Appalling service from Airbnb representative

[Pedro1613]

Hi fellow hosts

I've just had the most appalling unprofessional customer service from an Airbnb customer service representative called Kurt. 

I called the Super Host help service at 10.01pm to talk about a guest who has turned out to be quite a nightmare. Not her as a person, but has been breaking all the house rules and apologising either saying she had forgotten or she had misread them. To cut the story short, she decided to go out tonight and sent me a message at 9.23pm saying, "Hi Pedro, just to let you know I’m out tonight. See you later". Problem is my house rules say no entry after 12 midnight. I spoke with her about the house rules and then she apologised again saying she had not read this particular one. She then sent me the following message on WhatsApp:

"I’m sorry but the midnight rule doesn’t work for me"

"Is it possible to get a refund and cancel so I can find something else"

I then called Airbnb to ask for help not knowing that I was going to have exactly the opposite. I had no support whatsoever. Kurt was highly unprofessional and kept trying to annoy me by repeating himself several times as if he was reading some sort of scripting. 32 minutes of him talking and he still had not offered me a solution.

I told him the guest was asking for a refund and I had no problem  giving her a refund. He said that I had no evidence the guest was unhappy about the house rules and had asked for a refund. I told him the communication had happened via WhatsApp and the n he started giving me a whole sermon about WhatsApp messages. He then said if I wished I could share the written evidence. I told him I was not trying to prove anything, that the guest wants to leave and I'm about refunding her. He then goes on to repeat himself. I then say that I'm more than happy to share the WhatsApp messages if they are needed. He doesn't say he needs them, but then starts repeating himself again but trying to make a point that I could share them if I "wished". I don't him I didn't have an issue about sharing them if he needed them. However, he was not having that. He was determined to have some sort of unprofessional inappropriate type of competition with me on the phone.

He then started threatening accusing me of being difficult and saying that he was here to help but I was not letting him. He asked me if he could send a message for me to send the WhatsApp messages and I said yes. He then tells me that he needs me to put me on hold and I answer "that I do not have a choice". He then says that he cannot help me anymore. The call is cut. Then he calls me again and then I'm not joking he starts robotically repeating to me everything that he had said in the previous call. Forcing me to listen to everything  again. This second call lasted 28 minutes. At some point I asked him what we should do. He said I was interrupting him and threatened to hang up. He then forced me to say that I "wished" to share the WhatsApp messages with him. I had to submit to his bullying in order to try to get some help.

I sent him 4 WhatsApp  messages. He then went on a long sermon saying that the messages may not be valid evidence (evidence of what??) because they showed the name of the guest but not her number. He spent about 5 minutes speaking in a very passive aggressive manner clearly trying to diminish me.  In the mean time I erase the guest as a contact so that her number (not her name) would show on the messages and sent everything to him again showing the guest's number.

While he was talking non-stop forcing me to listen to him without offering me any help whatsoever, I also sent the gust a message on WhatsApp asking her if she could come back to the house at 11am to do her check out. I then also sent her a booking alteration.

I have never had such an appalling experience with Airbnb before. In fact, everyone I've spoken with on Airbnb have been helpful and professional. I called Airbnb when I most needed help and I am unlucky enough to come across such an unprofessional,  horrible person. You don't call Airbnb at 10pm on a Friday night if we don't need help. I called for help, not to be bullied, attacked and diminished.

I've decided to post this here to express how disappointed, appalled and angry I am to be bullied for over an hour by an Airbnb customer service assistant. I also intend to report this horrible experience to the appropriate team at Airbnb.

[Gwen386]

@Pedro1613 I won’t echo the same responses you’ve already received.

It’s apparent that the guest did not read that house rule, because as a grown-??? woman, I would not book somewhere and pay for someone to tell me what time I can exit/enter during my stay, and especially on a Friday night. So, I’m thinking this must be a bedroom in a shared space. In all honesty, I applaud the guest for even giving you a heads-up.

Also, CS didn’t sound that bad. Yes, he probably was reading from a script; and from your rant here, you were already agitated, so I think you should share some of the blame too for the CS outcome. 

Please make sure this rule is in a HUGE BOLD font on the first line of your house rules. I think you will find that your reservations may dry up pretty quickly. I can’t imagine being away from home, in a different city, and told I cannot go into the city on a Friday night. 

[Anonymous]

@Gwen386  or, for that matter, that if my transit home is delayed and I don't make it back by the stroke of midnight, I'll be locked out and left on the street.

Hosts can have all the rules they want, but you can't expect support for your problems when they're completely of your own design. 

[Gwen386]

@Anonymous You made me think of Cinderella and I had to laugh out loud. 

[Pedro1613]

Hi Gwen 

Thanks for your input. 

Yes, she didn't read the house rules. She started breaking the rules on Friday morning. I talked to her and reminded her of the rules. She apologised and said she had forgotten about them. I asked her to read them to make sure she's happy with them. Later she texted me saying she was happy with the rules and that she had no problem complying with them.

In the evening, she then decides to break the "no-entry after midnight" rule. I again spoke with her, and she then, again, apologised profusely and said she had misread that one. Minutes later she sends me a message saying that the rule didn't work for her and asking if she could leave and get a refund. (All this is in texts I've shared with Airbnb)

This morning when she came to collect her luggage we spoke again and she apologised for not having read the rules and having caused me inconvenience. She was then very clear and honest and admitted not having read the rules at all. I also told her I was sorry it didn't work for her and acknowledged the inconvenience of having to move to another place. It was a very nice and civil conversation. 

As for the call with CS, I was a little stressed when I called, and would not have called unless I din’t feel I needed some support and guidance on how to deal with the issue. For the first few minutes of the first call, the agent gave me the opportunity to tell him what the issue was. That was actually the only time I was allowed to speak during the call without being accused of interrupting him or being threatened to be disconnected.

Agitated? Yes, like many human beings would, I did get uncomfortable and annoyed to feel humiliated by an CS agent whose job was to help me. It can also feel quite unpleasant when an CS agent insinuates you may be lying and accuses you of being difficult and of interrupting him when after nearly one hour of listening to him, he still has not helped you. The behaviour of the agent was unprofessional and out-of-oder and cannot be justified. People only normally call CS lines when they have a problem they need help with, and it’s the duty of the agent to do his best to help the customer, not to deliberately try to upset the customer.

I don’t think we can make rules bold on Airbnb. I also do not want to highlight a single rule because all my house rules are equally important. However, I do refer to my house rules at several locations in my listing description clearly asking people to read them.

Listings are different. They cater for different needs. Mine doesn’t cater for the needs of people who want to go out partying and be free to come back to the house at any time. People are different and they all have different needs. I’ve had several very satisfied guests who felt my accommodation was just perfect for them.

[Huma0]

@Pedro1613 

I think I disagree with the other posters on this point (even though they are all experienced hosts whose opinions I respect and whose perspective I am always interested to hear from). If your rules are stated clearly, it simply does not matter whether people like them or not. Your home, your rules. I have a lot of house rules but they are there for a reason and, frankly, I don't give a **bleep** if people do not like them. There are plenty of other listings in London and they can book one of those instead. 

People are always talking here about writing your listing to attract the type of guests YOU want. So, I feel like that is what you are already doing.

A suggestion to avoid guests who claim to have read the house rules but haven't and agree to them is to include an 'Easter egg' question in there that they have to answer before you book. It's not fool proof, but I've certainly found that it helps. At least it's easy to spot the people who say, "Yes, I have read everything and agree," when they clearly haven't!

I now refuse to accept any guest who does not provide the answer to the Easter egg question and guests will be reminded of rules if they keep breaking them, usually with a statement starting, "As I mentioned in the house rules..."

Sorry for taking the thread off topic with the whole London nightlife thing, but discussions here can often go off topic, which I think is part of the joy of participating in a community forum.

[Sudsrung0]

I'll keep this short and sweet, You are in the wrong telling people what time they can or cannot enter the property,

[Pedro1613]

Hi Sudsrung

According to whom? Are you aware of some global law that says one you become a host on airbnb you have to give up control of your own home?

[Helen3]

Hello @Pedro1613 

I'm a fellow UK homeshare host here. I think you have made this way more complicated then it needs to be

Firstly I'm not sure why you feel it necessary to have a curfew for adults staying in your home. You are a short term rental host and guests should be able to come and go as they please.

Not sure why you are communicating with your guests via what's app rather than using the platform

If you were happy for the guest to leave and have a refund  you didn't need to contact Airbnb. You just needed to confirm to the guest if she submitted a request to shorten her stay you would accept it. Problem solved. 

[Pedro1613]

Hi Helen

Yes, I know that now. I didn’t have to call the helpline. All has been resolved nicely between me and the guest. She checked out this morning and apologised for not having read my house rules when she booked.

In my opinion, my rule of “no-entry after midnight” become even more necessary in the context of short-term stays. In the past I’ve had guests staying for more than a month, even 3 months. I got to know and trust them and was able to ignore the rule. However, I cannot just have anyone coming to London for a few days or a weekend for partying and then getting in and out of my house at any time during the night when I am sleeping. I need to be responsible for my own well-being and try to ensure my safety and security, and I try to do this by having clear rules.

I can’t meet everyone’s needs. I’m very clear in my list and in my communication with guests when I ask them to read the house rules and ensure my accommodation meets their needs.

As for communicating via WhatsApp, I’d prefer to communicate via the Airbnb platform, but some guest won’t check their messages, and they start communicating via WhatsApp. Yesterday, even though I asked my guest to reply to my messages on the Airbnb platform, she continued replying via WhatsApp.

I know how the system works now so if I come across the same issue in the future, I’ll know how to resolve it with the guest without having to call CS.

[Sudsrung0]

Where I live people are just going out at that time

[Gwen386]

@Sudsrung0 And especially the 20-something, 30-something crowd. 

[Huma0]

@Sudsrung0 

LOL, it's not like that in London! Most pubs and restaurants close at 11pm. There are some late night bars and of course nightclubs, but it's not the late night city that people would assume it is. 

Most of my guests are young (some in their early 30s, but the majority in their 20s) and are usually home before midnight. However, of course sometimes they are out later and that's fine by me as they are generally conscientious RE noise but, more often, they are tucked up in bed long before I go to sleep!

[Anonymous]

@Huma0 Well, it was a Friday night kicking off the last holiday weekend before Christmas, so it would have been especially obnoxious to have a curfew. (I happen to be in England this weekend too - I definitely felt the rowdiness last night). And while London doesn't cater to night owls quite like Berlin, it is big enough that if you leave a restaurant or bar at the other end of town at 11, there's no guarantee you'll make it home before your Airbnb turns back into a pumpkin.

I can't imagine a curfew even in a quiet village, but London? Pssssht. 

[Huma0]

@Anonymous 

You're absolutely right. If my guest was going out at 9.23pm, I wouldn't speculate whether she would be home before midnight or not. 

My post above was more in response to @Sudsrung0 's comment about midnight being the time people go out in her neck of the woods. That only happens in London when people are going clubbing. You would never go out for a couple of drinks or a bite to eat at midnight. If you're not into clubbing, there's really very little to do here at that time of night other than go to a house party.

I wouldn't impose any kind of curfew, but I'm guessing that @Pedro1613 is not the only host that does because I have often had guests ask me if it's okay for them to come home late, which I find surprising. I'm not their mum. As long as they are quiet and close the front door, I don't care.

I do like it if they give me a heads up when they know in advance they are going to stay somewhere else for the night, but I don't ask them to do this. Most of my guests are solo, young female travellers and I would worry if they went AWOL for too long.

I had one young woman check in, take the key and then disappear for a week, not answering any messages or her phone. I knew she was probably okay, but I felt that it was my responsibility to make sure, because what if she wasn't? She seemed like the clueless type. Anyway, that's a bit off topic.

[Huma0]

@Anonymous hope you are having fun in the UK! I imagine you are having a far more exciting bank holiday than me. I am being very middle aged. The most thrilling thing I've experienced this weekend was having a new kitchen tap fitted.