@David1054

[David1054]

I find the Airbnb help desk experience extremely frustrating as a host with small to large problems.  My impression is help desk employees are extremely constrained in what they can tell a host.  They read from text like a robo call and can’t answer any question beyond a handful, typically ill suited for the problem, and then say they will forward the problem to the resolution desk and say you will get a message (not a call) from this group regarding your issue within 48 hours.  If you insist on being transferred to the RC you are told that can’t be done.  RC usually sends a message within a few hours but it is starting from scratch. Fill out this form (link) and we will look into it.  The experience is highly bureaucratic and comes off as algo like and impersonal.  But mostly it is time consuming and when a host has a pressing question the delays are very frustrating.  The experience feels like East European Soviet Bloc worthy. No one can answer a question outside immediate function.  I have been forced to email Brian Chesky to get a RC person to call me.  VRBO help desk usually answers my questions with the first person I connect with even on issues as higher order like Covid liability hosting and suggested policies to reduce it.  Assuming my experiences are not unique, Airbnb has a serious communications problem with hosts.  No one has a last name, a company email address or an extension.  How can a business thrive if its front facing culture is bureaucratic, opaque and inflexible?    I am a big fan of Airbnb and a partner in business with it.  I just think some common sense about dealing with hosts on a human level would go far in enhancing the partnership.

[Helen3]

What Issue are you encountering that you need help with related to Covid?  @David1054 

I have been in lockdown for many months on and off this year so have chosen to give guests a full refund if I can’t provide them with a service or they can’t travel because of our Covid legislation here.  I do this because it’s the right thing for me to do as a business owner. 

Not sure why you would compare a US based multi National that is an incredibly successful disrupter for profit business with a political system that hasn’t existed in Eastern Europe for many years.