@Anna1403 , @Bez8, @Antonella78, @Susan208, @Till-and-Jutta0, @Nutth0, @Norma17, @Peter1, @Merrydith0, @Pascale144, @Omar202, @Pooja30, @Tiffany204, @Vinícius0, @Shinya0, @Ningyi0, @Samuel604
Hi! Hope you are all well, and well done for taking this roles, big job!
I write to you as a superhost of almost 10 years, host and cohost of a few places, who has been a proud Airbnb Ambassador so far, but I have been so disappointed at how Host Guarantee is dealt with.
Covid has meant lowering rates to stay afloat, unfortunately that meant a lower calibre of guests too, and in the last few months I have had more issues/parties/damages than in the last 9years.
And I found that as per usual the Airbnb attendants on the phone for Airbnb support are great, understanding and reassuring that I won’t be left alone and that Airbnb would help sort it all out. But then the cases are sent to different departments (in a lot of cases 1 claim is sent to 2 different departments- say for extra cleaning and then for damages- but this departments never talk to each other, they have no access to prior communication and everytime someone contacts you, you need to start again with the explanation, sending of evidence, etc). Hosts don’t get to talk to them, a decision is made, and I have found that it either:
- goes directly against specific directions the phone support guys gave me, even when I raised the exact issues I thought would be raised later and was promised it wouldn’t happen (but phone recordings are never listened to)
- goes against the promise Host Guarantee gives on its page;
- goes against what Airbnb tell us as a hosting community to do/say (thinking in particular of NSW and it’s new set of hosts conduct, we had a webinar to tell us how to talk to neighbours and strata about how host guarantee covers common areas around the listing and how it takes the community at large in consideration, I did that, again being the good ambassador I used to be, just to that very week have crazy guests who admittedly broke a door and ripped curtains of the main foyer of my building - all caught on camera by the building manager too - so go keep hosting there I had to pay the +$2k bill myself since I was told that decision was to not cover it! You guys can imagine how stupid I felt for just the week before I was out there telling that very building not to worry, should the rare bad guest come stay, Airbnb would have their back too, just to find out it’s not the case at all.
I have had so many instances where I have been left alone to pick up the bills even when i have done it all by the book and followed direct instructions from Airbnb that I feel Airbnb has left hosts completely down. I used to think I was part of a caring community who cared for me too. I feel disappointed, disheartening and used to to honest. I am not happy hosting with Airbnb anymore, and for the first time in almost 10 years am contemplating a move, as I don’t see it getting better, only worse, which saddens me so much...
