Two of my properties in expensive part of town sudden got unlisted by Airbnb. I have used airbnb for 4 years, We have been a good team and I have been a fair and compliant host during that time. Ive made it to super host a few times but mostly teeter on the edge of that, in anycase I sincerely try. For what did I deserve two properties to be unlisted in peak season? Turns out they had been flagged as properties of a zoning category not allowed on airbnb. "No worries, I will sort this out in a jiffy", I though as this was clearly a mistake for the following reasons: 1. only two of my properties were flagged to be in a restricted zone but the other of my listings that share the same address (but different rooms number) had not been flag to be in restricted zone.. clearly an error! 2. The zoning was "office space" and the property was clearly residential in the pictures and on public online ordinance surveys. 3. I submitted a document from my local authority clearly showing that this property was not zoned in a way restricted by airbnb.
After a few weeks of no response i began to get nervous. How will I pay rent? I wondered how long it would take... after another week I discover the process should take 10 days! Still no response to my calls.. the agent promises I'll be reach in 24hours. I follow up everyday to the same promise. The department that handles this is not the department you reach on the phone. You cant call them, and they don't answer emails, well... they do but just canned responses that only show that they did not read the mail. After a month the two properties are relisted.. I am broke and I have no bookings ahead.. everyone has already booked in advance. I look forward to a really poor month and then peak season is over.. I wonder how Im going to survive this. And I wonder if Airbnb would be willing to help, maybe compensate the rent for the time it was unlisted, or the time that was over the 10days the process was supposed to take or the time that airbnb kept me in the dark about what was going on whilst I held the burden of the consequences. I ask the case manager via email: "Will Airbnb take responsibility for the error they have made is wrongfully unlisting two of my properties?". It's a yes/no question. Of course you would hope for some finesse but the very least would be an answer.
Another month has passed now and I still await a response. I dont just wait. I call airbnb daily to tell the same story to a helpless CS agent who then makes the same promise that the appropriate department will contact me in 24hrs.. They now know this is a lie, they can see the emails and the past calls. They know that I have not gotten any response and they are simply passing me on to the next agent 24hr down the line.
So I called airbnb CS again today. I enquired how may times I have called on this issue, in search of a yes/no answer. I feel sorry for the agent because she wants to help but all she can do is send an email and mark it "urgent", just like the agent 24hrs before her did... and before that.. and before that etc. The excercise, as we both know, is futile as the relevant department will not respond. And so I call again. And again Im promised I will be contacted in 24hrs. this time I also ask the lady how many times I have called. She perks up as she may be able to answer this question..but know she has to inform me that there are too many calls to count! I foolishly search for another way.. maybe we missed something? Maybe I missed the answer! and we read the email thread. But is just a long string of emails from me to the relevant department that have not been replied. I ask her what she would do. She says, "wait 24hrs and if we have not contacted you then you can follow up". We are all frustrated as I hang up the phone. The vicious cycle continues!
I throughly hope that one day all or my communication is reviewed and used as a case study for the CS team. It would be nice to think that all this time and frustration was not entirely fruitless. Maybe one day the appalling customer service provided by Airbnb will come to some educational value.
In any case. For my own curiosity I have begun documenting all calls. The name of the CS agent, duration they had to suffer being as entirely helpless as me, questions asked and the answer. As well as each ignored update and each un replied email. I have noticed some discrepancy in the information given. For example some agents say they cannot update the case manager until I hang up the phone, They are just trying to get rid of me. Others send the update right away. Some promise that I will get a response this time, others say it's unlikely. Some claim to have received a response internally and contact will be on its way. Others say i have a new case manager and that new manger will be better and in touch. The result is always the same. No contact, no response. Anyone else been treated this way? what would you do if you experienced this? Any ideas on who else to contact? Thanks for reading! Sorry for the typos.
