Some Points

[Dream-Inn0]

Dear Airbnb,

We would request a meeting with Key Account Manager to discuss some points. 

Your prompt response and action will be appreciated. 

Best regards, 

Dream Inn Team

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Dream-Inn0 wow you have some poor review scores. Can I suggest, for the sake of your guests, you improve your offering rather than have meetings with Airbnb.

[Helen3]

@Dream-Inn0  This is a community forum for hosts and guests .

If you want to get in touch with Airbnb you will need to call them. 

they don't hold meetings with hosts or have an account management system . 

[Sarah977]

@Dream-Inn0  You seem to be unclear on things. This isa discussion forum, not Airbnb customer service. And Airbnb is just an online listing platform, they don't have account managers who meet with hosts.

[Katrina314]

@Sarah977 @Helen3 

Sorry, but where on earth did you get the idea that Airbnb don't have account managers?? That's simply not the case. We (a small, family-run, 25 year old property management company) have had an account manager assigned to us since Airbnb first reached out to us in 2015, offering us all sorts of incentives to add our listings to the platform - rapid, personalized customer care, speedier complaint resolutions, enhanced search placement etc

For several years, this worked very well and we had an excellent relationship with our account handler - she was easily contactable,  responded to our queries and concerns within minutes and sorted any damage claims we made without delay, which made listing on the platform a breeze for us. 

However, the level of service we now receive has fallen off a cliff.  As Airbnb has moved on to courting far bigger property management/institutional investor-funded operators over the past 2-3 years - with hundreds/thousands of listings each to offer, as opposed to our measly dozens - it's become blatantly obvious that smaller PM hosts like us are no longer considered "useful" in the Airbnb Hierarchy of Hosting, and the help and support we previously received from our Account Manager appears to have been withdrawn (In fact, our most recent call to the dedicated Airbnb phone number our Account Manager has always contacted us on, put us straight through to a recorded voicemail from a  "Property Solutions" firm, asking callers to leave a message if they're interested in selling their properties to them!)

So yes, account managers on Airbnb most certainly are a thing, and they absolutely do meet with multi-listing hosts - our AM has treated us to lunch/dinner on many occasions. But it does seem as though that sort of treatment is reserved nowadays only for the giant institutional "hosts" with global coverage and countless separate regional accounts

[Helen3]

@Katrina314  aren't you the lucky ones then. Us mere mortal hosts who are the backbone of Airbnb don't have that luxury.

Good to know that Airbnb offers all these additional services to property management companies that they don't make available to hosts with multiple listings. It is what we have long suspected.

And oh so ironic that you are you now complaining that Airbnb are now courting bigger fish.

Strange you should choose to create an anonymous profile to make your post. If you do have a property management company with multiple listing why hide behind a made up profile???

[Katrina314]

@Helen3 

I'm not sure why you have only "long suspected" that multiple listing hosts are offered additional services by Airbnb - it's been common knowledge for many years now and neither multiple listing hosts nor Airbnb have made any secret of it.  I'm actually astounded that any host who has used the platform for any amount of time would be unaware of that, much less incorrectly state as fact on the official Airbnb advice/support forum that Airbnb don't have account managers and don't meet with hosts, when the very opposite is true.

And no,  I'm not complaining that Airbnb are now courting "bigger fish",  I'm complaining that the level of service we receive - and by that I mean regular, everyday customer support, as opposed to the rather fake (and quite frankly, tedious) wining and dining efforts of the past - has deteriorated so terribly, not only for us but evidently across the board for all hosts who have fewer than several hundred listings.

And for the record, we never asked for Airbnb to come courting us,  nor did we ever for one minute consider it to be right or fair that we received preferential treatment to smaller hosts. So please don't be jumping to erroneous conclusions. The fact is, for well over 15 years prior to Airbnb entering our market, we were happily operating a very successful, well-respected small holiday rentals business but unfortunately, it eventually came to a point where Airbnb had so much financialised market dominance that we really were left with no choice but to join the platform, or go under. Thankfully, there has been a gradual but very noticeable shift over the past couple of years with Airbnb fast losing ground to competitor sites, coupled with a massive upturn in direct bookings again. Which suits us perfectly.

Finally, could you please point me to where it states that creating an anonymous profile is against the forum rules? There are many reasons why hosts would prefer to remain anonymous on this particular forum. In my case however, I'm choosing not to post under our company profile as we're in the middle of a now months-long dispute with Airbnb involving tens of thousands of pounds in payouts not received, and I have no wish to potentially prejudice our case in any way. Hope that answers your "???"

[Helen3]

Please stop being so disingenuous and frankly rather rude . @Katrina314  

Nowhere on its website does Airbnb make it clear that it offers much more favours conditions to large scale property management companies than to individual hosts or what those conditions are.

Do link here to content on Airbnb that you state is openly available showing  that they offer account managers and meet up with hosts with multiple listings and a host of other benefits .

it may be common knowledge amongst large scale management companies but to state it is public knowledge is clearly untrue . How do you expect hosts to be aware of this when Airbnb hides its preferential treatment of companies like yours .

Who said that you making up a false profile to post here was against the community rules ? 

[Sarah977]

@Katrina314  "Mere dozens" of listings?

And you think that makes you the little guys?

Interesting to hear that Airbnb courted you in the past. I guess that explains why property management companies can rack up tons of bad reviews, have dirty, run down listings, practice bait and switch, treat guests poorly and still stay on the platform.

[Katrina314]

@Sarah977 

I don't "think" that us having just dozens of listings makes us little guys in today's Airbnb ecosphere - all the data produced by the major industry analytics firms confirm that as fact. It was widely reported in early 2021 that just 5% of Airbnb hosts controlled almost a third of all listings on the platform, with hosts having 100+ listings being a rapidly growing sector while hosts with one or two listings being the fastest shrinking sector. So yes, in the great scheme of things, we are just minnows in the pond now.

Also, let me assure you that our company has consistently held superhost status since very soon after we joined Airbnb, and has never engaged in the nefarious practices you describe above. Quite honestly, I resent the rather overt implication that ALL property management companies must be providing a shoddy, substandard service. Some are, many aren't. The same could be said for any cohort of hosts, large or small.

[Sarah977]

@Katrina314 I did not overtly imply that all property management companies are giving poor service, I'm sure there are many who are conscientous. And I certainly would not imply that you are a bad host, as you have chosen to post here in such a way that your reviews cannot be seen, so I would have nothing to judge your hosting on.

But I have read lots of reviews for property managers and they are more often full of the same guest complaints over and over again. To which the response is usually a pre-written rote response like "We are so sorry you had this issue. We pride ourselves on our high standards and will be looking into what happened here. Thank you for booking with us and we are glad you enjoyed your stay."

Yet it's obvious that they care not at all, as the same guest complaints continue.

As for it being "common knowledge" that Airbnb has account managers that meet with management companies, I can assure you it isn't, except perhaps among your management crowd. Both I and Helen,who responded above, have been small-time, hands-on hosts  for years, and active on this forum, and I can assure you this information has never been made public. 

And while you are outraged that your "small" property management company isn't getting the same level of service you were accustomed to, and you resent that the "big boys" are receiving better service, we small time hosts could say the same- we have been dealing with clueless outsourced reps and disrespectful host policies for quite awhile, while it seems you have been wined and dined because you have dozens of listings instead of just one or a few. 

One thing we can agree on, though, is that Airbnb customer service has become a useless, bad joke.

[Sybe]

Hi everyone @Katrina314 @Dream-Inn0 @Helen3 @Sarah977 @Mike-And-Jane0 

I've noticed that this conversation has become rather personal. It's important that we remain respectful towards each other and ensure everyone feels welcome. As I feel this thread has gone off-topic and doesn't benefit the community any longer, I've unfortunately decided to close it. Thank you all for participating.