Catherine’s Host Update: Upgrades to Community Support

Catherine’s Host Update: Upgrades to Community Support

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Hi everyone,

 

I’m thrilled to be sharing this Host Update with you, which has exciting news about how we’re up-leveling our Community Support team and policies. 

 

Some of the top concerns you’ve shared over the past year include having difficulty reaching an Airbnb Support Ambassador, and then not receiving a tailored response to your individual situation or the follow through you needed.

 

Because of your feedback, our Head of Global Operations, Tara Bunch, and VP of Community Support, Brent Potts, are rolling out major improvements to Community Support and significantly increasing the size of our support team around the world. This will ensure that we can respond to your situation quickly and thoroughly. 

 

We’re focusing on more personalized and empathetic responses to the experiences you report to us. This is so important. Every circumstance is different, and the team is going to work with you to better understand what you’re facing and then resolve it. We’re also simplifying Host and guest policies to better manage your expectations, and offering personalized “Smart Solutions” in the Help Center. 

 

And starting in North America on September 30, 2021, we’re rolling out Dedicated Superhost Support. This program will continue rolling out globally throughout 2021 and will offer you exclusive access to tenured Support Ambassadors who can handle situations efficiently. 

 

As always, thank you for sharing the topics that matter to you.

 

I’ll be in touch again soon with more news! 

 

All my best,

Catherine

133 Replies 133
Beth214
Level 2
Bristol, RI

I read this article after calling for help and not receiving any.  Sorry, I'm in the United States and have a real problem getting help that speaks English.  That being said, I have no where to turn at this point for help.

Christopher995
Level 6
La Altagracia Province, Dominican Republic

I have been asking for 59 days for an Airbnb supervisor to explain an unfavorable resolution center request I made.  The Airbnb policy says I was supposed to be paid for 2 days when a guest left early.  All I want is a clear explanation of the policy from a supervisor.  I have sent at least 6 emails requesting support and have received no responses.  It would take 5 minutes to either tell me I am correct and reverse the decision, or tell me where I am wrong.

My experience is that if you ask Airbnb a question they don't like, they just don't answer.  Good luck! 

Lucy747
Level 3
London, United Kingdom

Hi @Catherine-Powell , I've just come across this post and I see it was posted in May of this year.  I can honestly say that I have seen no evidence of  "more personalized and empathetic responses to the experiences" from Airbnb.  In fact I can safely say I've been receiving completely the opposite in the last two weeks since courtesy of Airbnb, a drug gang moved into my property and I had to get police to remove them.  I'm now trying to deal with the fall out. And if the gang  wasn't terrifying or  bad enough - I mean  How did known criminals get through Airbnb's vetting proceedures in the first place - the dealing with Airbng is the equivalent of havinbg salt rubbed into an already raw wound. I'm not sure there's any point listing my very long list of grievances with Airbnb here.  Its long and tedious and reads like a "how to deliver appalling customer service" manual.  I have been trying to submit a formal complaint to Airbnb but even that's impossible.  Any respectable corporate would have a complaints procedure in place. But not Airbnb it seems.  If you ask anyone on the phone or email, they can't answer whether there even is one let alone where I might find that.  I've also been asking for the finer details of their insurance policy.  Yes the one that Airbnb boast is $1000000 but actually what you find is that there are limits and caps all over the place and I suspect it's going to end up being somewhat redundant.  Then there are the lost bookings as a result which I was confidently told would be reimbursed but now when I go to get that reimbursement, there is no one who is actually dealing with this.   I've been told things are difficult but because there are alot of different departments involved.  Fine - so surely what is needed is one point of contact for hosts in my situation and that one point of contact will then liaise internally with all the different Airbnb departments involved - in my case, cleaning, damage, security and more! But no such luck.  No such logic.  Just endless fobbing off and never being able to speak to the same person twice. I'm so disgusted with Airbnb's irresponsible attitude towards the safety of their hosts and guests that I am recommending to the London Council that Airbnb lose their license to operate in our city.  There are plenty of other avenues now to book through and Airbnb just isn't safe any more. 

Can you sue them? 
I asked for an address to file a formal demand and after few weeks and numerous attempts to get the contact info for formal complaints I received this address: 

*personal information hidden*

 

good luck !!!

 

sincerely,

 

Mariya   

MW
Addison0
Level 2
Tucson, AZ

Hello, I just wanted to add my 2 cents. Having been a host since the beginning of the Airbnb phenomenon I can say that my experience with customer support has gone from unbelievably awesome to unbelievably horrible. I'm very glad to hear that changes are coming but please don't over sell and under deliver. The biggest problem is that customer service uses a cut and paste response to every question. If you are calling with an issue, more than likely you need help because a stock answer online doesn't fit. It's incredibly frustrating to explain over and over and over again a problem only to receive the same non answer or the most useless suggestion imaginable. Respectfully, I would suggest bringing back the customer service center to the mainland. Many times the problem is communication. The support center doesn't seem to fully comprehend the issues involves. Looking forward to some meaningful host support. Seriously, these are our homes. Not all of us are land agents. Thanks, Addison

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Catherine-Powell  And here we are, almost 6 months after this announcement you were "thrilled" to make and Airbnb customer support is even more abyssmal than it already was. Outsourced, poorly trained reps who don't seem able to comprehend simple issues, users wait days to get any sort of response, and months to get cases resolved, reps give out terrible advice and incorrect information and some are downright rude, and host' listings get suspended for any lie a guest comes up with.

 

 

We are having an awful experience as well. 

Issam55
Level 2
Amman, Jordan

Thanks for sharing this.. i hope we could all together make the Airbnb community has the best reviews in all the hosting communities all over the world 

Rick-and-Deana0
Level 3
Silverthorne, CO

Catherine,

 

I have been trying for more than a week and over a dozen emails to get Customer Service to listen to my concern about grossly over charging (by more than double) the legal amount for Occupancy Taxes in our area.  I have read the articles and understand all the various different types of taxes and fees that various tax jurisdictions charge and yet I am still 100% certain all of our guests are being over charged. The county I live it also agrees 100%.  And the town/city we are near that you erroneously think we live in also agrees.  We are in an unincorporated section of our county and our taxes are much different than the town/city we are located "near but not in."  NO ONE in Customer Service will work with me on this.  I have been sent to the "tax department" that only communicates by email and sent them everything they asked for but the ONLY THING they looked at was my USPS address which uses the town/city we are nearest.  They have not looked at the GPS coordinates I sent them or the licensee from the county we live in etc.  They also are saying that they can't read the attachments I sent them (PDF forms as well as text inside emails) and yet they won't tell me what format I should send.  I have specifically requested they tell me the format so I can try and resend to them but after three requests I have been ignored and now NO ONE will contact me.  I am 100% certain that someone who understand tax jurisdictions in the US and who will take five minutes to look over my information will immediately realize the mistake AirBnB has made and correct the situation.  PLEASE PLEASE reach out to me.

 

Rick Pratt 

Summit County Colorado

Emilie
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Hi @Rick-and-Deana0

 

I'm sorry to hear you've had some trouble getting answers to your concerns regarding these tax matters. I've nudged the team for you now - they'll normally follow-up with you directly but I get any any update on my end I'll share them with you here!

 

Thanks, 

 

Emilie

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Merci de jeter un oeil aux Principes du Community Center/ Please follow the Community Guidelines

Really? That's it? That's AirBnB style of customer support?  My guests are being charge outrageous amount over the proper amount of Occupancy taxes and you say you have "nudged the team"?!?!?!

 

What does it take to talk to someone in person about this issue and get it resolved?  This is bordering on criminal theft as I am assuming that AirBnB just keeps the extra money you collect.

 

Unbelievable. 

 

Emilie
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

@Rick-and-Deana0 Nobody in the Community Center is part of the Support teams so I'm not able to answer you myself. What I can do, and have done, is raise this for you so the team who will be able to help follows-up directly with you, as soon as they can. 

 

I understand this isn't an answer to your problem but I hope it'll help get a resolution shortly!

 

Thanks, 

 

Emilie

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Merci de jeter un oeil aux Principes du Community Center/ Please follow the Community Guidelines

Hi Catherine we are having a terrible experience with customer support, and reading online reviews it seems to be a widespread issue. I’m even seeing memes about the mistreatment of Airbnb guests. Are you using an outside agency to take customer phone calls and set policies? It’s not going well. Honestly going to have to have to switch back to hotels/VRBO when traveling because I was treated better.