Hi everyone,
I've been in real estate for almost 8 years, and Airbnb has been indispensable instrument in helping me achieve goals quickly. I'm sharing this because I want Airbnb to succeed, even though I don't necessarily like the way they handle operations. It's just more convenient to work with them.
Seems like we've all noticed a decline in the past year. Today, I became convinced that the reason for the decline in bookings is Airbnb's approach of delegating important issues to people who may not understand the local context or have the necessary expertise. Or so called "Amazon's approach to customer support", where they delegate customer support to third party companies in other parts of the planet and trust them to be solved. Only difference is amazon's average check is $20, while airbnbs average check is around $500. Additionally, the vast difference in currency value makes it unrealistic to expect someone to handle a thousand-dollar issue for a mere dollar. This is not only unrealistic but also detrimental to business.
I recently recommended Airbnb to one of my tenants, who needed accommodation while traveling to another city for a conference with his family (a 7-day booking). Airbnb's AI prevented him from completing the booking, suspecting that he would host a party at the place. I understand the importance of preventing parties, as we've only had 1-2 incidents in 8 years. However, I know for a fact that, if the host communicates to guests the right way and uses the right systems, then incidents are extremely rare, they could prevent them from happening. Instead, guests like him are turning to VRBO and Bookingcom, platforms that I dislike due to their poor design and operations. Can Airbnb address this issue and hire local staff to handle these important matters?
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