Airbnb redacting check-in information sent to guests via Scheduled Messages

[Carrie-and-Danny0]

Hi Fellow Airbnb Hosts --

 We're new to this endeavor, so forgive me if this is a remedial question . . . but I couldn't find any resolution to this question, and  I could only find one other reference to this question . . .

 We've set up the "Scheduled Messages" tool to auto-send an informational check-in message to our guests seven days before their check-in which includes the following essential info: our address (again), the combination to our front door keypad, our phone numbers in case of emergency.

 The message just went out to our first guest, and it looks just fine in the inbox on the Airbnb website and in the app . . . BUT . . . the notification/copy that got sent to my wife (who's a co-host on the listing) showed much of the information as redacted by Airbnb!  Here's a snippet:
 

There's a keypad lock on the front door. The code is: (Phone number hidden by Airbnb)

And in the unlikely event of a technical glitch with the keypad, there's a lockbox with a physical key which works on the front and back doors. Please only use the lockbox in case of emergency. We'd prefer that guests use the combination keypad if possible. Thanks!

The emergency lockbox is located on the front porch behind one of the wooden posts, and the combination is: (Phone number hidden by Airbnb)

 
Those numbers are obviously NOT phone numbers . . . but more importantly, that info is essential check-in info that our guests will need to enter our home.  If we can't even pass along such obvious information as the combination to the front door through Airbnb's own internal messaging system, how on earth are we supposed to communicate effectively with guests.

I called Airbnb support, and they had no idea what I was talking about . . . even after sending screenshots.  She barely understood how Scheduled Messages work, at all.  And she was under the impression that Airbnb didn't have the technical ability to remove info from the messages.  So obviously, she isn't have a clue.  Finally, the associate escalated my case to a supervisor . . . but I still haven't received a call back after two days.  So I'm pretty frustrated by their ineptitude at this point.

Any advice on how to pass essential information to guests via the Scheduled Message tool would be most appreciated.  And more broadly, any advice on how to reach an actual "tech support" person when I have a technical problem, would be really helpful.  The associate on the phone was obviously only trained to deal with reservations.  And she claimed there is no "tech support" at Airbnb.  So I just threw up my hands at that point.

Thank y'all for your help --
Danny

PS -- The system was also redacting any URLs that I tried to send . . . i.e. a link to a PDF of our house manual and neighborhood guide in case they wanted to plan ahead.  It also said "Phone number removed by Airbnb".

[Pat271]

I have not used that function, but I was wondering if there is a Schedule Email option as well as a Schedule Message option. Just thinking that it would probably work, since when I manually send an email via the Professional Tools “Send Email” option, everything is sent and nothing gets redacted.

[Carrie-and-Danny0]

Interesting.  Again, we're new at this . . . so just to be clear . . .

Is the "Send Email" option in Professional Tools something that's built into Airbnb's system?  Or is that a third party thing?  Cause I don't see any such options within Airbnb's official site?  And I don't see that we're given guests' direct email addresses when they confirm their reservation . . . only their phone numbers.

So I don't see how we are given any options to communicate with our guests besides through the built-in Inbox system within Airbnb . . . including through their Scheduled Messages feature, which seems to reside within the regular Inbox system.

Have I missed a whole mechanism for communicating with guests?!

How are hosts expected to share essential check-in and check-out info with guests?

[Colleen253]

@Carrie-and-Danny0 Honestly, the entire Airbnb platform is so rife with glitches, that I haven't even bothered to use this feature. Someone else was complaining recently about how the scheduled messages were going out more than once to the same guest. I do believe @Scott may be able to help with this issue. Hopefully he will see this and pop in.

P.S.  Airbnb outsources it's CS to call center contracted workers to answer calls. They rarely are familiar with Airbnb or it's policies. They are just there to answer the call basically.

[Scott]

Hi @Carrie-and-Danny0 thanks for posting this, and @Colleen253 thanks for tagging me 🙏

The short answer is that in general, you're using scheduled messaging as intended. We want to make it easier for you to communicate important information to your guests.

Let me come back to you on this specific scenario of redacting your door codes. I can definitely see how this is frustrating, so thanks for your patience.

[Carrie-and-Danny0]

Thank you for your insights, @Colleen253 and @Scott 

Yeah, @Colleen253, I could tell the call center was outsourced . . . which is fine as a screening process . . . I'm sure they can field all the basic reservation questions.  But they really need some way to escalate a call to someone technical when there's a technical problem.  Hosts are flowing an incredible amount of money through their system . . . they need to provide adequate support to the hosts.

And @Scott , very glad to hear I'm generally doing the process right . . . and using Scheduled Messages as intended.  So at least it's a matter of fine tuning the message . . . and working out any technical kinks if the system isn't functioning as it's supposed to.  I look forward to hearing the rest of your insights.

By the way . . . it wasn't just door codes it was redacting.  It redacted our address, the door codes, our cell numbers, and a direct link to our neighborhood guide (for folks who like to plan ahead).  I realize that much of that information is already available to guests in various places around our listing and their confirmation correspondence.  I just thought it would be handy to have it all consolidated into an "Essentials" email before check-in.

Thanks! --

Danny

[Sarah977]

@Carrie-and-Danny0  Calling Airbnb seems to be one of the worst ways of getting help, so I never contact them like that. (There might be emergency or very time-sensitive situations where you have to, though).

I have had better luck with the messaging system, and have found that when I state the dept. that it pertains to, it actually gets passed along fairly quickly, although I haven't had occasion to contact them for quite awhile, so YMMV.

In your case I would send a message that started: " Technical issue- please forward to Tech team" and then as briefly as possible outline the issue. I think the CS reps are sometimes relieved to be told to pass it on, and to what team, rather than to spend time on frustrating back and forths trying to understand the issue.

When I have done this, I usually get a brief message back with all the usual scripted platitudes, but saying they are passing it to the correct team, and I've then gotten messages directly from someone in their tech dept, trust and safety dept, whatever the case may be about.

[Carrie-and-Danny0]

Thank you, @Sarah977 . . . that's all really helpful.  In some ways, that's more important than this immediate question . . . the question of how to actually get assistance from Airbnb.  Cause so far they've been laughable, sadly.

[Ann72]

@Carrie-and-Danny0  You're saying the email the guest got was not redacted, but the email your wife/co-host got was redacted.  If that's the case, hers was redacted because she's not the booked guest.  That should be rectified, but in the meantime, don't worry about your guests.  You can send them phone numbers, door codes, URLs, addresses, and everything else and they will go through.  

[Debra300]

@Ann72,

Since phone numbers have varying lengths around the world, I think the Airbnb algorithm redacts all number sequences greater than three digits regardless of the format.  For all of the years that I have used Airbnb I have experienced this when sending messages with numerical calendar dates, PINs, zip codes, and numbers with decimals when giving directions.  

[Ann72]

@Debra300  That's undoubtedly true, and good to be aware of for hosts with non-US info, but the host says the message went through as written to the guest but that the copy to his co-host was redacted.  So the issue is less what has been redacted and more who gets the redacted info.  I haven't had any trouble sending information to booked guests.  Everyone else gets redacted messages.

[Lisa723]

@Carrie-and-Danny0 @Debra300 @Sarah977 @Scott 

@Ann72 says that the OP said that the message went through to the guest unmolested, and only the co-host's copy was redacted-- but I don't actually see that in any post.

We use this feature to send door codes. Our messages also include address, phone numbers, and google maps links. We have had no problem with any information being redacted, in either the guest's copy or the co-host's copy. So it sounds to me like something is definitely going wrong with this particular host's experience.

[Ann72]

@Lisa723  It’s the beginning of the third paragraph:  “...it looks just fine in the inbox on the Airbnb website and on the app.”  After you send a message to a guest, you can see it in the inbox, and what you see is what the guest sees.  He is talking about the message his co-host received.

[Lisa723]

@Ann72 Yes, I saw the sentence. I think what is in question is "what you see is what the guest sees." One would also expect that "what you see is what the co-host sees." So something is going wrong, for sure, and I don't think we know what the guest saw.

[Carrie-and-Danny0]

@Lisa0 . . . you are correct.  The burning question is:  What do our guests receive in their email?

I still don't know the answer . . . even after asking our first guest . . . which I was reticent to do because we don't yet have any reviews . . . so those first few guest experiences are especially important and precious, and I didn't want to give our first guest the impression he was guinea pigging for us.

One would think that whatever shows up in the Inbox on the Airbnb site is exactly what the guest is receiving.  But it's not what the co-host is receiving.  So that's given us pause and concern.