References...

[Jerry9]

How do you request a reference?  Thank you.

[Gurinder1]

I referred one of my friend and his listing has been already published, His profile was visible till yesterday in the people I referred section but now it’s not visible there. I was supposed to get a commission on his first booking but his profile is not visible there anymore. 

[Andrew-And-Carol0]

Has there been any progress with this issue of loading references?  It is clearly stated that a host may seek and upload a reference, not a review, from another AirBNB registered person who is not a guest but who does know the host and the host’s house.  We have used the suggested Messenger request system and the two people we asked have written references but we can find no way to load these references.  The issue was first raised two years ago so presumably the matter has been resolved by now. Please advise what I need to do.

[Andrew-And-Carol0]

I think I have the answer to the question of how to upload a reference.  If the referee goes to this website, it appears he or she writes the reference in the top right hand box.  This for the Australian site but I imagine it will be similar elsewhere.

https://www.airbnb.com.au/vouch/193114211?r=0cece

Good luck with it but I have to ask why is it so hard to get answers to these questions?

[Andrew-And-Carol0]

Sorry.  It appears this is how one uploads a reference but it will only appear in visible form if the host has taken the extraordinary risk of linking his or her AirBNB account to a Facebook account.  Sorry to get your hopes up!  Brick bats to the AirBNB staff for not explaining this years ago - and preferably fixing the problem too!

[Gilberto3]

Hello!

i went through this one yr ago

my property in Tuscany is 95% booked to end of September 

via the two major competitors platforms

not a single booking via AirBnB

It is said the proof is in the pudding

my statement above demonstrates the catch 22 operation mode of AirBnB in terms of ranking and eviews references etc

[Andrew-And-Carol0]

There is clearly a problem here with the whole matter of references, not reviews.  Many people quite rightly do not want to link to a Facebook account, or do not have one.  There is a strong call to provide for the loading of references without FB yet it appears that no action is being taken by staff at AirBNB, not even to respond to the request to say there is reason why it can’t be done.  This unresponsiveness is what is so difficult.  Over the years, I have had a couple of issues which the community could not answer but have been unable to seek an answer from AirBNB itself.  Does anyone know why the staff are so unwilling to help?

[Bob240]

This is discouraging!  I'm a new host, it's nearly August 2018, and this problem still exists.  

The problem is, there are 3 pages that refer to "References, but none tell how to request one, nor provide a means to do so.  

The first, https://www.airbnb.com/users/references, link via "Learn how to get References" to ...

The second, https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/173/what-are-references-on-airbnb but this page only describes what a reference is, and that an Airbnb account with a picture is required to provide one, but DOES NOT DESCRIBE HOW TO REQUEST A REFERENCE.  The "View or request' references button on this page LINKS BACK TO THE FIRST PAGE.  It's circularly, and never answers the question.

The third page, https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/334/why-isn-t-a-reference-appearing-on-my-profile is similar.  It only describes what a reference is and how to handle one, but still no help to request or provide one.

What is the solution, pray tell?  This problem is an old one that has frustrated many other hosts in the community.

[Jay181]

Today, 9/10/2018, I got this response from Airbnb on References

"https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/173/what-are-references-on-airbnb"

A user 10:25 AM

Hello

My name is Sayaka, an Airbnb expert and a Superhost.
Hope this message finds you well and I will try my best to help with any concerns you may have.

I'm sorry but that feature has been removed and the help article is currently being updated to reflect that change.

[Jennifer976]

I have several past guests who want to write a reference but can't.  How is it possible that Airbnb has left this issue unresolved for so many years??

[Gilberto3]

A perspective, a factual one, from an owner of a Tuscan watchtower near Florence in the Chianti region, that has long give up with thiscAirBnB approach and successfully works only with its major conoetitor

Reviews are associated to the property, to the owner and to the traveler: not to the site where the traveler booked or whether the owner or travel do social media 

[Jennifer976]

I just recieved this message today.  

Airbnb Support

3:21 PM

I have checked our processes, and I'm afraid to tell you that this has been discontinued, which means users are no longer able to add references; furthermore, no new reference requests can be sent. However, existing references will remain for now.