Does anybody know how to speak to somebody with authority at Airbnb?
I have a situation as a guest where my reservation in Barcelona was cancelled 4 days before the trip, and current comparable accommodations are 6 times as expensive due to Primavera festival increasing the prices, along with the late notice. I am trying to see what kind of coupon Airbnb can provide but the process is excruciatingly slow, without real updates or communication.
There is always one agent assigned to my case, but the only way I can contact them directly is through the ongoing chat, with no guarantee that they'll respond. When I call the main customer service number 75% of agents tell me they can't put me through to the agent that's handling my case directly, but they'll ping them to call me within the next half hour, one hour max. Of course, they never call. The other 25% of agents put me through to the agent that's working my case, which makes me wonder why the other 75% can't do that. The agent working the case is usually helpful enough, but inevitably has to go off to speak to a higher up for authorisation on something. They always promise they will call me with an update before the end of their shift. They never call! This has happened four times now.
In one situation, I had a very lovely agent help me search for accommodation, and agreeing that the increase in cost was astronomical she promised to provide a coupon to cover the total difference in cost. All we had to do was wait for confirmation from a host that they could take us, and then she could send the coupon and book it. The host responded to say it was available, but this was just after the agent ended her shift. There appeared to be no agent contactable immediately afterwards, so I left it until the next morning. The next agent could only provide a measly £158, which is nothing considering the excess cost is at minimum £1460. After some negotiating she agreed to increase this to £730, but never actually sent the coupon, so I still can't book! And then, of course, she went totally AWOL and I never heard from her again.
The longer this goes on, the more our booking is going to cost as the cheapest places that are left, whilst not at all cheap, will get snapped up. Or if Airbnb are willing to cover the increase in cost it will only cost them more the longer this goes on! I'm just getting thrown around from agent to agent, shift to shift, with no agreement from one agent to another about what they can do in this situation.
Does anybody have any advice or tips? Any similar situations as a guest?
