Dear Airbnbers:
I'm Cedric from China, I joined airbnb 1820 days ago. I'm writing this email to escalate a bad experience with Airbnb that happened 2 days ago. The reason why I dropped this case here is due to when I ask for the escalation with the customer support, the answer is "it's not necessary because my supervisor would hold the same opinion with me, and we are busy."
The issue of Airbnb I encountered in summary:
1、I plan to travel to "Tonglu" and live in "Tonglu" on 16th Feb night - to spend the Chinese New Year with my family. Thus, I made a reservation with a house in "Tonglu"(using map search function) on 14th Feb, the reservation code is "HMF8S5YX3S"
2、On 16th Feb 4:30pm, when I arrive at "Tonglu" house address(SAME address in the reservation details provided by airbnb), I found I could not find the house, thus, I contact the host, and the host said"my house is not in Tonglu, but in another city->hangzhou"
3、I gave the reservation screenshot to the host, and the host said"it's airbnb's address showing issue", the host advised me to cancel the reservation.
4、The host said he didn't have a house in Tonglu and he can not help me further. I didn't cancel the reservation, I want to ask for help from Airbnb because at that time, I don't need the returned money, I need a warm house to celebrate the Chinese New Year with my family, with kids and parents.
The RIDICULOUS customer experience I had with China Airbnb Customer Support:
1、I called airbnb customer support of China at 4:54pm 16ht Feb, explained the issues above(I gave all the evidence the CS asked for and I double checked with him if it's sufficient for him to help me, he said "yes"
2、I gave a clear suggestion/request to him"can airbnb helps me to find an alternative house ASAP since my family is standing on the street of an unknown city(we just followed the guided address airbnb provided, we don't have any fault)"
2、The customers support said he would contact the host and get back to me asap
3、The customers told me it was the fault of host not airbnb issue(but when I turned to the host again the host insisted it was airbnb issue, I have the screenshot evidence)
4、Again I asked the help to the airbnb Customer support, I explained I need a house nearby the house I booked two days ago and I'm here NOW(I don't care whose fault, at least this issue is not occurred by me, right?)
5、The customer support gave me three house links, I sent back 1 house link, and I requested the CS of airbnb could help me to negotiate a proper house, these happened at 5:33pm
6、THe customer support insist on to ignore my request and ask me to contact the any new host by myself, this happened on 5:34pm, the same day I'm going to check-in with my family(why I should afford this mistake which NOT occurred by me?).
7、The the customer support never ever reply me in the next 90 mins, such unconcerned and unaccountable customer service, leading my kids, my parents and I standing on the freezing street during the Chinese new year for TWO HOURS until 7:11pm,he responded via app MESSAGE me right after I just booked another house , which is a LOFT very inconvenient to family members(we don't have another choice), we didn't have a festival dinner due to late check-in, the customer support said "he was busy just now"(I have screenshot attached)
The CUSTOMER RIGHTS I strive for:
1、No matter the root case is due to airbnb nor the host, I believe it's not my fault, why my family and I should be punished standing on the street for 2hrs and missing the featival dinner?As a platform should you have any solutions on this type of condition? You don't have any responsibility on this deal? I request airbnb give me an explanation.
2、You have a poor customer support experience, your CS team doesn't act like real customer support but a PR team. They don't have any empathy for customers, I would rather quit airbnb and ask my friends never to use your services(or maybe China services)
3、My original reservations stored the issues of airbnb which I booked the right address/house, why AIRBNB can terminate it without and ANY pre-communication and without ANY solutions provided by your company to me, you can act so rudely like this?
I used airbnb services in many other countries and It's really great innovation to re-define the travel experience for tourists, I was liking it a lot and promoted to my family and friends, I don't know why airbnb service become so poor in China now, I wish you could look into this and give a proper feedback, I wish you don't loose china market due to inconsistent customer experience here, and as a 5 years member of airbnb, I wish I could point out the issue When Airbnb goes horribly wrong.
Sincerely,
Cedric
18th Feb 2021
PS: I had all the screenshot evidence if your team need for further reference