Airbnb, your support is bringing me DOWN

[Silvia470]

Issue number one was:

One guest kept my room booked for 2 weeks, engaging me in time-consuming conversations (that I had to translate on google to be able to reply to, promptly, because you don't wan to keep them waiting, right?)  just for then canceling without even a message and getting a full refund.

Surprised, I had to have a second look at my STRICT cancellation policy.

On a first phone call with customer service, comes up that this "30days notice full refund thing" is something that was introduced on the 28th of March 2018, but my booking was made on the 25th of the same month, so it should not be affected by that policy change. The woman on the phone reassured me she would have looked into it and got back in touch, but, of course, I was a fool to believe her. 

Never heard of her again, bless her, hope she is doing well.

Now that phone call got lost into thin air, there is no track of it, and in all my subsequent inquiries (a few both via phone and messages) about the matter, the airbnb "support" team didn't seem to recall any of that. They just kept sending me the link to the cancellation policy page (like I can't use the internet, dhu).

And to that I keep saying: "I know! But that has changed recently, it wasn't like that before, that's what I was told..."

They say "ok" (you know when you can tell they weren't listening/reading) and send me the link again. 

...

Issue number 2 

Today it was a ping-pong match, and I was the ball.

3 different phone calls (with 3 different people) and a few messages about the same matter, a cancellation under extenuating circumstances that I was trying to contest (due to degeneration of an illness that was pre-existing at the moment of booking), but no one of the people I talked to could make any decision about the case and kept throwing me at someone else, promising me phone calls from other teams that haven't arrived yet (and even if they do arrive, I mean...my expectations on their "supporting" skills are very low at this point).

A frustrating waste of a lot of time with plenty of rudeness and giggles to my face, but not much support overall.

Very nicely done airbnb. Your customer service makes me want to bang my head against the wall.

(And btw, so now guests get 48h grace period and they can also cancel a month prior booking without any problem at all but I don't get to cancel at any point without getting fined? Again, lovely, thank you)

[Mike340]

@Silvia470

hummmm... the "perks" of being a Superhost...show up again !!!

[Ryan411]

Wowowowowow... You want to be compensated for a a service you didn't provide because you responded to an email? I'm sure being a host is difficult, of course I have a really good suggestion if you can't roll with the punches. You should hear my current "super host" horror story. I booked 3 months in advance and was contacted by the "superhost" to tell me that the last week of my 30 day reservation can't be accommodated. they are now having family coming into town and need to cancel. They then proceeded to tell me the nightly rate would go up for the 20 days I'll be there that they are willing to have me because I booked at a discount, during a busy time of year, in their neighborhood, which is a nice one. I am getting 380 dollars back for the 10 days they cancelled and to fill that part of my trip it will now cost me over 1,000 dollars because yes it is an expensive place during a busy time of year, plus deposits. BUT THEY SET THE ORIGINAL RATE. It's like being robbed without a gun. The part that kills me the most is I had turned down another host who I asked a question about because this host would be an hour commute with traffic from where I would be working. She's all booked up now. I am grateful my original host will have me for the 20 days. Don't get me wrong. But to hear you whine about having to refund money for a service you aren't going to be providing really pisses me off. I'm hoping you will come back at this comment with telling me a fair penalty for a cancellation would be fair, but please don't tell me you expect to keep all these people's money...

[Silvia470]

@Ryan411 Not sure why are you acting so irritated by my post when basically we both have been victims of the same damaging behavior: we had someone committing to something they didn't stick to and we had a consequent loss of income/mone

A vacant room is somehow a "perishable item", doesn't matter if you end up providing the service or not if it remains unused, it causes a loss. 

When a guest keeps your room booked for weeks and then cancels, they somehow spoil some of its market value (just think of how Airbnb pushes the dynamic prices down when dates are still vacant less than 30 days in the future...).

This to say that value and time are heavily linked: you said it yourself, now that some time has passed you don't have as much choice as before 'cause the other place has been booked up, so you see, you had the full refund for "a service you are not going to use" but somehow the same money might not go a long way now that some time has passed...

In your case, I am sure it felt unfair, but at the same time, if you book a place in someone's house (because this is what an Airbnb is) you can't and should never expect what you'd expect from a hotel. You pay cheaper prices and these are the cons: (sometimes) unprofessional behavior of your hosts (because, in fact, they are not professionals and if their family is coming and Airbnb is just a way to make some extra cash, well then, screw the guest...).

The main difference is how a host is penalized by Airbnb for their flakiness (fee to pay and a scarring cancellation review) compared to how a guest is (nothing happen, basically). 

I don't "want to keep all these people's money"(seriously?!?!), I just want guests to be held accountable if they are in breach of a commitment (as hosts are) and be flagged/fined when they abuse of the cancellation policies (I had people threatening to cancel a 4 weeks reservation 5 days before arrival if I wasn't giving them a discount...that's when I changed my cancellation policy to strict).

BTW, my post is mainly about how Airbnb's customer service can be frustrating in the way is structured.

[Ryan411]

PS... I'm finding out now it will take 2 weeks before I get the money back so I won't be able to use that money to fill that 10 days a lost. Airbnb is starting to become something you can only use if you have a high disposable income. 

[Brendan84]

I'm in a situation where a host booked my place for an entire month.  I just set it up last night and mistakenly set the price way too low, with a 20% discount on top of a 49% monthly discount.  Also they have no reviews and I am not actually available the last month they're booked.  I'm fine with refunding them in full (36 days before they are set to arrive) but I can't do that without blocking out the dates and getting banned from the superhost program for a year?