Who are our CS agents and what do they have to do?

[Pat271]

Fascinating, although very long article about Airbnb CS and how it all works.

https://www.propublica.org/article/meet-the-customer-service-reps-for-disney-and-airbnb-who-have-to-...

A few takeaways of many:

- There are 4 different companies between Airbnb and most of the CS reps. Here’s a handy diagram:

- CS reps, ** have to meet the following guidelines:

Her Average Handle Time, the industry term for average length of call, had to fall between 6 minutes, 40 seconds and 12 minutes, 20 seconds. Commitments to get back to a customer to resolve a particularly complicated issue had to be kept at or below 0.5% of the calls. If she put a customer on hold, the average hold time had to remain below 30 seconds. She could offer a credit on a customer’s bill no more than once per 15 calls, and if she determined a customer was indeed owed money, any refunds or deductions had to average less than $2.50 per call.

Failure to meet any one of these 25 requirements “shall be deemed a breach,” the contract said, allowing Arise to terminate her job.

There are more requirements in the article.

- The agents have NO access to anyone at Airbnb (or any of the other companies they work for), neither by phone, email, nor text.

I have a much clearer picture now of the widened gap in today’s CS world between a company and the end agents - not just at Airbnb, but at most large companies. Between the pay, the requirements they have to meet, and their isolation from the actual companies they support, it’s no wonder it’s so difficult for them to help us in any meaningful way. 

**[Content removed in line with the Community Center Guidelines]

[Colleen253]

 @Pat271 Yes, it explains a lot!

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/An-article-on-Airbnb-s-outsourcing-of-CS/td-p/1356988

@Christine615  also posted on the topic a while back.  

[Pat271]

@Colleen253  Wow, same link, I missed that. That post was published here early March 2020. I was dealing with my first Covid cancellation during that time, so I must’ve been a bit distracted.🙄

[Ann72]

Wow @Pat271.  My takeaway is to never call CS again.

[Christine615]

This all fell down a rabbit hole when Airbnb did mass layoffs. Before that CS was marvelous with people you could call back or email directly. 

CS right now is a safety issue in the making and really rude on top of that when you get a rate phone call. 

Outsourcing is one of their weak links.

[Pat271]

@Christine615  You mean the layoffs that occurred during the pandemic? You posted that article before those layoffs happened. CS has had serious issues for at least 5 years.

[Christine615]

@Pat271 The mass layoffs ahead of the IPO. Before that I was always able to get reasonably good access, a real name and follow ups from that person.

[Huma0]

@Christine615 

Same here. I started hosting in my house six years ago. For the first couple of years, I had mostly positive experiences with CS. Initially, I always got through to the call centre in Ireland where the staff were brilliant, well trained, understood my questions and sorted out problems quickly, efficiently and politely. 

Then I became a Superhost so would be put through to the 'first available agent'. That could be more hit and miss, but was still positive overall. I tried to call within office hours for Ireland so there was more likelihood of getting through to that team, but most of the other reps were pretty decent. I even posted a topic about these positive experiences here on the CC:

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/In-Defence-of-Airbnb-Customer-Support/m-p/684376#M160504

Now, if I need to contact CS, I get a sinking feeling and just hope that I'll get lucky and reach someone who has the first clue what they are doing. Sometimes they do, but it feels like such a lottery and the odds are bad.

[Enri1804]

“The agents have NO access to anyone at Airbnb (or any of the other companies they work for)” This is horrible. Bad for everyone. This is the worst way to run a business, especially one with hospitality and real estate.

[Marie6762]

@Pat271 

Fascinating, disturbing and depressing 😳 thanks a lot…?😥

[Kimo19]

Insightful article so thanks for sharing, while even while a little unsettling. Explains why I feel like the agents are sending generic emails and cookie cutter responses. 

[Bhumika · Accepted solution]

Hi @Pat271 ,

Thanks for detailing an article for other Host's reference, but I wanted to let you know that Airbnb has not used Arise (the company referenced in the article) for nearly three years. I hope this clarifies your doubts about the article you referenced as well!

[Pat271]

@Bhumika 

Thanks - What company is Airbnb using now for CS, and what is its structure? If it is the same general structure as Arise, it doesn’t really matter what company it is, and the realities pointed out in the article still apply.