Where to from here!

[Robin4]

I lost a potential guest today! I didn’t lose this guest because I was I didn’t want them…… or because it didn’t fit my booking schedule!

I lost them because I had no idea that they were actually trying to place a booking. For more than 15 hours their request sat on my dashboard and I was totally unaware of it!!!

In the past I have always been notified by sms alert when a request comes to me but, not any more. It appears I have to abandon whatever I do with my life and sit on a computer waiting those precious requests.

The thing that disappoints me most is that Airbnb have not even had the basic dignity of warning me, or other hosts  that they were removing an entire level of guest contact….Not an email….. not a page posting ….absolutely nothing! I have had to find it out in bits and pieces on a forum site for goodness sake.

I am absolutely staggered that a company whose business revolves around putting guest in touch with hosts can consider that it’s ok to even suggest doing this, let alone doing it without giving their hosts a ‘heads up’ that it has happened.

I am a Superhost….. I have done the right things by this company. I have never struck such shoddy treatment from any company I have ever dealt with in the past.

Why could they have not issued an alert to their hosting community to warn them, ‘As of  a certain date sms contact will be withdrawn’…..It least then we would have had some idea of what to expect and act on it.

I have concentrated my listing with Airbnb….time to wind back and post with other companies, I know with my record I will be treated with far more respect with them than I am being treated by Airbnb!!

[Linda24]

That happened to me yesterday! What is going on?

[Robin4]

@Linda24 Brace yourself Linda.....sms messaging is a thing of the past as far as Airbnb is concerned! There are particularly convuluted ways of still getting messaging but for most of us this is a disaster. I am wondering if, because I received no notification from Airbnb that this was happening I could sue them for the amount I have lost in this booking, there ought to be a case there!

Another thing that staggers me, we have a representative who is supposed to be the focal point between us as hosts and Airbnb the company, and she was totally unaware of this change and has been entirely left out of the loop in all of this @Lizzie .

That is the level of respect that this company shows to it's own when they leave their host representative totally in the dark!

Suck it up Linda.....dark days ahead I feel......Cheers.....Rob

[Dave-and-Deb0]

Hi @Robin4,

I am not sure what is going on.  @Lizzie knows nothing and neither to the @Airbnbhelp people.  I am not sure you will be able to read my recent DM's with @Airbnbhelp.  Right now I am giving a benefit of the doubt to the people at Airbnb and it could be that possibly it is a glitch that they will hopefully get fixed soon.  I don't think it would be a good business choice for them to remove the SMS alerts.  I can't wait to read your next crazy story @Robin4.  The one yesterday blew my mind!

Dave

[Robin4]

@Dave-and-Deb0 @Linda24 @Maxine0 @Olivier François 

I have just spoken to my local Airbnb people in Sydney and they have reset my messaging for the time being, but, it's not permanent. I was invited to send an email response to that phone call....This is that response!

Hi J...l C....... Thank you for taking my call today and resetting my sms text messaging.

I am active on the Airbnb Community forum site and on Tuesday I happened to read this in another post……This is an excerpt I just came across from another post purportedly from a member of Airbnb staff! “Customer Support: I have reached out to my colleague who is working with this system change to get more information. It sounds like we are working to phase out this method of notification, which is why this change has been coming about. For now, it sounds like it should be able to be switched back on through the app on your phone. You can do this by going to Settings > Notifications and turning on the Text Message Notifications. You may need to switch it off and then back on again"....

J...l....... tell me they are kidding!!!!

I lost a potential guest today! I didn’t lose this guest because I didn’t want them…… or because it didn’t fit my booking schedule!

I lost them because I had no idea that they were actually trying to place a booking. For more than 15 hours their request sat on my dashboard and I was totally unaware of it!!!

In the past I have always been notified by sms alert when a request comes to me but, not any more. It appears I have to abandon whatever I do with my life and sit on a computer waiting for those precious requests.

The thing that disappoints me most is that Airbnb have not even had the basic decency to warning me, or other hosts that they were removing an entire level of guest contact!….Not an email….. not a page posting ….absolutely nothing! I have had to find it out in bits and pieces on a forum site (as above) for goodness sake.

I am absolutely staggered that a company whose business revolves around putting guests in touch with hosts can consider that it’s ok to even suggest doing this, let alone doing it without giving their hosts a ‘heads up’ that it has happened.

I am a Superhost….. I have done the right things by this company. I consider this heavy handed loss of support appalling. Why could they have not issued an alert to their hosting community to warn them, ‘As of a certain date sms contact will be withdrawn’…..It least then we would have had some idea of what to expect and act on it. It has now cost me a booking....are Airbnb going to cover the cost of that???

J...l,  I have concentrated my listing with Airbnb….but if Airbnb are not going to give me a fighting chance to do my job, then I will have to consider using another hosting site.

Just remember, there is old expression in business….”Be aware of the toes you tread on, on the way up, because they may very well be connected to the backside you have to kiss on the way down”

J...l C, this is in no way a criticism of the excellent way you handled my enquiry today, it is directed at that section of the company who decide to embark on these ‘hair brained’ decisions with no more than a finger in the wind to those who secure their business!

Can you please pass this on to the relevant personnel!

Cheers….Robin S.

[Robin4]

@Dave-and-Deb0 Dave, that's the first thing I did, and guess what....my notifications settings were all turned on, just as they were when I re-set them as suggested the other day! So this sort of talk from the help centre is just so much Gobbledegook! I was watching my notifications settings when I spoke with Sydney this morning and when I mentioned my problem she told me to hold for a second and the came back online and said..."There you go Robin I have reset your notifications to on"! There is no way I can check if any alteration has taken place but I am skeptical Dave

God Poor Lizzie, what's the point of having a liason officer if you are going to keep that officer in the dark. All it does is make her look like a fool! She must be tearing her hair out!....cheers.....Rob Hey listen.....I haven't even started on my weird story collection....I save that for guests!!!!

[Robin4]

@Dave-and-Deb0 Just a further update Dave......Although help told me they have turned my messages back on, and my site shows that all notifications are turned on, such is not the case. I am still having to log onto my computer to receive any sort of notifications at all....So it looks like its a done deal Dave....suck it up and get used to it....Cheers....Rob

[Dave-and-Deb0]

I don't believe it @Robin4.  I guess time will tell but I think that if this was something Airbnb was looking at getting rid of, they would transition it out.  I am still convinced that it is a technical issue but I have been wrong before.

Cheers

Dave