Is Airbnb about to go out of business?

[Shaun124]

https://ycuniverse.com/airbnbs-hotly-anticipated-federal-bankruptcy-filing-a-timeline-of-collapse

Today is the 3rd week of trying to contact Airbnb and have had no response or assistance for a simple issue that has got way out of hand for something that could have been resolved with contact with customer service.

From what I am reading on host FB groups must be true that Airbnb has stopped supporting hosts. I have had multiple issues that have gotten way worse than they should have simply because of lack of support from Airbnb.

Not sure how long this can survive

[Emiel1]

@Shaun124 

it is very annoying Airbnb CS is not responding. It makes us feel left alone. Let's hope it will be temporary. I can not imagine Airbnb will going out of business with so many bookings still going on.

Best regards,

Emiel

[Melodie-And-John0]

@Shaun124, Cauponi Cave, Innkeeper Beware!   Essentially, our customer service line is only dealing with things that have already gone poorly and cannot do anything that will either mitigate or eliminate issues before or during a booking, .   I have had to contact them via phone and text numerous times before I get any response much less resolution in the last couple months (The outcomes were generally correct in the end, thats a positive).  This is very concerning, I am hoping that they can regroup and refocus their efforts back to their roots before they fail completely.  Stay well, JR

[Michelle53]

This article talks about the faux Airbnb chic that overtook the high-volume, wholesale Airbnb market, before Covid-19.

Maybe, we'll return to some actual authenticity, where every listing really is different, and quality matters. 

https://www.ft.com/content/6996e7f2-7446-43e5-9c31-2606b9e316b7

[Ann72]

@Michelle53  Unfortunately the Financial Times article is behind a paywall!  Too bad because I would have liked to have read it.

[Alon1]

@Ann72 

Same title (presumably same article) free 

The curse of the Airbnb aesthetic - usa-vision

http://www.usa-vision.com/the-curse-of-the-airbnb-aesthetic/3 days ago ... Surf on Airbnb to find your next vacation apartment and you'll notice that the deals in New York or Paris, London or Budapest, São Paulo or ...

[Ann72]

@Alon1  Thank you!

[Alon1]

@Ann72 

You're welcome.

I find it quite common for an article to circulate in different journals. The paywall papers create the impression its exclusive, when it is often turns out to be more like junk mail doing the rounds.

[Ann72]

@Alon1 Yes, I got busy after hitting the paywall and didn't have time to search further, so I was pleased you provided the link.

The article was full of really annoying typos and dropped and added words and phrases, so I believe it's possible that if it really was an FT article, whoever reposted it did so with those changes to hide the fact that they were basically stealing content from another site.

It was really so annoying to read that I would have been happier paying for a clean version at the Financial Times.

On top of that the article was trying to drum up interest in a half-baked idea.

Overall - underwhelming.

[Huma0]

There's no doubt that customer services has gone severely downhill, but that's hardly surprising given the staff cut backs and Airbnb terminating contracts with contractors. It's my understanding that much of CS was manned by those contractors, so we're not just looking at a 25% staff cut back but a much larger reduction of personnel.

That's not really an indicator of whether the company will go out of business though. Many, many firms will be cutting back in these times.

The main question is, how is Airbnb going to pay back its high interest loans? 

It's pretty clear that continuing to offer guests full refunds for COVID cancellations in the form of credit without asking for any evidence of extenuating circumstances, is one way they can actually make money out of the situation, albeit at the guests' and hosts' expense, but is that enough?