OMG. What is wrong with Airbnb customer service??

[Alexandra--Alex-0]

I've been dealing with this issue for two days. I've made two chat sessions and four phone calls trying to get this resolved and, LITERALLY, every single person I've communicated with at "customer service" had fully ghosted me and not helped. Is this normal??  I'm really irritated and at a loss as to what to do with this problem.

[Alexandra--Alex-0]

Here's today's chat session

Airbnb Support

MARCH 10, 2019

**[Private conversation removed in line with Community Center Guidelines]

[Emilia42]

@Alexandra--Alex-0 , I only contact Airbnb Customer Support as an absolute last resort because, you are right, sometimes they can be of little help. What is the issue? Your upcoming guest is not communicating with you? Maybe we can help here.... 

[Alexandra--Alex-0]

Here's the post where I explain what's happening.

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/Trouble-with-Potential-Guest-Help-Please/m-p/960804#M198148

[Alexandra--Alex-0]

Also, thank you for offering to help and confirming that I'm not losing my mind.

[Diane624]

I am having a really ruff time with Airbnb customer support.

When I call them over this guest who damaged my guest room, they do not know how to help, they tell me some other dept is handling it.

I have heard from no one, it will be a month on 18 March.

Is there a phone # to the corp office ????

[Mark116]

@Alexandra--Alex-0 

I'm going to guess you will be sorry you accepted this woman with her dog, who has already been kicked out of one listing.

Airbnb CS is generally not very good, I would have thought since this was a special case they may have been a litte more competent.  But, I can't tell at this point, what you want them to do?  Has the guest checked in?  Or is this an issue with the special offer not going through?

[Alexandra--Alex-0]

Well, in the throes of the situation, I was simply trying to get help with the special offer issue - she hadn't accepted it and was claiming that the link in the message wasn't working and that Airbnb wasn't responding to her communications asking for help. So, I stepped in to try to get resolution because there was no way I was letting her check in without a contract. Then the whole thing escalated to me freaking out because LITERALLY no one at Airbnb was responding to my issue. The "specialist" that was supposedly assigned to this woman's case completely ghosted me - stopped reponding to emails as soon as I agreed to accept the customer - and every single customer service rep I talked to (including the supposed "escalated to a higher level" reps) listened politely and then made promises that they never kept. "We'll be back in touch shortly" being the most common. Again, ghosted by EVERY SINGLE ONE.  I was tempted to think that the guest was the flake but after my experience with customer service, I started to believe her.  Regardless, it resolved itself because the special offer expired, I had decided not to accept her if she came knocking again, and then she finally messaged me and said that she decided that the stairs were too dangerous with her toddler. *face palm*  I dodged a bullet but it doesn't change the fact that customer service sucks beyond belief.

[Mark116]

@Alexandra--Alex-0    Yes, I'd say you definitely dodged a bullet, but I agree, I have never seen any CS that even came close to as terrible as airbnb.  Not Comcast.  Not Amazon. Not any government agency.  Nothing comes close to the bizarre level of randomness and yes, as you said, the constant 'we'll get right back to you' done X times, and no one ever does.  

[Susan1028]

airbnb “support” has become an oxymoron.

I approve all of my guests before I let them book.  Communication style is a good berometer of a guest’s behavior during thier stay.

I agree with @Mark0.  Maybe this is a blessing in disguise, but you need to proceed within stated policy to cover yourself.

I’d read up on “no shows” in the help section ( link below), follow the policy exactly, and make sure everything’s documented in messaging with the guest and “support” so you have it all for reference.

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/309/what-if-my-guest-doesn-t-show-up-for-their-reservation

If it were me and the check in time passed with no communication/replies from the guest I’d make sure to message her and tell her that if she doesn’t respond by the end of the check in period (my cutoff is midnight unless prearranged) you can’t hold her reservation, it will be counted as a “no show” and note any lost deposits and other costs for the rental time as specified in your cancellationpolicy.

Still no response?  Then you should have the cooperation of  “support” to cancel without penalty, then open your calendar and manually release the dates so you can book other guests.

[Alexandra--Alex-0]

Excellent information. Thank you so much. 

If you're interested in how it panned out, check out my response to Mark above. 

[Sarah977]

@Alexandra0While I'm sure there are circumstances where a guest needs to be rehomed by Airbnb that are quite legitimate- i.e. host or co-host was a no show for arranged check-in time, or listing they booked turned out to be a disgusting dive, I wouldn't accept guests who Airbnb contacted me to ask if I could provide a place for immediately. Too many potential problems like what you experienced, or I'd be afraid they were kicked out of the last place, and I know for sure that Airbnb isn't going to give me that information.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Alexandra--Alex-0 

Definitely think you dodged a bullet. Like others have said, contacting Airbnb should be a last resort and imo only helpful when there is a simple administrative issue with a confirmed booking or need to cancel penalty-free. 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Alexandra (Alex)  ( remove the brackets from your profile name so we can tag you)

in addition to others have said -  you just got an inquiry but it was not followed up with a booking.

[Linda1142]

Despite having a five star rating by my guests and very good reviews I am leaving Airbnb. The help centre is of little use and more often than not totally incorrect. This gives me little faith in the whole system and their total lack of transparency, as you cannot move past the help centre to any higher authority.