Airbnb issues

[Emiel1]

I myself do not experience any issues with Airbnb at the moment, nor do i see a decrease in bookings (but made some adjustments to battle the flaws of new summer release). But the amount of fellow hosts complaining here about payout issues, being suspended without a known reason, the low level Airbnb CS is operating on (both quality and response time, if any) and the way Airbnb is valueing the people who are their core business (the hosts), is really concerning. IMHO the management at Airbnb must take immmediate action to stop the company going down hill.

[Fred13]

Mistakes with technology and glitches are of course because of 'not-good-enough' programming nature and yes some because poor decisions, the policies concerning CS and refund policies are either mental or of a hidden directive and if that is the best Airbnb can do intellectually then that is a problem without a solution. You can't replace all the players in such a large company overnight.

The fact that their CS Department can think so poorly, example equate the veracity of a host with impeccable credentials and a long track record vs. a ruthless hustling guest with barely a few reviews with nothing to loose is really unforgivable. 

One of the classic hustles today with Airbnb is: stay the entire reservation and not say a word, aim high and file for full refund or 50% and use the standard 'alarms'  (cockroaches and mold) as two of a string of fabrications, CS awards a refund (aka 'discount') to the guest and even insults the host by sending a form letter with the warning that they 'better' straighten out or else. Meantime the hustlers is laughing and looking forward to his next scam which Airbnb in reality encouraged.

This is when and how Airbnb looses the best of allies.

[Robin4]

@Emiel1 

Yeah Emiel, I am a bit with you on this.

I have been Airbnb hosting since December 2015 and apart from a 4 week period between 15 October to the 13th November 2018 where no Australian hosts got paid, I have always received my hosting payouts reliably. That is not to say I received them when I expected them, but I have never had to chase a payout!

Like you I have had to cope with the myriad of programming changes and frustrations but, here I am I, I am still hosting and I am still being paid.

The question is.....is the company easier to deal with now than it was a few years ago?

From my point of view, support is now something that I have learned to live without! New users might feel it is worthwhile but for hosts like you and I who have been around for a while, we don't approach them with 'new user' problems! We know more than company service reps know. They have been out-sourced by specialist support companies, given a basic training course which technically qualifies them but, they have no practical empathy, they have no mediation/decision making skills, they don't understand what we do and simply pass on enquiries to what seems to be a hopelessly undermanned company support structure!

I have learned, if I can't sort it out the company sure as hell can't! 

Each year the company throws a new crystal ball at us which, in reality turns out to be nothing more than a hot air balloon.  We have with great fanfare been appointed a new Global Head of Hosting and a new Host Advisory Board but, in reality I find the company more restrictive to deal with than it was back 5 years ago.

You are correct Emeil, we are here and still skating along, but from our point of view that ice we are skating on is starting to get very thin!

I am taking on hosting alternatives to Airbnb, something I never thought I would do a couple of years ago, but being the eternal optimist I am still hopeful that things will improve! 

Cheers.......Rob