CS sends message at 03:24am and demands a response within an hour

[Eileen0]

What is going on with Customer Services!

This morning I woke up to find several messages from Customer Services regarding a refund for a cancelled booking.  The first message said that my guest had cancelled the reservation for today, and "We want to hear back from you within the hour. If we don't get a response from you, we will go ahead and process the refund".

It was 03:24am on a Sunday evening. Of course I was asleep.

And of course they have issued the refund to the guest (35 minutes after first message).

I  replied at 05:30am this morning  but no reponse yet (13 hours later).

Honestly, what is going on?  

[Anonymous]

@Eileen0  Airbnb outsourced its customer service to a virtual call center in Crazytown, where time zones and cancellation policies don't exist. There is no in-house operation left, so expect more absurdity to come...

[Eileen0]

@Anonymous  I'm just flabbergasted that Customer Services could send a message like that. Surely the CS team know that their employer is a global company, that I am in the UK and likely to be asleep at that time.

Also, how rude to demand that I respond in that tight timeframe!

Nevermind my strict cancellation policy, I mean why do they even ask!

What's even worse that the same thing happened to me a while ago (guest cancels booking, CS tries to contact me during the early hours to persuade me to give a refund) but by the time I woke up and saw the messages, the guest had changed her mind again and wanted to keep the booking.

[Pat271]

Guests have many choices available when seeking out short-term rentals. It’s crucial for Airbnb to keep them happy, or they will simply book elsewhere. Their strategy is working, as millions of potential guests automatically go to Airbnb to book short-term rentals.

Hosts, on the other hand, have few other options that provide them with the same exposure and brand recognition that Airbnb provides.

Many hosts just like you come here daily with outrage and disbelief over the blatant lack of support. And yet, hosts continue to use the platform, because the exposure and revenue far outweigh whatever is lacking in support.

Airbnb of course knows all of this, and runs its business accordingly. It’s getting even worse now, because the number of Airbnb hosts has exploded in the last few years. If a host gets fed up and leaves, there are plenty of eager hosts to take his/her place.

The only way this will change is if a more balanced host/guest ratio is achieved. More guests and fewer hosts will incentivize Airbnb to focus more evenly on both.

[Eileen0]

@Pat271 I've been hosting on this platform for approx 10 years, almost all my guests are great and I enjoy hosting them.

My offer is based on the early Airbnb set up - a room in someone's home. I stick with Airbnb because I think it needs people like me, who offer a clean safe friendly and cheap option for staying in the most amazing city that is London.  As well as for the money.

 I've had very little reason to contact Customer Services in the past, and when I was a superhost, I found the helpline very helpful.  But my message tonight was about the careless attitude of this particular Customer Service person, rather than a "blatant lack of support".   

Your sentence "The only way this will change is if a more balanced host/guest ratio is achieved. More guests and fewer hosts will incentivize Airbnb to focus more evenly on both." is a bit weird.  There are many hosts here who love the original ideas of Airbnb, and want it to stay true to its original intent. I want to provide a good service to Airbnb's guest and also want Airbnb to treat its hosts well.

[Pat271]

@Eileen0 

You may have not understood what I meant.

From Airbnb’s point of view, and from a business perspective, what Airbnb chooses to focus on, and to which group it gives priority, is based on what it perceives it has to lose by doing otherwise. Airbnb knows hosts aren’t likely to leave, and also knows potential guests have other choices. Additionally, there has been an explosion of hosts joining the platform, diluting markets, etc. That’s why you are seeing careless attitudes on the part of Airbnb customer service towards hosts, and what seems like a favoring of guests. There is an imbalance present.

None of this has anything to do with staying true to original intent, providing a good service, etc. Maybe you thought I meant something different?

[Norm594]

Hi Eileen0,

Well said, Im exactly the same and it is disappointing to see the changes that are happening and what I perceive is negative to the original ideas of airbnb in particular the crazy way this summer roll out and categories was done, anyway no sense in complaining they only dismiss or ignore you anyway.

I too love the interaction with the guests and have had no complaints in the 3 years we have been hosting, its what makes hosting special for me.

Norm 

[Richard531]

@Pat271  I found your comments to be of the more brilliant I have seen on here.  You put it in a way I hadn't exactly thought of quite that directly.  

And to be even more direct still, I think that Airbnb actually may INTEND on trimming its less-than-stellar listing stock/hosts.  Then, and only then, can it be razer focused on only its best hosts.  Next, it can force its hand with lousy guests (and I see more of both happening in recent weeks).  As better hosts get even more established, that host's credibility grows.  And when those hosts are subject to unruly guests, they are supported by Airbnb much more liberally.  

Related: I just spent an hour yesterday afternoon with fellow hosts that have the EXACT same home in the exact same little enclave as we do.  Their place is "clean and nice."  It has a pool/hot tub and is "updated." Furnishings are OK (they think they are fantastic, but I would say otherwise).  They used to roll out of bed and make $5K/month with minimal effort, minimal engagement, minimal everything.  They declined guest requests if they didn't like their profile pic.  They require 3-night minimums "it's soooo much easier."  Oy. . .  Along we came and made the same house as theirs absolutely incredible (it's the "Palazzo" listing if you want to look at it in my profile).  We are doing $20K/month on that property and this is slow season.  They have had exactly zero bookings since June.  

They asked for "advice."  It can be a little difficult to tell them: "Welp, your listing isn't that great.  Your copy isn't that great.  Your prices are WAY too high for what you're offering.  Exactly nothing about your listing is special.  You should be more inclusive with accepting guests.  You should be more flexible with your calendar availability.  You don't engage with the app every few hours (like we do).  Your reviews suck.  You want to make money without working.  You are acting entitled.  You need to do more of, well, everything!"  

These are nice people!  But once I start talking about what it takes to be an awesome host and to make an awesome listing, excuses abound and eye rolling ensues. "Airbnb screwed us.  We can't afford that.  Who wants to work that hard?  Can't we just use Pricelabs?  This all used to be so much eaiser."  Really?  The answer is NO.  You have to invest, execute, and WORK.  

The best athletes and entertainers aren't what they are JUST because they have talent.  It takes a boat load of actual work!  Airbnb is finding ways to quantify that and is rewarding its best (and slighting it's weaker listing stock) in order to focus its business.

We are all making a HUGE mistake if we think Airbnb doesn't broadly know exactly what it's doing.  

[Sudsrung0]

@Eileen0 

It happened to me a couple of years back I got a message at 2-30 am same as you im out for the count at that time, They cancelled the booking, 

Different time zones didnt register with the woman at CS, 

[Eileen0]

Update: Customer Services got back in touch with me (15 hours later), this time by a different person,  and have agreed that I will be paid out in line with my strict cancellation policy.  They apologised for their colleague's earlier demanding message, so all is good.

[Sudsrung0]

Good to hear,

[Louise0]

The lack of understanding about time zones is becoming an increasing problem.  On August 6 I had a CX person call my cell phone at 4.01am.  What on earth is going on? 

Airbnb, you need to fix this.  It's a simple fix, so go do your job.

[Heather32]

I rec'd a msg at 3:45 pm about a guest that contacted them at 6:45am concerned about (Maui) a power outage. The guest had messaged me at 5am, and then called at 6:45am. Normally I would have been up and answered the phone. It took Airbnb 8 hours to get back to me or the guest, and then they gave me ONE hour to get back to them. Heaven forbid I have a date with my husband, a phone call with someone else, have dinner with my family without the phone at my side. ... or sleep. Ridiculous.

[Huma0]

I'm sorry, but this seems to happen so frequently that I very much doubt it is down to stupidity (even though many CS reps these days seem not to have a clue what they are doing). The reason I think that it is actually a tactic, is not the middle of the night messages, but the fact that those messages are combined with a demand that you respond within an hour or they will issue the refund, close the case, whatever. 

CS's MO these days seems to be to try to close a case as quickly as possible so that it's one less case for them to deal with. I am currently going back and forth with them about a technical glitch and, since the very beginning of what has now turned out to be a long message thread, the rep has been determined to get me to agree to close the case as resolved. First she denied there was a problem. When she finally accepted there was, she told me it had been fixed (it hadn't), and now she's admitted it hasn't been fixed and she can't tell me when it will be, she is harassing me to close the case. She's been trying this with pretty much every message, even before the issue was looked into at all.

I truly believe that these CS reps, which are outsourced and barely trained, are given a set of criteria they need to meet and one of those is to close as many cases as possible as quickly as possible, without the need to pass it on to someone who can fix the problem. I bet you they have a target in this regard, with a specific percentage or number attached to it.

[Louise0]

@Huma0  That happened to me recently too.  I had a technical issue that wasn't even close to being 'resolved', but the CX rep pronounced it resolved and closed the case.  It was infuriating.

After many hours of wasted time, a very disgruntled guest and countless messages,  I eventually managed to achieve a semi-satisfactory solution.  But seriously, why do they believe it's ok to close a case that is clearly unresolved?  What's behind this odd behaviour? 

Airbnb, you need to fix this.  It's apparent that whatever you are doing to incentivise the CX reps is having a perverse and negative impact on service standards.