Innclusive's Anti-Discrimination Practices - Sound Familiar?

[Rebecca181]

Anyone who is aware of the home-share platform 'Innclusive', and how it came to be (it started out as a direct reaction to Airbnb's perceived discriminatory policies and practices) will recognize the new (and controversial) 'anti-discriminatory' practices and policies of Airbnb's as being eerily similar to Innclusive's own policies designed to prevent discrimination. Not sure if Airbnb  copied it exactly, but it almost seems like they did. Any of this sound familiar? From the Innclusive website at https://www.innclusive.com/why-innclusive:

Discrimination happens on Airbnb and other platforms primarily through folks seeing the names and photos of guests before accepting the booking. On our platform we remove this opportunity for discrimination by introducing the photo only after the booking is confirmed.

 

Discrimination happens far more likely on properties that require the host to approve properties first vs instant book properties that a guest can book and be instantly approved. 99.9% of our properties are instant book, and this is by design, so there is no opportunity for discrimination in the first place.

 

We use technology to prevent a host from denying a booking to one guest and then making those same dates available to another guest.

[Sarah977]

@Rebecca181  Yes, it's the hypocrisy and disconnect between the blah blah about trust and sharing, and the reality of all the "punishments, "penalties", the lack of listening or caring what hosts need or want, that irritates me the most. The examples are too lengthy to list, but one that I just can't wrap my head around is when hosts get suspended or delisted because of a guest complaint, yet the host isn't afforded the opportunity to even present their side because Airbnb won't tell them what the complaint was about!  If someone got fired from their job and the employer refused to tell them why, they'd be hauled into labor relations and never be allowed to get away with that. Or can you imagine getting thrown in jail without being told what you were charged with.

We are told we are not Airbnb employees, but independent contractors, but the company deals with us as if we are employees and they get to make all the rules, all the decisions, and mete out all the punishments.

[Rebecca181]

@Sarah977 Indeed, in this rather Dystopian and Dysfunctional Universe also known as Airbnb, hosts are "guilty with no opportunity of proving their innocence". Let us all now partake in a moment of silence to honor Airbnb's 'Forgotten' and the 'Disappeared' (David in Colorado being one such example of an apparently exemplary Super Host and valuable community member who had his successful listing removed from the platform and was never told why...And this has unfortunately happened to quite a few super hosts and hosts in good standing, not just one or two).

[Deborah614]

@Rebecca0      did "David in Colorado" sin by speaking out on this forum, provided by Airbnb?   

[Rebecca181]

@Deborah614 David in Colorado had actually once been a community support person (like Robin in Australia once was); he was probably the most neutral, practical, level-added, non-reactionary, matter-of-fact host to ever grace this platform. His Airbnb was a converted railroad station, charming as all get-out. He was a trusted host here on the platform, and never hesitated to offer help when he could. Then one day he was locked out of his listing (but could still post here). He never could find out why. So overnight, without warning or recourse - BOOM!!! -his Airbnb business was done (he is able to get bookings elsewhere, mercifully, and was not solely dependent on Airbnb - always a wise position to be in).

He handled the whole mess with grace and dignity. What bothered me almost as much as his unceremonious ouster from Airbnb was the fact that more than a few hosts insinuated, "Well, he MUST have done SOMETHING to be removed from the platform" (i.e., his guilt was assumed to be a given). This has happened to quite a few hosts over the years - In fact, I was warned about even very successful super hosts being 'disappeared' by Airbnb for no apparent reason by some hosts in Oregon who have been on the platform for years when I first listed my home. I found it hard to believe when they first told me, but then I started to see it happen myself. David is just the latest caualty. Reminds me a bit of the short story 'The Lottery'. Which, if you know it, you will know that this  is not a very flattering association.

[Deborah614]

@Rebecca181 

Totally inexplicable.   

Here's what a conspiracy theorist might wonder:   if David was ever subsequently approached by someone wanting to buy his converted railroad station... 

David sounds like an intelligent and highly creative soul, and as such the universe will already have sent him something better.   

[Deborah614]

@Rebecca181 

I was wondering where David with his converted railway platform might be now, and look here, the perfect platform for  him  

http://www.oddinns.com/index.php/pages/railroadcarshotels.html

So you see, when one door closes, a better one opens.   

[Rebecca181]

@Deborah614  Great website! I wonder if I am odd enough to qualify? Er, I mean, I wonder if my LISTING is odd enough (cough cough...).

[Deborah614]

@Rebecca181 

One moment, I will check .  

[Rebecca181]

@Deborah614 BTW, as usual, I am not being notified when I am tagged - do you see my tags to you in your notifications?

[Deborah614]

@Rebecca181 

Yes, just checked and a whole column.  I've just ventured into this host community chat facility today, just to see what other hosts are discussing.    And found so many do not like the guest being a ghost when booking.   i.e. not being visible in terms of a picture and a blurb about themselves.  

[Deborah614]

Even employees get treated better, and that's enforced by law.   Contractors on the other hand, can get treated any way the contractee decides.    

However, I have worked as a contractor for almost 20 years, in the business environment, as a marketing specialist / strategic planner / business analyst, and I prefer to be a contractor.   I expect that the pin can be pulled by the other party at any time, based on the Contract wordings.  Usually my contract wordings had a notice period for an early contract termination.   It only happened the once and I received the equivalent of 8 weeks of earnings.   

There is no such termination penalty for Airbnb.  They can pull the digital pin on our listing at any time.   So just make your hay while the sun shines, because while we know that the sun will come up in the morning, our Airbnb listing might go down with the rising of the sun!    

Ask, "what would the Dalai Lama say?"      - I always find that helpful.   xx

[Rebecca181]

@Deborah614 I work quite a bit as an independent contractor myself. But rarely (in fact, never) do I feel I am a pawn-like character from the movie 'The Hunger Games'. Only Airbnb takes honors for that.

[Deborah614]

Very astute and articulate observations.   thank you Barbara.  

Deborah, New Zealand

[Deborah614]

Because, guest is the Buyer, the host is the Seller.     And Sellers in any business are usually expected to bend over backwards to deliver "total customer satisfaction" and all that.     Some sellers, confident of their value, sometimes rebel.   My cousin is a leading chef, and if someone wants 'gluten free' he asks to see a doctor's certificate, because he's fed up with the 'gluten free' trend.      He can afford to do that.   for every slave to fashion he chucks out of his restaurant, another hundred are lined up to dine.       

By the same token, Airbnb, with policies like this, will eventually lose their "Stars".   they will lose their very best of hosts first.     We all have our tipping points.   It would pay to decide what you will put up with and what you wont.   And what changes Airbnb make in the way they do things actually affects your own hosting, or whether it doesn't really matter because only those who discriminate based on a person's appearance shouldn't be a host anyway.   

[Rebecca181]

By the way, this post has gotten quite a few thumbs up, which I can see in my notifications. However, only two thumbs up are showing. Is this just on my end?