Customer service updates, payments, and more in the latest Host Update with Catherine Powell

[Airbnb]

The past few months have been a tough time for all of us, especially hosts and guests. We’ve been listening closely to your feedback in all its forms and working tirelessly to create solutions because we know that encountering delays—especially when it comes to customer service or payments—is incredibly frustrating. 

In the latest Host Update, Catherine Powell sits down with Tara Bunch, our new Global Head of Operations, to offer transparency about how we’re strengthening our customer service team and to explain more about our payment process for hosts. Once you’ve watched the video, we’d really love to hear from you. Please let us know what you’d like covered in future Host Updates with Catherine. As always, thank you for sharing the topics that matter to you.

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[Catherine2360]

So far there are 4 missing payouts  for a house rented from August 1 to August 28, 2020 for the first time !

ZERO earnings.  ZERO news from Airbnb who keep writing that its is a "technical issue", but ZERO solution so far  !!!    20 people stayed at my house without paying anything to me so far !!!

Very poor customer service and very poor follow up.

Airbnb correctly sent € 0.01 twice so the system works.  But nothing else 6 weeks after the Aug 1 arrivals.

No feedback whatsoever as to when the "technical issue " will be resolved.

I wrote to CEO Brian Chesky through Linkedin, but my message seems to get lost, as there was no response whatsoever to explain :

-   why there are no payouts since August 1, which means 6 weeks after the guests arrived !!  

-   when the technical issue will be resolved

It seems like there is no communication, no written commitment to resolve this on Airbnb side !!! !!!

Very poor experience for the very first time the house is rented !

Same as for the hosts above, Airbnb staff closes the issue and turns it over to IT team to investigate !

This is NOT reliable at all, NOT serious, NO phone is provided to call, which would save Airbnb time and money to clarify directly with the host, instead of doing nothing or postponing indefinitely their fixing the

issue.

The only phone numbers provided advise " contact the Help center and write us an email "

We are just going in circles !!!

Meanwhile, no transaction history, ZERO payouts, ZERO upcoming payouts !!!

THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE !!!

[Sarah977]

@Catherine2360  "Tech issue" is the BS excuse they give. While that may occasionally be true, for the most part it isn't. They are simply retaining funds due to hosts.

I know this because a host on another hosting forum had 6 missing payouts dating back for months. She kept getting the "tech issue" excuse and finally got so mad she contacted the guests whose payments she hadn't received and politely asked if they would be willing to contact Airbnb to ask why their host didn't get paid.

5 of the guests did just that, asked why their host hadn't received the money they'd paid to Airbnb months before. All the money magically appeared in her account the next morning. Funny how quickly the "tech issue" was solved, huh?

[Monika-And-Domingo0]

Catherine, we have the same - since  25.08.2020 - silence, no payments and the same excuses - check your bank, add new payout account, technical issues we have, we are changing payment processor partner - for 7 weeks now we are only getting excuses, we are sick of that. Horrible people they are leaving us hosts and our family without money, stressed, worried. How evil you have to be. 

Monika

[Maggie93]

Customer service is awful at the moment. Long waits on the phone and the reps are aggressive and rude. As for the chat feature I was told that it would be five minutes to chat.  35 minutes later I gave up. 
payments are delayed. C Service is NOT host friendly.
life is stressful at the moment and one needs to be very careful who one hosts. I should NOT. Have to justify to Airbnb why I refuse a questionable booking request.
airbnb lets anyone with a credit card make a booking. The last year the caliber of guests has deteriorated and I have anxiety before every arrival now. Even guests with reviews.
you need to understand that when a guest has a poor review I am NOT. Going to be bullied into accepting. The ones with good reviews can be questionable. 
dint tell guests to treat “just like your home”. Have you any idea how gross some guests behaviors are. 
they need to be told to respect property and their hosts’ trust in allowing them to stay. 
the great guests are wonderful but Boy oh boy. The bad ones are horrid. 
so PLEASE AIRBNB communicate better and appreciate your hosts more. 
and DONT ask me to price lower.  You have no idea all the extras we provide. Don’t insult us with price suggestions. 
but most of all. Get your C Service up to snuff again and at least get the payments sent out on time. You sure as heck take the payment on time !!! 
thsnks for letting me vent. 
pS. Your c s reps need to be able to read and comprehend written messages. 

[Lesley81]

@Airbnb With the reduced staff, will Airbnb please bring back the option to allow hosts to block guests they deem unsafe? I recently reported a guest that not only used drugs in my home but continued to show up at my home, and even broke into my home on one occasion after his stay was over. I even have an alarming video of him grabbing the security camera, turning it towards his face, and blowing smoke right into the lens before entering my home. I reported him, but the "block guest" was no longer available to select. I tried calling in about him, but with the reduced staff, its been over a month, and I still been able to reach anyone to help me successfully block this individual. My case was assigned to someone named Jorge who said that I'd have to wait until the investigation is complete before I can block this guest, but in the meantime, this very hostile guest knows where I live and continues to show up. What can I do? While I want to be understanding about the reduction in customer service, I am very scared, and I feel like I cant get anyone to help m

[Maggie93]

Call your local Police Dept 

[Catherine-Powell]

Hi @Lesley81,

I'm really sorry to hear about this issue with your guest. The safety of our community is a number one priority. I have escalated this to the team, and they will be in contact with you if they haven't reached out already.

Best, Catherine

[Hedi2]

I had a guest who kicked our dog and was very rude to us and I asked Airbnb for help to evict them, but as of today I have not received the promised response (more then 3 weeks) "the guest ended up checking out early, while they were still in my house Airbnb refunded them their money including a day they still spent in my house. I feel completely abandoned by Airbnb and they kept their fee but took that from me to refund the terrible guest.

I am seriously considering leaving Airbnb. 

[Katie]

Hi @Hedi2, welcome to the Community Center, it's great to have you. I'm so sorry to hear about the issues you've been having with this guest - I have just sent you a DM with some more info on your issue, so please do take a look 😊

[Angela1123]

Happy to see the updates. Annoyed I was charged for service fee though during the early months of the landemic when it took literally weeks to resolve anything and I ended up fixing the problems on my own with my guests due to a lack of support or resolution with Air BNB. 

Second, would like information about the IPO and stock purchase, where do I find that, will it be emailed directly to hosts or guests?

[Catherine-Powell]

Hi @Angela1123 ,

Thank you for your feedback here. I'm so sorry to hear that you had issues with the service provided in the early months of the pandemic. I totally understand your frustration. @Tara-Bunch and I are working very hard to improve our level of customer service and we are seeing progress daily. In terms of an IPO, we will certainly share further information with our community as soon as we are able to.

Thanks again, Catherine

[Sunny171]

we have been having "awaiting payment" issue for 3 days in a row. there are people out there misusing and blocking calendars on purpose. no resolution/effort from airbnb. Just thank you and sorry messages - typical of a corporate sales/support team. I would love to see actions on this matter. A clear message from Airbnb on whether they consider this as a real problem or not, with a justification for either case. If Airbnb does consider "awaiting payment" blocking host's calendar for 24 hrs a problem, what are they planning to do about this ? The issue has clearly existed since 2019. Pandemic or shortage of staff can't be used as an excuse. 

[Catherine-Powell]

Hi @Sunny171,

Thank you for your comments. I hear you and you are not alone, as we have heard from other members of our host community about this exact issue. We are definitely working on this and will include your comments as we consider the best changes to make to the program. I look forward to sharing further information on this in future updates.

Thanks, Catherine

[Ryan32]

It is all fine and well saying you will bring in more staff however the issue, for me, is with job oversight and their training; the ability to handle situations and SUPPORT the hosts. Airbnb does not support the Hosts enough, to protect our homes and demand fair reparations for damages caused. They are too concerned with making $.

Hosts are not supported enough, it is a simple fact. On at least two occasions I have provided factual evidence to support a claim against guests who have clearly damaged my property (for example a plumber's statement that an over flowing toilet was caused by their blockage) yet in both cases the Airbnb 'support' staff refused to assist me or accept their guilt.

After pleading my case and making numerous attempts to get the case reviewed I learnt that the case was simply being resent to the original case manager.  It is impossible for someone else to review it or have this person's work evaluated by a manager.

Where is the accountability?? People make mistakes, Airbnb employees can make mistakes, and I should have the right to ask for someone else to review their work. I find this practice unethical, unprofessional, and in need of direct reform.

[Catherine-Powell]

Hi @Ryan32,

I'm sorry for the long delay in responding here. Thank you for your candid and important feedback. I hear your concerns.

As my colleague @Tara-Bunch explained in a recent Host Update, we are currently in the process of training additional members of our Support teams, and we are working to ensure that everyone is well-equipped to deal with your queries.

It is our job to mediate between guests and hosts, and to verify each side to a story in all resolution claims, and whilst this can be a tricky process for the team, we do have systems in place to try to ensure a fair outcome is reached.

If you are unhappy with a resolution offered by a Case Manager then you can reply to the message to ask for a supervisor to review the case. Please make sure to request this if you feel that a clear mistake has been made in the way your case was handled.

I'm sorry to learn about the experience you had here and I have already shared your message with our teams. You are absolutely right in noting that hosts need more support and I guarantee you that is something I am focused on in this new role. I will be sharing more info on this in future updates and hope you will keep sharing your feedback here.

Best,
Catherine