Anchorage AK here- Unfair requests from Airbnb to have air conditioning

[Maia29]

#1 respect to those overseas and and in the US  going through heat waves

I understand everyone else has air conditioning. I don't  have air conditioning,  We have fans in every room.

Everytime I call Airbnb, they ask me if I have air conditioning. Airbnb is demanding with the requests    

A better question, is do I have heat!

All summer long, people have been pulling out comforters/blankets, turning up the heat, and turning on my electric fireplace - in the middle of summer!

What can I tell these CS reps? AK median summer temp is NOT warm enough for air conditioning unless your are in Fairbanks.

[Helen744]

@Maia29in Australia Maia during summer people often will not book a place at all unless it has Airconditioning because it is so hot that sleeping is impossible without it some nights .I am sure as you say if people are so discombobulated that they dont know they are in Alaska when they book then maybe they have had too much cold air. cheers H

[Maia29]

I had an Australian guest two weeks ago!

I asked her, is it too hot?  Do you need air conditioning? 🤣

She said, absolutely NOT!

Its 50 degrees fareinheit here right now. I wore a sweater to work today. 

[Laura2592]

@Maia29 that is ridiculous. There are plenty of homes in the lower 48 that don't have AC. I have relatives in northern California and Maine who exist quite happily without AC. I know people in DC who don't believe in AC due to its harmful environmental effects.  European friends never even knew what AC was until they came to the US.

Airbnb should not dictate what a host has in their home when its an optional feature. In Alaska, AC is most definitely very optional and likely never needed. Hosts list what they offer. If a guest doesn't like the list, they can keep looking for a place to book. ABB does not need to nanny hosts into "upgrades."

[Maia29]

@Laura2592  Thanks for the feedback! I didn't know that. I'm telling you they even CALL me out of the blue regularly to ask me if I added air conditioning yet.

[Rhonda301]

Ask them if they pay the mortgage. And of course they dont so butt out. Many countries don’t have AC. My

mptjer was so afraid of another home fire becasue our gas firms FE caught fire one day we never had the heat on at night she bundled us all with covers blankets and such. We did ok without it but it was the Deep South which then did not get that cold at night.  I work in a barn all day to me AC is cold. I would keep mine above 70 all the time but my husband needs it lower. It’s what you get used to so I kinda understand their desire for it but I went to Europe in 2019. Many places didn’t have it and I was comfortable. Except Malta it was 112 that summer.  Tell the. Firmly you cannot and will not get AC for it’s not a necessity in you area.  

[Huma0]

@Maia29 @Laura2592 @Helen744 

Why is Airbnb CS harassing hosts in Alaska about air conditioning? Don't they have something better to do with their time, like helping hosts and guests who are experiencing some urgent, sometimes dangerous situation, but left hanging for days or weeks? I guess not...

[Anonymous]

@Maia29  That is downright bizarre. I've never heard of Airbnb reps actually calling hosts to ask if they've added a new amenity of any kind. It almost sounds like some kind of prank.

Here in northern Europe, air conditioning is extremely rare in homes, and I'm sure the last days' brutal heatwave has gotten a lot more guests searching for it than usual. But if a host went to all the expense to install a major value-adding amenity, there's no way they're going to just forget to add it to the listing unprompted. 

[Suzanne302]

@Maia29 

I agree with the other hosts who have said it's very strange that Airbnb reps have CALLED you to ask about AC??!! Very bizarre and uncalled for. I am constantly bombarded with ridiculous prompts from "the bot" online (you should unblock this date/you should offer child-friendly amenties/you need a dedicated workspace/etc.) but those are simply automated bots easy to ignore.

What you're describing sounds like harassment!

[Richard531]

@Maia29  "Every time I call Airbnb" is the operative phrase here, right?  

So, to be clear, you're claiming that you call Airbnb to discuss a cancelation, guest behavior, clarification of policy, etc.  And out of nowhere the CS rep says,  "Hey, Maia29, will you please add A/C to your listing?"  

I'm calling BS on that.  I know that when I log into the Airbnb app and pull up certain listings, they sometimes ask me the size of my TV, what kind of fireplace I have, whether I have a "garden," and/or similar amenity clarifications.  This indicates I may have left some listing attributes null and they are rounding out my profile (as a service to me).  Which is actually a good thing.  

Is that what you're referring to?  

Log into your profile, make sure all the attributes are filled out, and you won't get these notifications on the app anymore.

Saying that a CS rep would all the sudden toss out your reason-for-calling and verbally press you to get AC (even if your listing were located on the equator) I just won't believe is actually happening.  This whole thread is kind of a big misunderstanding, I'd surmise.  

I'm here to tell you, when I stayed in Singapore a while back and attempted to "live like a local" for a few days, 50% of the listings we reviewed on Airbnb didn't have A/C!  Oh, the humanity. . .  

[Anonymous]

@Richard531   Total tangent here, but...did those listings advertise A/C as an amenity?

[Richard531]

No, the listings didn't misrepresent or anything like that. 

The (bad) point I was attempting to make was that if half the listings in one of the hottest 365-days-a-year destinations don't have A/C, I found it unlikely that CS reps would make repeated "unfair requests" to a host in Alaska.  

You'd think they'd have higher priorities to make the alleged "unfair requests" in markets where it's, ya know, actually hot most of the time!

[Anonymous]

@Richard531  OK, I see what you mean. It doesn't make sense to me either. I don't even understand why a highly experienced host would need to be calling CS on a regular basis, knowing that whoever answers the phone is going to be totally useless. It sounds like maybe the OP might be confusing automated messages in the Dashboard with personal messages from a human. But there could be all kinds of weirdness out there that I don't know about...

[Maia29]

@Richard531  Its not BS. Yes, they do ask me  if I have air conditioning at the end of any and every call. The other prominent booking site asks me the same question too when I call.

I know how to add amenities to my listing.

I have received calls directly from Airbnb. For instance, at the beginning of this year a rep from Airbnb called me every two weeks to remind/recommend that I link my calendars (something I've always needed to do, but never got around to it.  I finally linked the calendars after multiple reminder calls, however, every time, she asked me if I added air conditioning yet. 

If I could afford air conditioning, I'd probably just buy one to tick off the box, but I can almost guarantee you it wouldn't be used.

[Lawrene0]

Hey, @Maia29 , I have nothing really in the way of amenities: no AC, no electricity at all actually, no plumbing, no wifi... Airbnb has never called me to ask whether I have any of those things. They do "ask" through the usual amusing dashboard blurbs -- "tell us about your TV!" -- but I've never been called. 

I don't call them, so maybe that's it? Anyway, what you are experiencing is so weird that I'm wondering if it isn't Airbnb at all calling but someone else. A competitor? That would be weird too, though.