Cheltenham which is not in the Cotswolds.

Some-one needs to check out these areas and list the houses accordingly, at the

moment this is very wrongly done.

[Augusta7]

Hi, 

Can someone tell me what number to call in or or where to log in for this? I don't see it...

Thank you,

August

[Timothy57]

I love, LOVE, LOVE! Airbnb but HATE the lack of customer service...

     Thank you for the upcoming live session. I hope it will be a productive discussion. I am new to Airbnb as a host but have already had several great guests and experiences. I especially appreciate the ease of using the website and calendar.

     I hope Airbnb will address the inability to reach customer service even after their first level of customer support determines the issue is valid. I have a 4 week old issue with an incorrect tax setting made by Airbnb that Airbnb has acknowledged but still has not corrected. Meanwhile, guests are being taxed incorrectly (too much) and I am having to reach in my pocket monthly to pay the correct government agency. I only cite my specific issue to illustrate that this is not a vague emotional issue; it is a valid concern.

   Understandably, Airbnb guides people to Q&As rather than providing phone numbers to avoid staffing for trivial or frequently asked questions. But it is taken too far: There seems to be inadequate staffing to address true issues that seemingly would be an "easy fix." (Most other condos in my complex already have the correct setting, so my issue does not require Airbnb to develop a new feature or write new programming code...)

   I have worked diligently to establish my listing and follow excellent tips by Airbnb for being a good host. And I LOVE so many things about Airbnb and its community. But my growing frustration over not being able to reach help when needed has me considering delisting and going elsewhere (which I truly don't want to do.)

[Zaza3]

hi