App Notifications Delayed

[Ann72]

I'm getting notifications 1 to 4 hours after a message.  Luckily I've been at my computer a lot lately and have seen the emails come in, but it's a worrisome glitch because of the pressure to respond immediately.  Anyone else having this issue?

Oddly this didn't happen at all in technology-challenged Maine, but in New York where I have faster wifi and better cell service.  But really only for the last couple of days.

[Tania827]

This original post is from over 3 years ago, but I'm jumping in now (09/24/23) to note that emails and SMS messages from Airbnb are hours delayed today, are appearing out of order, etc. Really buggy.

[José-Antonio30]

It's happening to me since yesterday too.

[Paula]

Hey @Tania827  and @José-Antonio30! Thanks so much for sharing this with our Community. Other Hosts have followed these steps when facing a similar issue:

1. Log out from all affected devices/browsers.
2. Close all open browser windows/tabs on these devices.
3. Open just one new window or tab.
4. Clear cache, cookies, and browser history.
5. If you're using an app, delete and reinstall it.
6. Finally, log back in using EMAILFROM_ACCOUNT_.

However, if the problem persists after trying these steps, please share some screenshots or videos showing the issue, and we will forward them to the team for review.

[Helen427]

@Paula @José-Antonio30 

@Tania827 

Another factor to take into account with delays or non sending and receiving of Notifications and messages which has come to our attention is where Customer Services/ IT representatives may be based and where Government Black outs of the internet is happening under the provisions of the Submarine/ Telegraph Act 1885.

There's an interesting and informative article in The Guardian about this  this week that may help shed light on matters some may not be aware of because of the way the internet operates with Telecommunications and servers these days and what is happening in other countries.

Some of us grew up in the era of Telephone and Electricity cables above the ground and usually found out through Bush Telegraph that there was a disruption to services where a vehicle had caused an outage  or if it was a weather event locally and they were pretty smartly repaired by our wonderful locally based Technicians.

Now it's vastly unknown because of the way of the world.

[Huma0]

I still have the problem as described by others above. I have email, SMS and push notifications turned on, but basically never get the first SMS/push notification when a new guest sends and enquiry, booking request or instant books. I only get these via email. I am not constantly checking my emails, so this is a problem.

I do, however, get a reminder to respond to the message if I haven't realised that there's one there, e.g. when guests send a message at night and I don't see it until the following day.

After that, I usually get the rest of the notifications, but often there is a delay, which can be minutes or even hours.

This has been going on for a while and I've reported it several times to Airbnb CS but they don't seem to care. At first, they told me to delete and reload the App, but that didn't work. The exact same problems are happing with the SMS notifications so I doubt it's related to just the App anyway. 

Then they told me it must be my phone. I have had three different phones (all different makes) since I stated hosting, and always had problems with the notifications. Many guests have told me they didn't get notified of my messages either.

The last time I tried to speak to CS about it, the rep couldn't understand. I explained to her repeatedly that I was not getting all the notifications and, in particular, the first ones, which are the most important. She just kept saying, "So, you would like to get less notifications? You know you can just turn your notifications off?" It didn't matter how I explained it to her, she just kept responding with this, so eventually I just gave up and told her not to trouble herself.

[Sarah977]

@Huma0  Ugh. I stopped receiving text alerts completely several years ago, and while  the rep did understand what I was talking about, his first suggestion was "Maybe your text inbox is full". I told him that was rather insulting of my intelligence, of course I would have checked that before contacting them. The next suggestion was that it must be an issue with my phone provider. I told him it wasn't- that I got all other SMS messages no problem. 

He finally deigned to talk to the tech team, who confirmed it was a a tech issue on their end (surprise surprise) and suddenly, about a month later, the alerts started coming through again.

But I have experienced similar, but not the same, as you- I usually get the alert of the initial request or inquiry, but often don't get subsequent ones, and there can be a time lag of several hours. 

That conversation you had with the brain-dead rep is why I message rather than call when I've had issues. I find I can usually write a message, in the clearest, simplest way, as if I were explaining something to a 3 year old, (no paragraphs, short bullet point form, in chronological order of when and how the issue presented itself) and they usually comprehend, although not always the first time.

I also start my messages with a heading- "Tech Issue", "Trust and Safety Issue", so they don't have to decipher what it is I am contacting them about.

[Huma0]

@Sarah977 

Yes, that is often the best way. I was corresponding with this particular rep via messages as well and that didn't work either.

It was very odd. She spoke and wrote English reasonably well but could not understand a word I was saying. At first I thought maybe it was a bad phone line, or maybe she couldn't understand my accent (which is pretty RP, so people usually tell me my spoken English is very clear), but it was the same thing with the messages.

It's funny that, when I have a good experience with a competent rep, I'll often get a message afterwards asking for feedback. I never get those after experiences like the above!

[Sarah977]

@Huma0  Same here re that feedback form. It's been mentioned before. I think the CS rep generates that form if they feel they solved your issue or you told them they did. That would explain why we wouldn't get one if the rep realizes the user was frustrated or angry. 

[Helen427]

Has anyone else had this same IT problem since they updated the platform in the last 2 months?

@Antonio2507 @Wendy117 @John152 @Ian-And-Anne-Marie0 
@Nick @Catherine-Powell @Stephanie @Quincy 

We are not getting Notifications, as in alerts or emails, but our Views page is showing as if people have booked or are trying to book.

Would you please be able to update your Customer Services Team of these issues as they are unable to access all the Tech and Booking information and we would appreciate if you would address this with them urgently for us as it appears they may not know where and how the issues are arising,

We are finding out after the fact which is extremely annoying.

Thanks

[Antonio2507]

I am experiencing this problem of not getting notifications on the app of new inquiries, have repeatedly reported this bug, and the problem remains.  I see this was discussed months ago, and the community discussion  page features this conversation as "resolved!"  But, I do not see where anything was resolved.

[Wendy117]

I am still even now not receiving messages from Airbnb on my phone,  definitely no booking queries. 

I knew I would slip up and forget to look regularly in the app and would miss out one day.

Got one today at 3pm (no Airbnb msg) and didn't know until I received an Airbnb msg to respond to the query.  That was someone who wanted to come today and stay a month.  Guess they booked elsewhere.

But it looks like the messages ARE going to co-hosts - I have different co-hosts for different properties so it took me a while to realise.  My son, who owns some of the properties, would ring me and ask me what I thought and I had not got an Airbnb msg and had to look on computer to see what he was talking about.  Makes me feel slack, I was always proud of responding immediately.  Oh well, it is what it is.

[Wendy117]

As my co-host was getting notifications, just not me, I deleted my co-host but it did not solve the problem.  Had 2 auto-books since - had no notification for either on my phone. 

[Helen427]

Thanks @Wendy117 

This has been an ongoing very long time problem for the last couple of years for both Hosts and Guests.

I've just had a Guest who said he had booked places over the last 18 months, was provided with address etc, I assume bc the correct address is sent out when he's booked, only for him to turn up and Hosts NOT having had any Notification sent through the TEXT alert or ABB system.

I wonder if this is tied in with the TEXT ALERT Provider and the Text Scams that have hit Australia and New Zealand with random unsolicited texts the authorities are trying to get on top of?

Has there been yet another serious Data Breach by these TEXT ALERT Providers, that are also used by Dentists, Medical Profession etc to send an Alert of upcoming Appointments which some behind these schemes are not recognizing are perhaps NOT working?

The Medical appointment text alert system, which has expanded over the years,  is understood to have in part been set up by NUDGE/ Behaviour Insights Team UK and David Halpern and associates who has just received funding of over 100 million UK Pounds.

To be perfectly honest, all the collection of our Private Data, photo ID, Drivers Licenses. Passport Photos and now Covid Passes to be scanned lead to complex and concerning Data Mining and Privacy issues in challenging unregulated manners across Borders Internationally is of grave concern.

None of us know who works in these places, they have access to Master Passwords and some will do anything for a Quick Dollar to survive.

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0 @John152 @Antonio2507 @Wendy117 @Ann72 

[Sarah977]

@Helen427  These tech glitches where hosts' alerts suddenly stop has been happening long before Covid. 

Everything is not related to some worldwide conspiracy.

[Helen427]

Nothing to do with Worldwide conspiracies @Sarah977 .

It has gone on for at least 5 years according to this  recent Syniverse Disclosure.

They have  a vast number of contracts tied in with the big Tech players.

Syniverse Hackers access billions of texts through breach

https://www.businessinsider.com.au/syniverse-hackers-access-billions-of-texts-through-breach-2021-10...

Page 69 - known as the May 2021 Incident

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1839175/000119312521284329/d234831dprem14a.htm#toc234831_3

@Brian @Catherine-Powell 

Have Airbnb Customers been involved in this matter as a  part in any shape or form?

An official update would be appreciated and yes we understand there''s ongoing Criminal Investigations going on with this breach that impacts on billions of us world wide using Telecommunications companies who send us Text Notifications.

[Wendy117]

After losing $2500 on this booking query I have decided to sit on the phone to CS - currently listening to music.  Maybe that person booked another place on Airbnb or maybe used a competitive site - surely loss of Airbnb income is enough for them to escalate this problem. Won't help me this time but might help us all n the future.  

[Sarah977]

Reading about this and all the other glitches hosts are experiencing right no makes me glad I'm not taking bookings in my home-share due to COVID. I never get bookings at this time of year anyway, but I'm sad I lost my high season since March. Usually get full in Match and April and first half of May.

@Ann72  Long before COVID, I regularly had text notifications come in for inquiries and requests that guests had sent 6 hours previously. Or I'll get a request notification and notifications of some of the guest messages, but not all of them. This business has been going on for a long time, it just sounds like it's getting worse and more widespread.

[Michelle53]

The system was down for a time, yesterday afternoon (Chicago time).

After it came back up, I was unable to maintain my calendar. 

Also, a guest contacted me to get my address because she didn't receive the confirmation email. It did finally show up after some delay. 

[Ann72]

@Michelle53 @Jillie1   I noticed it went down, just after I sent a long message to a guest.  It looks like it went through but Airbnb still wants me to respond.

After it went down I was logged out of the app on my phone, but got back in this morning.

Definitely a series of glitches!

[Emilia42]

Same here @Ann72. There are some huge glitches happening right now!