Accessing Airbnb Groups or Community Centre

Could it be once u access the new group they then disable ur access to the old group? I never access the new one and can access old one alright.


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My problem, and that of other Antipodean hosts is that we can't access either!   I can only get to the old groups via embedded links in emails outside Airbnb and the Community Centre button isn't anywhere to be found - and god knows I've looked for the bloody thing!  I can only find Community Centre via 'Help'.

Maybe I'm not giving it a chance, but Airbnb can take the new "community" and shove it up their AirAss.

I dont like the new community group format. Its very difficult to find anyone its too flat a format and as Deborah says some of the answers going up are wrong. there are some very active but inexperienced hosts posting. Sometimes they are giving good answers but sometimes they are not. As the level reflects the number of answers they have given rather than their experience of hosts people may give more weight to their answers than is deserved. Everyone is of course entitled to an opinion but I see these opinions stated as fact. We are different, have different hosting styles and live in different jurisdictions.  I know what has worked for me and have the reviews and the guest numbers to back it up. 

Yes, Maria Lurdes (Milu), that does happen with hosts generously giving their time to answering questions and getting rebuffed. Here is one example from yesterday, Raymond and Elaine were treated rudely by the host with the question, so several of us went in to try to set him straight.

community.airbnb.com/t5/General-Hosting/OJ-bagels-fruit/m-p/11070#U11070

Augusto

OJ, bagels, fruit
Hi,

Airbnb emails me the usual "Reservation Reminder" asking to fill the fridge with a few breakfast goods (OJ, bagels, fruit), which makes somehow sense to me.
Now, what if coming Guest really expects to find OJ+Bagel+Fruit? I don't remember of offering all those those goods. Or maybe they are available to pay for those?


Best

Clare
I think the OJ, bagels, etc. is just a suggestion to the host. Guests shouldn't expect these things unless you promise them in your listing description, etc. I have a entire home listing which is not close to grocery stores so I provide breakfast items. I don't describe them in my listings but guests mention it in reviews, so now I'm stuck! I don't ask for extra $....I consider it to be just the cost of doing business.

Augusto
Thanks for sharing your experience, Clare. I like the way you ofer your business, and I'm sure your Guests will appreciate that.
My main concern here is to fully satisfy Guests expectations... I guess I need airbnb staff support.
Cheers!

Raymond & Elaine
@augusto Haha Augusto, Airbnb staff support on what to give guests for breakfast, I hope you were joking. It's difficult as it is to contact airbnb for big problems so I hope new hosts won't clog up the system with common sense questions. If you want to provide breakfast that's fine, if you don't that's fine too. Just do as Clare says and make it clear what guests can expect when they stay with you.


Augusto
What a poor answer from @raymond & Elaine .. hoops.... right... from France... I see now.

I really feel I'm wasting my time here.

Bye the way, I always had very effective support from airbnb. Of course I have never got in touch with them laughing and offending, as Monsier Raymond is doing here.

Ed & Hugh
We used to put those out for guests, but none ever ate them, so now we tell them to let us know if they would like light breakfast items.

Helga
@augusto, before you critise Raymond and Elaine's "poor answer" for laughing, you can check the hospitaly suggestions on the airbnb website and app. There is a chapter concerning arrival and how to prepare the apartment.

Airbnb is a multination company, making money from connecting hosts and guests. They do a good job on that, but they are not defining the rules to a point to tell you if you should buy orange juice or tea bags or nothing at all. Signing up for hosting on airbnb, you did not put your brain on hold. In my opinion, it would be a waste of commission, thereby leading to raised rates, if airbnb had to occupy staff to answer such questions over staff support.


Knowing Elaine, I can tell you that she bakes fresh pancakes for her guests for breakfast: try to top that ;-)



Deanna
Augusto, that was an idiotic remark, especially to someone as nice as Elaine. You should be so lucky to get any more advice from experienced hosts if this is how you respond. Go ahead and clog up Airbnb CX, that will go over well.

Jessa
dude, once you are hosting your first druggies or wife beaters or let's smash this room like we are rock stars at the Ritz - that is when you need airbnb staff support. Before that please don't delay the waiting time for those in need of help. When it comes to things like the breakfast experience you will find that seasoned hosts like R&E or Helga are way better support than the average customer service agent who most likely is not operating an airbnb and may never even have stayed at one before.


Clare
Well, jessa, @deanna,@helga, I see that old guard from A&S and NHF has found its way to CC! Now we're talkin'!

Deanna:
Just to be supportive , otherwise it's pretty dull. How can you stand it?

Deborah
Deborah

@augusto

Clare, Raymond and Elaine, JEssa, Ed & Hugh, Helga and Deanna are all very experienced hosts who have been giving generously of their time to help new hosts for a year or more. It's my hope that those new to these AIrbnb groups will respect the contributions of such experienced hosts. You recieved a response from Clare, which really gave you the entire answer, the same answer you would have from Airbnb customer service. Yet you then said you thought you needed to contact customer service. IN fact in general with questions about hosting, as Jessa indicates, experienced hosts are likely to be far more helpful to you than customer service staff.


Just another comment about "satisfying guests' expectations" -- it's vital that hosts realize that it is YOU as the host who are responsible in part to make sure your guests have realistic expectations. Taking the point of view that you have to provide whatever guests want and satisfy all their expectations, can lead to problems ---- burnout and great disappointment, when you discover what experienced hosts know -- that some guests will never be satisfied, no matter what you provide them. Because some people are like that. What if you provide OJ, bagels and fruit, and your guest expected (or demanded) a tasty homecooked ham and spinach and cheddar cheese omelette with diced potatoes, fresh baked scones and homemade jam, fresh squeezed orange juice -- and not only that but free lunch and dinner as well. Oh and a ride to and from the airport, with you as chauffeur.


By having a listing description, saying what you provide, and saying what you dont' provide,you help create appropriate guest expectations.


And if you think AIrbnb customer service has the best answers, then call them and dont' ask questions here because this is a community of experienced hosts with years of collective experience hosting all kinds of guests.



Jennifer And Brian
I saw a presentation at the Open 2015 that essentially said we have to manage our guests expectations before they arrive. So communicate in some way what you are providing and what your guests should expect. We have been guests in remote areas where breakfast places and markets are not available. So the host provided breakfast. But everyone knew ahead of time what was expected.

Make sense to me.

Augusto

I'm not sure at all, Helga.
Good communuties rely on nice comments.
That second comment is very disapponting, with very poor or even none value (not answering).


Thanks, and keep up with you work!


Augusto

>>>Well, jessa, @deanna,@helga, I see that old guard from A&S and NHF has found its way to CC! Now we're talkin'!<<<

This is a bit cryptic. (or maybe out of topic)

Could you please reformulate?

Thanks




Augusto

Out off the stress I see around this, I feel the need to be more clear with my question posted at the top (sorry, no "edit" option available)

This question is NOT about if we should or should not give food to our beloved Guests. Off topic.

Airbnb is a "Reservation Reminder Email" is asking me to "...Fill the fridge with a few breakfast goods (OJ, bagels, fruit)...".
This is confusing to me, since I never offered those goods to my guest, and - as airbnb itself says - I need manage our guests expectations before they arrive.

Now, I really hope airbnb never said (or emailed) to my guest: "Ehi, Augusto is waiting for you with a tasty OJ for you"! Otherwise, Guest could be disappointed if there's no OJ here. Making any sense?

So - since that OJ suggestion seems to be confusing and giving no value to me - my sugggestion to airbnb is: "Please improve that sentence in your Reminder". Happy to receive and ear nice clarifications/thoughts about this, of course.

Thanks everybody who shared experiences here!

Always, be polite and have fun!

Deb:
I've used Airbnb as a guest several times. I don't remember any airbnb emails indicating the host would be providing breakfast. I have only stayed in "entire home" airbnbs except once and that listing did not include breakfast. Hope that helps.


Augusto
Thanks Deb,
it does help.

Kind regards



Helga
Augusto, you got a lot of reactions, because you insulted Elaine, whom others in this forum know as a very helpful and nice person and your remark about M Raymond being French was totally out of order. Do you say such things to your French guests too?



We all tried to tell you with more or less humor (I liked jessa's accurate preview on future guests very much) that it is not reasonable to clog up customer service with a question about breakfast items.



To resolve your confusion: the OJ remark has been in place for many years now, I don't read it any more, so I could not say if you get it every time or from time to time only.

In Rome, like in Paris, there is cheap interesting food to be had on every corner of the street, don't buy too much, most people won't eat it. They all want to try out what they can find themselves.

If you want to be in compliance with every rule and suggestion, buy a sixpack of small OJ packages, if they only drink one glass, you won't have to throw out everything. And buy a package of some dry breakfast bread, best those with singly packed portions inside and a can of breadspread. If someone gets hungry at midnight or at breakfast there is something in the house. And if nobody gets hungry, it keeps for months.



I still wonder: if you get a mail one day to kiss the floor or stand on your head and wiggle your toes for welcome, will you do that too?

Good point about the "flatness" of the groups and how it impacts regional answers - it's still very under-developed but I can see that it will be a cluttered mess if the current layout tries to support various regional groups. This feels a little like "it wasn't broke but let's fix it", but c'est la vie!