I keep seeing a lot of people complaining about the customer service of Airbnb. I've recently had to make two different inquires with them and I have discovered what works best. They have a way in which they deal with inquiries and I am pretty sure no matter what is going on or how you contact them, it works the same. I am a dinosaur, so I enjoy being able to call in and get immediate help and answers. However, over the last several years I have noticed that everyone is moving to this whole automated customer service process. You email in and two or three days later you get some sort of automated response, which sometimes never corresponds to your issues. Lyft, Uber, Amazon, even jobs. Heck, I recently went through interview process for two different jobs with two different companies and never once met an actual person who work at those places--it was all done through internet or third party.
Send a request on Twitter. This is the best way. You send a direct message on Twtter and outline exactly what happened and what you are looking for as a solution. They will respond with an automated message 12-24 hours later. 24 hours later they will either email with either the solution or letting you know what your options are. In the first instance I recieved a call from the case manager right after I got his email outlining the solutions. I was unable to call him back as I was working, and just responded to his email. The second instance I needed help, the case manager simply took care of the issue for me. In both cases I was very pleased with the outcome. The first case he waited for me to decide which option I chose. The second inquiry she took care of it because she was able to fulfill my request.
I did call in using the Superhost number. I waited about 40 minutes. The man was nice and helpful but did not provide me with as much help as the person who ended up responding to the open ticket from my Twitter inquiry. This is why I think using Twitter is best because they create a case and it allows them time to either channel the issue to someone with experience or to give that case manager time to find the best result.
Using Twitter also is best for those who are out in far-off locations where Airbnb doesn't have customer service numbers for. Just keep in mind it is a process. This doesn't mean they are being tricky or sly or trying to avoid helping you, they are just being modern..and seriously I see a lot of hosts say there is no number for Airbnb in their country, so this is a great solution.
Customer Service is not intended for emergency situations. Airbnb is simply a booking service and not intended to mediate civil issues or issues outside of payment or scheduling, in my opinion. Do your due diligence--check id, don't use Instant Book if you want that flexibility of turning away someone who doesn't meet your own requirements, and if you are new---don't worry about being fully booked. Take one or two bookings to see if this is something you enjoy. The more bookings you get...the WAAAAY more issues you will encounter, even if you are the best host in the world. This is a game of numbers...you book more, there is more of a pool of people which opens up your chances for more to go wrong even under the best of circumstances. I speak from experience when I say back to back to back to back bookings are CRAZY and I don't recommend lots of bookings right away for people who are new to renting. Let yourself enjoy the learning curve before you bump it up.
Just my thoughts for new hosts, as I"m kind of new too and wanted to share my experience with Customer Service.