Another rant about Customer Services - discount applied without consulting me

[Eileen0]

Monday: the boiler stops working in my flat, no heating or hot water

Monday pm: message guest due to arrive on Wednesday for a 6 night stay to let them know, that a plumber will visit the next day but can't confirm the outcome, say I can ask ABB to find them somewhere else, or offer a discount for the days without heating or hot water. Guest receives my message, says she cannot find alternative booking and would still like to stay.

Tuesday 06:17: message from Customer Services to say there is a "violation of the host standard" and that a 20% discount would be applied across the whole of the 6 night booking.

Tues 06:38: (I'm awake now) I reply saying a plumber has been booked and the boiler may be repaired tonight. And that any discount should be at my discretion and only for the days without heating/hot water

Tues 06:54: Customer Services says that the 20% discount is "according to the policy"

Tues 07:06: (I'm fully awake now and furious) I ask Customer Services for a link to the policy as I have not heard of this one

Links sent, but no mention of such policy, I message Customer Services about the policy again

Tuesday 07:13: Customer Services replies: "we cannot leak it because it is an internal policy" !!

And so it goes for a while with me saying they should at least let me see the policy, that I am very unhappy with this interference in my booking, and absolutely furious that there is a discount applied to the booking without my agreement.

I was absolutely outraged, how dare Customer Services take it upon themselves to give this discount without checking with me first.  

In the past when something similar happened, I would chat to the guests and we would work something out that seemed appropriate to both of us.  Why has this choice been taken away?  

If I am not in control of my rates and my hosting, what is the point!!

[Huma0]

@Eileen0 

Sorry to hear about this. You are not the only host to post here recently about CS quoting some 'internal policy'. This is BS frankly. If they can proceed based on internal policies that we do not get to see/know about, then they can do anything under the sun that they please with no recourse. 

However, I can only assume that the guest contacted CS about this, otherwise how would they know about the boiler issue? Did you ask her about it?

[Gillian166]

another day and another egregious breach by these so called progressive companies, taking money off every hardworking people. What next, a $2500 fine for wrongthink? Silly Paypal, they should take a clue from abb and learn to implement internal policies that somehow trumps the TOS we did agree to. 

and I agree with @Huma0  seems like the guest has taken it upon herself to involve CS, which is a big problem because 1) she agreed to the situation and 2) CS seem to have a talent for screwing things up.

Of course you must be furious, if you resolve the boiler issue before the guest even arrives, this whole situation is monumentally unfair to you. 

You might want to do the maths and see if cancelling the whole reservation is less of a hit, because if this guest agreed to your terms then went behind your back to get a bigger discount (even for days when the situation would be resolved) then I would find it unpleasant to host them in my home. Of course, it's possible that the CS person offered her the discount, and alluded that airbnb are giving her the discount, if the guest knew it was coming out of your pocket directly I wonder how she would feel about that. 

[Eileen0]

@Huma0 @Gillian166  thanks for your messages of support. 

Yes the guest contacted CS after I first let them know there might be a problem with the heating. The guests were two young women travelling to Europe for the first time, and using Airbnb for the first time, so I understand why they would contact CS and I don't have a problem with that. 

What I am furious about is CS giving a discount to my booking without checking with me first. And then telling me that they could do this because of an "internal policy" that couldn't be shared with me.

I'm a long time host and I have never had Customer Services say anything like this to me before. In similar circumstances (heating not working etc), the guests and I have come to an mutually agreed arrangement regarding discounts.  

[Helen3]

I believe Airbnb have a standard discount for key missing amenities at a listing.  20% sounds about right if they were to stay without heating/hot water. But shouldn't be applied automatically only for days where the boiler isn't working @Gillian166 

[Huma0]

@Helen3 

But if that is the case, why did CS not just send @Eileen0 the policy that states this rather than telling her they cold not 'leak' an 'internal policy'? Maybe just incompetence. IDK. But I remember other hosts posting lately about dealings with CS where they were told some sort of 'internal policy' applied, so it's not just one random rep using this tactic.

[Helen3]

Hi @Huma0 

you can't expect me to answer why the CS team hasn't done something surely ? That would be ludicrous 

I remember reading this on one of their T&Cs but can't remember which one that there are standard refunds for key missing amenities such as heating/hot water  

[Huma0]

@Helen3 

No, of course not. It was a rhetorical question. 

What bothers me most about this situation is the 'internal policy' bit. If we're not allowed to see the policy that apparently applies (to this case or another) then CS can just make up whatever they want to justify their actions. Case closed.

[Robin4]

@Helen3 @Huma0  @Gillian166 

In 7 years of being an Airbnb host the company have never let me down. 

We have had issues, like October/November 2018 where no Australian hosts received any payouts for a month! We panicked but, by the end of November we had all been paid exactly what we should have been, it sorted itself out.

I had two entirely separate confirmed Airbnb guests arrive here for the same night, one of those paradoxes that no amount of programming can avoid.....but we worked it out.

I have hosted 576 Airbnb stays over the past 7 years and I have been paid for every one of them. I have never had a problem that Airbnb and I could not work through. Airbnb has done for me what it says it will do!

Airbnb have brought to my door a steady stream of guests month after month for the last 4 years. This week alone I am faced with 7 one night bookings....I am up to my eyeballs with work like a one armed paper hanger, and I do feel that Airbnb is my partner! I don't go along with a lot of their overbearing strategy of dominating every aspect of the home hosting contract but, I have had a very comfortable existence over the past 7 years because of my involvement with Airbnb.

I am having less of an involvement with the Community Centre these days because it does frighten me. I am seeing host after host who has been let down by the company, just as @Eileen0  has been here......20% discount for something not working as it should! I am seeing hosts let down in ways I had never even thought of, and it worries me that my time will come and Airbnb will shaft me to for something completely out of left field!  I am concerned that from comments on the CC, customer service has deteriorated to something of a lucky dip and the professionalism seems to have disappeared.

I am positive and I want to remain positive but, the amount of negative post here does frighten me!

Cheers........Rob  

[Eileen0]

Hi @Robin4 I'm thrilled that you have commented on my post (although not the circumstances).  I have always enjoyed your posts and your lovely attitude.   

[Huma0]

@Robin4 

Yes, 'lucky dip' is a fitting description, but that implies that you are going to get something positive out of the interaction. I prefer to call it Russian roulette because, sometimes, getting CS involved makes the situation far, far worse, and one might end up severely regretting it. 

My experiences with CS have been very hit and miss. In my early days of hosting, they were all very positive. Later, I had a really hard time getting them to issue missing payouts. There was no reason as to why the payouts weren't issued, other than Airbnb error, but I had to chase and chase. When I finally received the payment, one was 1.5 years overdue! 

As for being shafted, well that already happened to me 2.5 years ago, when Airbnb decided to refund guests for nights they had already stayed (one of them for two weeks she had already spent here), and then insisted it was within the COVID extenuating circumstances policy, which is obviously nonsense. The guests had not complained about anything. It was just a series of errors by a series of reps. Well, mistakes happen, but it's the refusing to own it, let alone attempt to fix it that drives me mad. One rep even told me that, although I was entitled to the money she wrongly refunded, the deed was done so it was up to me to get the payment from the guest.

Touch wood, I am yet to experience the sudden and unexplained suspensions that a lot of other hosts seem to be dealing with, but perhaps it's just a matter of time...

Yes, Airbnb does bring customers my way, but not so much as before and, if it wasn't for returning guests that I have a long standing relationship with, I would probably have to quit hosting altogether. I'm glad though that you are busy again and the bookings coming in.

[Robin4]

@Huma0 

There are very few contributors here on the CC who are more experienced and professional in what they do, both as a contributor and a host, than you Huma, if you are having these issues it possibly says more about the company than it says about you. Your comment sort of reinforces what I was saying!

Have I just been lucky to get the run I have these last 7 years?

If I had not had anything to do with the CC or other sites like 'Airbnb Hell' and just simply restricted my dealings with Airbnb to my hosting, in a strictly working sense, I would consider them one of the most competent, easy to get along with companies I have ever dealt with, and I can understand why they have grown to the size they have in such a short amount of time.

But post after post here is a cry for help by competent hosts, many of them just like you are Huma who are being let down by the company's support structure.

As a common community I think we all hoped it would improve with the appointment of a new global head of hosting, but each year sees the quality of hosts  support eroded with more emphasis on bringing guest dollars in on the front end than making sure the nuts and bolts of the company (namely the hosts who cater for these guests) are fully protected.

I all the time have my fingers crossed that this 'love affair' I have with the company will continue, I try not to tread on their toes, and I just hope to God they don't tread on mine!

Cheers........Rob

[Huma0]

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@Robin4 wrote:

I try not to tread on their toes, and I just hope to God they don't tread on mine!

---

@Robin4 well, this is the thing. There are quite a few very experienced and competent hosts posting here on the CC saying never get Airbnb involved unless you absolutely have to. They are just a listing service/marketing tool and that is what we pay our service fee for. 

Well, that's a fair argument, I think. The problem is that Airbnb does step on a lot of toes. So, with the example I gave, randomly refunding guests when no refund was due under the cancellation policies/extenuating circumstances/no complaint was issued from the guest is baffling. Why did they step in and create that mess (which, by the way, took me a month of constant effort and stress to sort out)? 

We also pay our fee for them to handle the payments, but when they take the money and then do not pay our share, well, that is also stepping on some toes.

Overall, most of my bookings are hiccup free and I have no need of Airbnb to do anything further. When I do need to contact them, sometimes it is smooth sailing. However, the latter is becoming less and less the case.

Now I cross my fingers every time I need to contact Airbnb CS and hope that they are not going to make the situation worse. Honestly, it's a feeling of dread and, if I so happen to be lucky and get someone helpful, knowledgeable and competent (and maybe actually empowered to do something), I count my blessings, because those are things that we can no longer rely on.

What a shame. I actually highly rated Airbnb CS when I first started hosting. I even started a thread here on the CC to say how wonderful I thought they were... 

😞

[Gillian166]

@Robin4  I've only interacted with CS two times, and thanks to this forum I have learned to avoid involving them in any matters. We have security cameras which seems to be a trigger for suspension without question, and even though i've done all the right things in disclosing them I am concerned about this. Also, with summer coming and the bug season ramping up I am again concerned about guests complaining about this (last summer my first and only real guest complaint was due to bugs) and we've all seen the tales of what happens. Really there's any number of things that could go wrong (that same guest tried to get a refund because he saw dog poo! oh my stars, pull out the fainting couch)

I can only hope that the posts here are <1% of the reality, a little like the covid stats, there is a LOT of fuss but the reality is that 99.999999% of bookings are trouble free. 🙂 

7 turnovers! that's brutal. We put a 2-night minimum on our calendar when it opens, and most weekends end up being 2 nighters, and then about a month out I open it up to single nights. Had a strange anomaly lately, no wednesday bookings for 5 weeks! across all 3 listings. Perhaps now i've mentioned it I'll break the streak, haha.   

[Robin4]

@Gillian166 

Hi mate, Yeah things are brutal at the moment, I have guests actually lining up to book! A Covid cancellation or something similar comes and within 20 minutes another booking slots in for the same night/nights. I had an enquiry 3 days ago wanting to know if a 7.00pm check-in would be acceptable, and as I was in the process of responding an IB jumped in and grabbed that night. I had to message back......

@Jenny (God bless her soul) has restored my ability to add photo files, here is the current week I was talking about above......

I have had 7 one nighters straight. Now financially it's great because I get a cleaning fee from each of them but, it's a sh*t load of work. Next week I see the other side of the coin, I have blocked off 5 nights and with some friends we are off to Stansbury for some fishing, blue swimmer crabbing and a mass of good food and wine with friends. We have booked an ocean front villa and I am going to have a chance to unwind and leave the hosting world behind for a few days.

I have never been busier Gill, Airbnb are really looking after me.

I have this feeling that Airbnb have in their programming a file rating system for their hosts, Those hosts who create the least problems for Airbnb get preferential exposure. I know that sounds stupid but I can't find any other reason why I am always in the first 5 listings to be displayed in our area when I do an incognito search. I have nothing opulent to offer like you do over there in Hay Valley, I am just an old converted run down garage with nothing special to offer, but guests keep lining up to come here......bring em on!

Cheers........Rob