How is it possible for a company to treat its members so poorly

[Marie-L249]

I have been trying to resolve a problem that I presented to Airbnb customer service for nearly a month. The first customer service I spoke with sent me a message saying that she will be gone for several days and will return to my case when she comes back. After she didn't get back to me I called again, just to be told that they would reach out to her. They also said that they would escalate the case. No got back to me for weeks. She never did. Then I get a message from the same customer service agent that just says that she will be gone again for 19 days. How is this possible? Someone told me that when Airbnb customer service don't know what to do with a problem they ghost you! Is that a thing? I have a hard time believing that this company treats their host so poorly. I get an attitude every time I call, as if I am disturbing their peace or something. What can I do?

[Elaine701]

@Marie-L249 

They always seem to say they'll be gone for a few days. I'm not sure what that's about, but I can only speculate that they're passing you on to someone else at the outsourced support firm. Somebody else will pick it up eventually. 

I don't know what else to say about your case, but it's pretty typical. 

We don't bother contacting them anymore, except for really extreme cases, and even then, we don't expect resolution. It's more to put our grievance on the record, in case maybe someday somebody decides to take issue. 

Good luck, but don't expect much other than flowery disarming replies that lead to dead ends. 

[Marie-L249]

How does this company expect to stay in business with a type of customer service that is making so many people feel like they hate them? I am so upset at this point, for both the lack of resolution and the amount of time I have wasted trying to take care of this.

[Colleen253]

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/An-article-on-Airbnb-s-outsourcing-of-CS/m-p/1356988#M32...

@Marie-L249 

"Someone told me that when Airbnb customer service don't know what to do with a problem they ghost you! Is that a thing?"

Yes it's a 'thing', a very common thing. These outsourced call center workers know very little of Airbnb and it's policies. This forum is rife with posts that demonstrate that, as these reps dole out misinformation like crazy, and often answer with whatever seems to make the most sense to them.

[Marie-L249]

This is nuts. How are they still in business?

[Jillian115]

@Marie-L249 Airbnb used to have good support. They laid off 1900 employees in 2020; the majority of those were customer service and since then CS has become horrendous. When you call, they are rude, you get yelled at, you usually have to escalate, and they often give the wrong information. I had a situation that took several weeks to resolve. When they ghost me, I keep calling back until I get an answer, but more often than not, they are totally uninformed or have no authority to help. I have also had CS close a ticket without resolution. I received a message the case was closed because it's no longer an issue. Most calls end in frustration. I've wasted hours trying to get a resolution. Customer service is no longer effective. 

[Marie-L249]

Someone should really start a new Airbnb type of business that would offer proper customer service. 

[Archie32]

@Marie-L249 im currently working on it. It's local right to Florida but I need a business with better customer service is needed. We currently offer cleaning services to hosts and co-hosts of those out of state or individuals not wanting to deal with the headache of hosting. 

[Colleen253]

@Marie-L249 @Jillian115  It gets worse. See

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Host-Circle/So-are-we-going-to-talk-about-this-disturbing-articl...

Many of the layoffs apparently were in Trust & Safety. I recently had a trust and safety issue crop up and you wouldn’t believe it if I told you, the responses I got from two CS ambassadors on the issue. I specifically asked for it to be escalated to Trust and Safety (the only reason I would even bother contacting Airbnb), and have been ghosted by those ambassadors and have had no response from anyone at a higher level. 

[Sumana5]

Hi everyone, @Marie-L249  @Jilian115 @Fred13 @Paige12 @colleen253

I am from France and somehow my profile page is right now in english, no problem, because i totally agree with you, myself so frustrated about airbnb's policies with hosts. They get money from the guests, we receive it, and airbnb makes profits on our back, so in the power game we hosts are the most vulnerable. 

I am new on airbnb, this summer in Brittany (Bretagne) i have received several guests who kept my toilets and the room (i share apartment) dirty, i had to ask them to flush !! They were feisty, agressive, and some of them sexual predators, alone in my flat i felt unsafe, and after these bewildering acts these guests left horrible defamatory comments. 

No action from airbnb or rather total bias support to hosts; after their so-called investigation, after all the proofs i sent through pics, airbnb "trusted" the guests and closed my cases. Even the sexual harassment case has no importance for them. They just don't believe us, support us, protect us, respect us. 

A mass action as hosts is what they deserve. 

Reading your messages gave me some satisfaction, thanks for that. 

[Fred13]

Airbnb is the 'warehouser' of bookings, the Costco/Sam's Club of the industry. It's a self-service culture, any one that comes with too complicated a case will get the run around, for what they charging you, you taking too much of their time. That's really the deal.

How they stay in business? No mystery - price - they charge the host only 3% and get this - they take care of payments and certainly bring the numbers. 

Only requirement on hosts part? Best do everything in their power not to let a 'problem' arise - if so, if its simple is one reality, if complicated all of a sudden everyone will be 'too busy' or disappear altogether.  Why? Think of the Costco/Sam's Club model.  🙂

[Colleen253]

@Fred13 If it’s a self service culture, then they should not withhold so much guest info from hosts, and make the process of vetting guests so difficult. It leads to problems, and big concerns with safety. They also shouldn’t lead everyone to believe that the platform is safe and that they verify member identities when they don’t. 

[Sarah977]

@Fred13 In my experience, that isn't true. I have found Costco to have great customer service. And while I may be one of the few people who has never ordered anything from Amazon, a huge player if there ever was one, friends who do tell me their cutomer service is really good.

[Marie-L249]

I agree with this. I don't know about Sam's club but I've been a member of Costco for at least 15 years and their customer service is great.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Fred13 Why do you perpetuate the myth that Airbnb only charge the host 3%. If a guest has $100 to spend the host will only see roughly $80. Whilst they split the payment, for most hosts 17%+3% it is still an effective 20%.