Have you read this?

[Laura2592]

https://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/airbnb-breakup/

So many things to unpack. 

First, guests are frustrated with service too. So pretty much across the board everyone reviles ABB customer service. Why is something not done? Drastic action not taken?

Second, the writer complained that he was notified to vacate then WENT WINE TASTING instead of resolving the issue. So uh, there's that. 

Third, apparently Brian Chesky reads travel blogs but not the community forum. Otherwise we would probably all have his personal cell.

Fourth, the guest wants a "unicorn" space in LA with an in home host but doesn't want to deal with the fact that the host is home, talking in the next room. And then won't mention that they are leaving because of a perceived safety issue. So sounds to me like this person would be better suited to a remote host situation or at least a deep dive into reviews. Perhaps they are picking places for price and not an actual fit? 

What are your thoughts?

[Sarah977]

@Laura2592  Well, his complaints about  customer service are certainly something I think we could all agree with.

As far as the home share he rented where the host was fighting with her boyfriend, and the place was dirty and cluttered, he is also in the right, IMO. Just because a guest rents a home share doesn't mean they should be expected to put up with the host behaving in a way that disturbs her guests, or not cleaning properly. This is the type of host who thinks they can just list a spare room to make some money without having any concept of what it means to provide hospitality.

But I do get the sense that this guy books the cheapest places possible and then expects them to be nice. 

I guess we should all have blogs so we can get damage control calls directly from Mr. Chesky.

[Laura2592]

@Sarah977 I find it hard to believe that a host would have a dirty, cluttered space and get into loud arguments while guests were present and never have anything of the sort show up in their feedback. Heck people leave 3s if they just didn't care for your paint color choice. If it was an established host I am quite sure that the ratings probably reflected the experience of the stay. So either it was a brand new host to ABB or the author didn't pay attention to the feedback left from other guests because he wanted a cheap place to stay. 

[Sarah977]

@Laura2592  That's the sense I got- that he might book the cheapest place in town and either ignore the ratings and reviews, or he books with new hosts, which tend to have discounted prices, no reviews and sometimes clueless hosts.

[Mark116]

@Laura2592  He sounds like a Travel Karen to me.  What are the odds that every Airbnb he has rented has had some terrible problem?  I would bet money the pet was disclosed in the listing and he didn't read it because he's an entitled jerk who  has Chesky's personal cell phone number.

Of course, no one here is surprised to read the moronic emails that come from Airbnb CS.

I also read his original article, and he must not be very bright if he found it super, duper incredibly difficult to find home share Airbnbs.  He also cited a lot of very dubious stats.

[Laura2592]

@Mark116 yes that was my impression. I have read a few of his other pieces and his MO seems to be to try and find the cheapest possible place and then critique it like it was the Four Seasons. Very entitlement minded. No wonder he kept Chesky's digits on speed dial.

[Mark116]

@Laura2592   Poorly thought out criticism with a bunch of glib superficially researched ideas thrown in.  Yes, over tourism is a thing, but since Airbnb uses existing housing stock [now that they gave up their insane idea of building Airbnb complexes] it is a positive in that equation.  Instead of destroying pristine country or bulldozing neighborhoods for new hotels, Airbnb can organically expand when demand expands without the need for a single new unit built.  That is a plus.  A big plus.  And it doesn't take an architect or a research scientist to figure that out.

I can't blame him for keeping Chesky's number, though.  

[Susan990]

@Mark116   What is the  meaning of  'overtourism'? Is it related to your comment about Airbnb creating complexes?  This entire conversation thread leads to the core driver of everything which is AirBnb's goal  to grow the business and expand into every market where it wants to be---and to that agenda the very idea of Airbnb creating its own lodging products which compete with the Host community is counterproductive &  counterintuitive. 

         The best way to grow  market share is to entice the 'investors'-- which are us Hosts. BC likes to refer to us Host's  as "Partners"--which we are not. We create the Products for which ABB creates a booking/escrow service & marketing platform. 

      BC could create an explosion of Host Listings simply by fixing its policies about Ratings and Reviews to make it a seductive reason to List with ABB over the competition AND hire top tier coders AND  well educated and trained customer service staff who actually know a lot about the hospitality industry. Just saying...

[Sarah977]

@Laura2592  Most of these young bloggers and influencers seem to have a sense of entitlement, it almost goes with the territory. 

Blogs that focus on the blogger's opinions or advice or complaints almost all seem to be like this. 

They are quite different than blogs where people write about or share information on some topic like knitting, or parenting or gardening.

[Laura2592]

@Sarah977 just you wait until @Huma0 and I get that book written! We will both be DIVAS! Then you can say you knew us when....

[Sarah977]

@Laura2592  When that happens, I might even be willing to give you my personal phone number. 🙂

[Laura2592]

@Sarah977 Oh my gosh we will call you every time we run into a problem. You can be our personal fixer. Part of the entourage. 

[Huma0]

@Laura2592 

I don't have much admiration for this writer's work, to be honest. I'm not saying there aren't any valid points here, but it's biased and not very well researched. Anyone can find data/examples to back up their argument if they go looking for it. A good writer will also weigh up the other side of the argument before making sweeping statements. For example, he includes a list of articles about terrible hosts. One could just as easily put together a list of articles about guests partying, trashing places or scamming hosts, or worse.

In the other article, he writes:

"I’ve found the customer service to be really terrible and slanted toward hosts. There are a lot of protections for hosts but not guests. If I cancel, I have to pay a fee. If the host cancels, there’s little punishment."

What is that based on? Yep, customer service can be really terrible, but how would he know it's slanted towards hosts? What are all these protections for hosts? Are we talking about the Host Guarantee, or what?  We all know about the penalties to hosts if they cancel a guest, so where's he getting the "little punishment" from? Rather than be specific, he's making assumptions based on a handful of personal experiences and a few guest comments pulled off social media. It's sloppy journalism.

Of course there are some terrible hosts and terrible Airbnbs out there, but this is a guest (and sadly I think there might be many out there like him) who is simply NOT doing his research and most likely also has expectations that don't meet his budget.

The author seems to have a habit of up and leaving after a stay has started and expecting a full refund every time. Why? I mean, why do his stays keep going wrong?

Of course, this all sounds like I'm only seeing it from the host's perspective, but honestly, I don't think it's that hard to find a decent Airbnb that will suit you, you just have to put a bit of time into reading the listings and the reviews. Newbies can easily be mislead and end up booking a shady listing, but a seasoned travel blogger really should know better.

[Huma0]

PS, I like how, in the 2019 article, he bangs on about wanting to stay in a homeshare but elsewhere states that one of the things he doesn't like about Airbnb is the hassle of dealing with hosts. Erm... better suited to a hotel, maybe?

Sounds like someone who wants to have his cake and eat it.

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Huma0 

I've decades of customer service under some of the highest pressure situations. Maybe I'm getting tired in my old age, but this man sounds like he really would be much happier in a hotel.