My Take on Customer Service

[Joanna85]

I keep seeing a lot of people complaining about the customer service of Airbnb.  I've recently had to make two different inquires with them and I have discovered what works best.  They have a way in which they deal with inquiries and I am pretty sure no matter what is going on or how you contact them, it works the same.  I am a dinosaur, so I enjoy being able to call in and get immediate help and answers.  However, over the last several years I have noticed that everyone is moving to this whole automated customer service process.  You email in and two or three days later you get some sort of automated response, which sometimes never corresponds to your issues.  Lyft, Uber, Amazon, even jobs.  Heck, I recently went through interview process for two different jobs with two different companies and never once met an actual person who work at those places--it was all done through internet or third party.

Send a request on Twitter.  This is the best way.  You send a direct message on Twtter and outline exactly what happened and what you are looking for as a solution.  They will respond with an automated message 12-24 hours later.  24 hours later they will either email with either the solution or letting you know what your options are.  In the first instance I recieved a call from the case manager right after I got his email outlining the solutions.  I was unable to call him back as I was working, and just responded to his email.  The second instance I needed help, the case manager simply took care of the issue for me.  In both cases I was very pleased with the outcome.  The first case he waited for me to decide which option I chose.  The second inquiry she took care of it because she was able to fulfill my request.

I did call in using the Superhost number.  I waited about 40 minutes.  The man was nice and helpful but did not provide me with as much help as the person who ended up responding to the open ticket from my Twitter inquiry.  This is why I think using Twitter is best because they create a case and it allows them time to either channel the issue to someone with experience or to give that case manager time to find the best result.

Using Twitter also is best for those who are out in far-off locations where Airbnb doesn't have customer service numbers for.  Just keep in mind it is a process.  This doesn't mean they are being tricky or sly or trying to avoid helping you, they are just being modern..and seriously I see a lot of hosts say there is no number for Airbnb in their country, so this is a great solution.

Customer Service is not intended for emergency situations.  Airbnb is simply a booking service and not intended to mediate civil issues or issues outside of payment or scheduling, in my opinion.  Do your due diligence--check id, don't use Instant Book if you want that flexibility of turning away someone who doesn't meet your own requirements, and if you are new---don't worry about being fully booked.  Take one or two bookings to see if this is something you enjoy.  The more bookings you get...the WAAAAY more issues you will encounter, even if you are the best host in the world.  This is a game of numbers...you book more, there is more of a pool of people which opens up your chances for more to go wrong even under the best of circumstances. I speak from experience when I say back to back to back to back bookings are CRAZY and I don't recommend lots of bookings right away for people who are new to renting. Let yourself enjoy the learning curve before you bump it up.

Just my thoughts for new hosts, as I"m kind of new too and wanted to share my experience with Customer Service.

[CarlandDiane0]

@Joanna85Some great input here. I too have had good luck by reaching out via Twitter. On my first encounter, I had a response in 30 minutes and a rep called me 30 minutes after that. The second interaction wasn't nearly as quick, and I had to follow up twice to receive any kind of response. And by then, it was merely an apology because the window for dealing with the problem had effectively closed.

The Superhost Support Line is hit and miss in terms of wait time, and I suspect it depends on when I call. I find the people who work it are usually very good. They've sorted out more than one problem for me.

What's lacking with Airbnb is a meaningful feedback loop through which hosts can make suggestions or report problems. The Host Voice forum strikes me as a ruse to lull hosts into believing that the company is listening to their input. I don't think there's much listening going on there at all. Certainly not based on my experience and observation.

We accept instant bookings and at this point we don't require Gov't ID or reviews, mainly because if we selected those filters Airbnb does not display our listing to newbies who lack at least one of those characteristics. (I've addressed this directly with Brian Cheskey, the company's founder and CEO, and he promised to fix it. Yet recently I received a message from Airbnb's customer experience team insiting it's not an issue, and that guests who don't have a Gov't ID can still see listings that require a Gov't ID. My tests show this is not the case, but Airbnb considers the matter solved.)   Anyway, when it comes to Instant Book guests, we've had great luck overall, though I know the odds are not in our favor and eventually we'll get a horrible guest.

[Rachael26]

@Joanna85

Excellent post and thank you for sharing. Lots of useful pro-active info and great tips on contacting Airbnb.

Best Wishes.

[Qing-Fang0]

 STAY for FREE :  

My experiences with AIRbnb service :   they work , yes automaticaly , BUT in one way street. Automaticaly they refund ( easely) to the Agressive scarried guests with the HOST MONEY ( it means, when you host the next time a new guest, AIR Bnb doesn t pay you until the refund sum is done.

Guests usely come to your place with partner ( 2 persons) when you are alone on that day to give key etc   ) and after they went, gone with the wind,   if the host stayed  with broken machine, things etc ...the apt of host cannot gone with the wind !!! the host cannot contact no more this automatic service! that is the worst risk i had in the past !!!!  ONLY one way is CHOOSE well your guests  and Good luck 

[Laura779]

Did you have a deposit from the guests that broke items?  If so did you get paid for the damage?

[Md-Zahirul0]

no we dont charge for the broken things. actually we do not put any expensive things also. but i have some friends they took deposit about 100 euros. if everything is ok then they give back to guest.

[Stuart35]

You are quite correct, i had no luck satisfying a bad situation until contacting chesney on twitter, but we shouldn't feel this is a great option, airbnb is making 100's of millions, they do that using our houses, they should have better customer service.  I don't want the communities help, which never helps, bc they don't understand specific situations and have no authority to do anything to correct it. and not have to be shamed on twitter to help their customer's, their hosts.  This in no way helps their image, but if that's how they choose to do it, then so be it.

(I await someone's crying about my post, the grammar, the spelling, etc. that's what normally happens, people who have no knowledge of the situation want to complain about your and you're, 'yeah that helps' NOT. )

[Rachael26]

@Stuart35

Too bad you feel that way - as there are lots of people who get help from the community center - but it is not meant to be a replacement for good customer service from Airbnb - and most of us agree that desperately needs improving.

[Md-Zahirul0]

the system of airbnb is the best. but only problem i faced that i can not contact with anybody directly.

rest of them are faboulous

[Md-Zahirul0]

i try but there are some problems that when i am trying to block, but some picture is there on the date, who reserved before. 

[Arlene102]

where would i find a number to call? I'm a super host and my guest was a no show last night and now wants a refund, because they are predicting hurricane next week, clear across the state!

[John1574]

@Arlene102 

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Use Help. It's all there.

And look at the dates of threads before you post. This thread has been inactive since 2017..

Sometimes it's better to start a new thread, better yet to read and study the HELP and FAQ pages..