How to free up customer support? Empower hosts!

[Susan1188]

I have found myself calling and texting client support way too much recently.  No wonder they are overloaded, if everyone is doing like me.

Why, I asked myself yesterday, do I need to involve CS in everything?  I concluded the reason is: current Airbnb policies remove all empowerment of hosts.

As a 52 year old multiple property owner, I've been managing short term rentals for 27 years and certainly know how to deal with 95% of the issues that can arise. 

Yet airbnb :

- does not let me help a guest cancel for valid reasons, refunding 100% (vrbo lets us do this)

- does not let me enforce my cancellation policy, when I know a guest is being dishonest

- does not let me zap a small percentage of outlier bad reviews - I am sure a huge number of CS calls are due to the unfair review system

- does not let me change dates at the guest's request for a mutually agreed price (airbnb forces the price for date changes)

- discourages me from meeting guests in person, getting ID, refusing bookings of guests who show signs of trouble from the start - all of these things would reduce problems and reduce calls to CS - pushing self check-in, no ID collection, strict statistics on accepting bookings even if they clearly violate house rules..

- hides important information from hosts such as, how many hosts gave thumbs down, how many times did the guest get a refund, how many times did the GUEST cancel last minute

If hosts were empowered and able to take control over these things, a huge number of calls to client support would be avoided.

Any host knows that earning superhost and staying on the platform for multiple years takes hard work and dedication.  You can't fake your performance, it's all there written in stone. It would be very easy for Airbnb to determine, which hosts have the experience necessary to take control of these things.  Maybe after one or two years?  Maybe after 50 reviews?  Any criteria would be fine.

People get frustrated, when they feel (1) something is unfair and (2) they have no control to change it.

To improve host morale, changes could be made to either or both!  Empowering hosts will improve morale and free up client support.  And probably make for fair treatment all around.

I hope this post gets some attention, empowering your excellent hosts will be a win-win for everyone.  Give us back some control, and you will see we will be fair to guests.

Thank you for reading this!

[Chris13041]

Not shockingly, I tried to add to this conversation with an example of a very poor CS experience I had today, but after hitting reply, I received an error message.   How fitting.

@Aisling Hassell - contact me.   I have a horror story to share with you.

[Ute42]

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@Susan1188 

I just found out that the maximum No. of kudos I can assign to Your post is "1".

[Helen350]

@Catherine-Powell - It would be great if you were to consider @Susan1188 's excellent thoughts! 🙂

[Fred13]

@Susan1188 When I first joined Airbnb 6 years ago, my first reaction was - this is one risky model and it had extreme high maintenance written all over it because of its very personal policies. It is a wonder it has worked to the degree it has. It is still an individual 'project', but this will all change when it goes public.

    The first thing I did when I first started was to look up is who runs it - no different that the first thing I do when reading an article is immediately note who wrote it. 

    No business relationship (which is what this is) is a one-way street, to work for both in the long run must be a symbiosis, so with that mentality is how I have dealt with Airbnb.  I am already self-empowered so there is nothing guests can do I can't handle myself and I am sure Airbnb is thrilled with me because they have never had to hear from me in 6 years/600 guests with them. We run in parallel, silently. (LoL)

   Food for thought. 

P.S. I was raise in Spain my first 15 years, though born in the U.S. You have beautiful places.

[Huma0]

The factor to be found most demotivating in a workplace environment is when an individual is given responsibility WITHOUT authority. It's basic psychology.

Ok, so we are not technically Airbnb employees, but we are working to earn money for both Airbnb and ourselves. While Airbnb might be responsible for the marketing, booking services and payment processing, the hosts are responsible for the quality of the most vital aspect of the product or service being sold:. the accommodation.

Yet, we have next to no authority, only the allusion of it.

We try to vet guests but verification is done by Airbnb and appears to be 'optional'. Important information about the guest is hidden from us. We are pushed into using Instant Booking or our listings fall of the map. We have only 24 hours to accept or decline a booking request, regardless of whether the guest answers important information or is as silent as the grave. We get dinged if we decline. We get dinged if we cancel. If a guest breaks house rules, causes damages or even trashes the place, we face a retaliatory review which Airbnb will not remove, if we so much as bring it up. There is no real security deposit and, even if there was, we can not access it. If the guest makes a false claim in order to get a refund, we have no way to prevent it.

The more I think about it, this is one of the clearest examples of responsibility without authority that I've come across.

[Kat162]

Love your article @Susan1188 , wholeheartedly agree!

We've been thinking a lot about how this too, especially regarding true insight into a guest's past Air BnB behaviour. We're really not privy to much are we? Your suggestions are bang - on and I'd love to add one more.

It would be lovely to see the number of Air BnB stays a guest has made versus the number of hosts that would host them again. I believe this could provide far more insight into guest behaviour than the star system. 😉

Related tags

• hosting
• host
• reviews
• guests
• cancellation
• superhost
• co-host
• refund
• review
• guest

[Diane440]

I've only been with Airbnb for a couple years now but in that short time, I've learned to see this merely as a booking service and take ownership of my business model, my way. There are well established motels, traditional B&B's and vacation rentals that have run for years without Airbnb but now are increasingly listing on this site. I can't believe they're all slavishly following this website's restrictive rules either and running to ABB CS for every issue. For years we've booked as travelers with hotels.com and we learned that hotels are more than willing to negotiate prices outside this booking service. I'm sure they do the same with Airbnb too and don't get caught or penalized for it.  If Airbnb wants us to be their "employees" and adhere to their rules, they're going to have to make sure no professional hotel or B&B business competes with us or they at least have to adhere to the same rules we do. Otherwise, we have the option to think outside the Airbnb box and run our businesses our way just as these corporate and indie  pros do. 

[Fred13]

@Diane440 For some reason your post reminded me of the old saying -  "It is easier to ask for forgiveness, than beg for permission". 

[Diane440]

@Fred13   That's one of my favorite old sayings! Are you saying there's a need to ask forgiveness? Because I tested this theory out over the weekend by calling a family run hotel in my area that is listed on ABB. The desk manager was very helpful and as a member of the family business, very willing to explain their business model, which does not change whether a guest checks in from trivago, hotels . com, VRBO or Airbnb or directly through their reception desk. They ask for ID and CC at check in, and that is how they add any additional charges, should they occur.  The manager I spoke with laughed at the idea they should run to airbnb CS for any of the policies or services they routinely handle on their own. Maybe we all should adopt this same attitude. Have we just been too nice and easy to manipulate? Or is airbnb really that heavy-handed in their policies? Or do they offer this merely as a CYA for anyone lacking the experience to run a vacation rental on their own?  Maybe the OP has a point and we all can do our part to lighten the load and maintain sovereignty over our own business models. 

[Fred13]

@Diane440 Come to think of it, no need to for forgiveness really, since it should never even come up, just the old saying had it in it, but we are in a new era. 

   Airbnb is part of the generational mentality of loving to be control freaks, because their generation is so smart that they even 'invented' the wheel. So who are we to think we do know a better way. Kids today, I swear. 🙂

[Diane440]

@Fred13   I mean, I don't fault them for trying to "hand-hold" newbies through this process. I had no idea how to do a vacation rental from my home two years ago. Then a trip to a VRBO beach house in FL inspired me to give it a try. I did my research and am still learning. But I can see where airbnb has to protect their interests and make sure hosts represent their brand. They do provide some nice "training wheels" and tips to get started that I have appreciated. But it can easily become a co-dependency and an unhealthy relationship. Perhaps we are overthinking this and they only mean to help while letting those who can, go about running their own business their way. I totally agree about those "kids today". But then, there's that other saying: "you can't teach an old dog new tricks." I can relate to that one too!  🙂

[Fred13]

^^^ "I can relate to that one too!". Nowadays it takes twice as much effort to do stay 'young', at least mentally that is, physically is another whole loosing story. :0

[Alex893]

I am afraid I can not agree with you. 

- you can put any price you want when there is a date change

- I don’t want to be able to help a guest cancel because that will open the door to the guests expecting me to do that. They think any reason they have for cancelling is a valid reason. I want to be removed from this process. 

- what do you mean uphold your cancellation policy when guest is being dishonest? If you are talking about extenuating circumstances policy, it should not exist period. You say that you want to decide want to cancel the guest yet you also want to decide when the guest is being dishonest. I have no doubt that you are a smart, insightful person who can distinguish between the two however I do not think every host should be liable to decide who is lying, who is not. It will create further mess and many unhappy guests.

-I have never seen Airbnb discourage in person check in. Self chicken and greeting guests are not one and the same. I have self check in but I also great most of my guests. Rather I should say greeted - before Covid of course.

- there are plenty of bad hosts out there. Getting a refund does not make one a bad guest every time, they could truly deserve it. This should be the job for us, hosts to always review our experience with guests, particularly the negative ones. As for cancellations, if your guest cancels against the host policy they’re not getting a refund. If they’re canceling within a policy, they should be perfectly allowed to do that. If you were again talking about extenuating circumstances, while the policy exists, guests shouldn’t be penalized for using what is available to them. Instead, the policy should just be taken away.

I do agree In general that the current state of Airbnb customer service is unfortunate to say the least. I think one major change would solve most several of your complaints: it is replacing extenuating circumstances policy with travel insurance.

And now I am ready with towel in hand to wipe off any rotten tomatoes to be thrown at me for the unpopular opinion 😬

[Susan1188]

Thanks for the feedback and the thoughtful debate!

- "help a guest cancel" - I have many repeat guests that book - each time - thru airbnb.  And neighbors and friends who do so as well.  Some booked before March 14. For trips in September.  And they can't travel due to quarantine restrictions or removal of health care if they travel.  I can refund them in full but they will lose their Airbnb service fees.  That is what I mean.

- "if a guest is dishonest" - a recent guest used a fake Covid excuse trying to cancel one day before arrival. The explanation she gave was incoherent and obviously fake, but she was surely going to be able to find a doctor certificate to get extenuating circumstances full refund.  In the end, she came (so that's how I know the whole thing was made up).  But it is well know people use EC to get full refunds when it is clear they shouldn't.

- Another guest booked non-refundable, saying when she booked - I'm getting the discount but I'm not worried if I have to cancel I'll just use an extenuating circumstance.  That's what I mean by dishonest.

- You can put any price in a date change, before arrival day, when you make a special offer.  After the trip has started (or very shortly before), you can not change the price if you want to extend the stay.  This has happened to me twice recently.