@Olof18
I entered this info back in 2018 as, requested. Earlier this year, Airbnb made the same threat, and I entered it again. Later in the year, I was told to do it again.
With respect to taxes, I'm not opposed, however there was a time not so long ago that most of the Airbnbs here were operating completely under the radar, collecting lots of income and not paying one penny in income tax. And that's what this is all about.
With respect to Airbnb, well, my experiences with Airbnb customer services leads me to suspect that it's not at all intentional, since they have tangibly precious little to gain, and only downside.
Considering how Airbnb's customer services are outsourced to some somewhat dodgy firms who demand a lot and pay little, plus my personal experiences with CS, I'm led to suspect it's simply incompetence and perhaps moreso, pressure to finalise any issues as quickly as possible, leading to choosing the easiest solution instead of the fairest one.
These CS people are just ordinary people, not highly trained, but are inundated with many, many issues everyday. Some are legitimate, many are just frivolous. Yet they have to show progress or get penalised for low productivity. Or lose their jobs entirely.
So, what's the easiest thing? Close the case and move on to the next one. Or pass it on to somebody else, who also has no time for it.
Payment issue? I'll send that one over to payments. Aircover? Just decline it and close the case. I've got to complete 80 cases today or I miss my quota.
At a management level, these outsourced providers are under pressure to deliver results. Airbnb is a big account, and they have statistics that show how many cases are completed favourably (and you can be sure that these stats include how much money it's costing Airbnb). So, when the management meets, and there's been a 32% increase in Airbnb payouts, no doubt there's going to be some contention, and pressure to keep those numbers down. It's why we hired you.
Sound implausible? That's actually how many outsourced support providers work. And, also explains why it's no better with your telecom/internet provider or any other service you subscribe to.
I have no reason to defend Airbnb. They know it hurts them. But how do you fix it without hiring your own support staff and management? That would cost them maybe 10x or more what they pay now. The board wouldn't like the sound of that at all. Besides, they're doing just fine without that expense. Just look at the numbers. They are, after all the world's biggest, and hardly under threat.
So, you, as a host, have no choice but to just keep opening new tickets. And eventually, you'll get lucky and bump into someone who fixes it.
In general, my advice is that you should consider arranging/conducting your business in such a way that you avoid using customer service wherever possible. That means taking on much of the responsibility for avoiding bad situations before they start. Is it fair? No, not really. But it's how it is. Prevention is always the best cure.
