Stranded in London - Airbnb views customers as commodities

Chuck55
Level 2
New York, NY

Stranded in London - Airbnb views customers as commodities

I have had the worst experience with Airbnb and don't plan on using this service any longer. This would have never happened at a hotel. 

 

I booked a spot for my group and I (7 people total) in London for a wedding trip. All of us were coming from the US so we were in a foreign country. I received the "Ready to check-in" email as I was boarding my flight so all seemed well with my reservation. Well - It wasn't. The next day, during the wedding that I am in, I receive a cancellation notice from my host approximately 25 hours before check-in stating that there has been a plumbing issue and that the apartment we have booked to stay in for the next 2 nights is no longer available. Wonderful news.

 

I receive a call from Monica in customer service which I step outside to take and she explains the situation to me. I understand and ask her to appreciate that I am in a wedding and do not have access to a computer, I am completely reliant on my cell phone in a foreign country. I tell her that because of this I will need additional help to make sure we get a spot booked. She says she understands and I tell her that we need a place comparable in price (Original spot was approximately $2300 for 2 nights) in central London. It needed to have 5 bedrooms and the rest was pretty negotiable. I am even mentioned that place could be more expensive, but that central London was the most important aspect. She again said she understood. She told me she would be sending me recommendations on similar places and that this would all be taken care of shortly. I thank her and get back to the wedding. 

 

About 15 minutes later she begins sending me listings for places in the London suburbs like Liverpool, places that average almost $4500 for the two nights. Not only was this not in the area I had asked, but it was way above the original cost. The $200 credit Airbnb offered for the inconvenience was a joke at these price differences. I tell her these will not work and reiterate, via the Airbnb app, that central London is key. She then asks me if wifi and tv are needed. I tell her no. She asks this same question again. I repeat no, central London is the most important thing but if it helps we could work with 4 bedrooms. She says she understands and will send additional listings. An hour has gone by at this point.

 

Monica sends me additional listings that do not match my criteria. At this point I am beginning to lose my patience as I enter hour 2 of trying to find a place to stay instead of enjoying the wedding I am at. I speak with my group and we find a place that is comparable in our eyes but it is $600 more than our original booking. I understand that it is not easy to swallow the price difference, but given that Airbnb was already offering $200 it seemed like it wasn't a big ask. I send the listing to Monica and ask her to book this and have Airbnb cover the difference. I get no reply for 45 minutes. As we approach hour 3 of this ordeal I again reach out to Monica and ask her to confirm this is acceptable. She responds and tells me the difference is too high and that I need to find another spot to book - I can use the link she sent me to do so. Safe to say at this point I am livid. I feel like I am doing customer service's job for them. 

 

I speak with my group and we find a difference place, one that is used for Hen dens (not ideal for a group of friends) and ask for it to be booked. We get a confirmation that this place will be booked for us and I think the situation is behind us. I get a confirmation email from the new host (a lodging company) asking what time we would like to check in. There are several options and I respond back 11AM - 1PM. We go to bed after the wedding and plan our trip over to the Airbnb in the morning.

 

When we arrive at the Airbnb for check-in I receive no check in instructions from the host. The host is being unresponsive. My group of 7 is stranded outside, near our Airbnb, with nowhere to go. I again call customer service and speak with an agent and let them know the situation. I explain this is now the 2nd problem I have had and I am losing my patience. I ask to speak to a manager. I am put on the line with Corbin who tells me he understands my situation, that he is sorry, and that he will be reaching out to the host to confirm check-in instructions. Corbin tells me he will call me back in 15-20 minutes if he cannot reach the host and we will need to book another Airbnb. As angry as I am, I say this is fine and I will speak with Corbin shortly. 45 minutes go by and I have not heard anything from Airbnb - they are still attempting to reach the host rather than fix the situation. I call Airbnb back and ask to speak with Corbin who said he would be calling me back. The agent says he is not available but will call me back when he is. I tell the agent this is unacceptable and will wait on hold for him to be available. She doesn't put me on hold but says this is fine, keeping the line open. 20 minutes go by and still nothing. At this point everyone is tense, and with nowhere to stay in London, we begin looking at other lodging options. The agent apologizes for the inconvenience and offers to reimburse us $75 for food and travel for 7 people. Total, not individual. 

 

I am so beyond angry at this point I ask for the reservation to be cancelled and the refund process started ASAP. The agent agrees and starts the process. I tell the group I am with that we have no place to stay now, in London, on the weekend, and that we need to scramble to figure something out. We check hotels but last minute hotels in central London aren't really an option for the less-than-well-heeled. Using a friend's account we book a different Airbnb in an area close to where we currently are and try to put this all behind us. We use a difference account because I am sick of speaking to people who refuse to help or understand the situation. I ask that I be followed up with next week when I am back home. I am reminding to submit any receipts I have for the food and transportation to get the $75 that was promised. 

 

A few days later when I am home I submit my receipts. The agent was very helpful getting the $75 processed and transferred to me and even asked to see a hotel receipt to see if there was anything additional they could do. I explain I do not have a hotel receipt but a separate Airbnb booking under a difference account so a receipt is not possible. The following exchange occurs:

 

"

Airbnb Support

8:13 AM

In that case, you need to speak to the hotel to see if they can put the receipt in your name, otherwise we would not be able to help. If the price was less expensive on the original reservation, we cannot cover anything.

Chuck

8:23 AM

I’m not asking for any coverage. This is part of the issue that I have had with your support service since we started this conversation a few days ago. The lack of support, the lack of genuine customer service is my largest issue with this process. Not once has any agent, or manager, done anything aside from the bare minimum to rectify this situation. Through no fault of my own my group and I have essentially had to do Airbnb’s customer service for them. From finding and booking a new place multiple times, to finding somewhere to stay when we were stranded outside, to getting around and enjoying our trip as best we can given the lost time. I am thoroughly disappointed with this experience and don’t plan on using Airbnb in the near future. It has been a back and forth for every little thing and I’m done with it. I appreciate your effort to make good on promises made previously and the $75 transfer. It’s just a shame that is what this entire inconvenience, to put it mildly, boils down to on your end as a company. Leaving 7 people stranded and providing little support is apparently worth $75. Thank you for the limited support and for doing the bare minimum.

I’ve also sent a two-page letter via your feedback mechanism capturing everything that has happened. I hope it is read and put to good use.

Airbnb Support

9:04 AM

I apologize if you felt not supported. However, I had tried my best giving you the correct resolution in the first place that I had called you to find another place to stay. We cannot control hosts' canceling a reservation last minute, however, there would be given penalties for them for us to minimize this cancellation.

I understand where you are coming from, If I will be in your part I will feel the same way. However, we are also following the policy that is why we had to be going back and forth to you. In the reimbursement, previous case manager had set you a maximum amount for the cost of food, we had need to follow to what promised and you are aware of that as well.

I apologize again if you did not felt that I have done my best to support you. Thank you for the feedback as this will be pass through the right team.

I am just hoping for your understanding, however that is the least that I can do even I had requested a lot, that is what had been approved.

Regards,"

 

At no point did I ask for additional compensation. I wanted to inform the agent of what a truly terrible this experience has been and the agent is spinning it back on me that they have done all that they can and have process $75. All I said was that they should learn from this customer service incident. The entire time all I wanted was decent customer service - not to be treated like a commodity that is easily replaced. Apparently this agent thinks I wrote that last note about the food, or not "getting something". It was his offer and I told them it likely wouldn't apply. 

 

The bottom line in all of this is that Airbnb will not go out of their way to help you in a ba situation. Instead of owning the customer service experience, at best, they will offer next to nothing and spin the rest of the service issues on their hosts. I don't plan on using Airbnb ever again.

 
8 Replies 8
Linda108
Level 10
La Quinta, CA

 Your reaction is totally understandable, @Chuck55.  Like many hosts, I am also a traveler and use Air BNB.  I am aware of potential pitfalls with this type of accommodation.  I have also seen so many posts in which the caller, host or guest, run up against poor customer support caused by poor policies and poor cs training.  I think there needs to be higher level of a timely review that will allow the a human look at a situation and make reasonable decisions.

 

So sorry this has happened for you and your party.  I am not sure other platforms would perform any better, unfortunately 😛

@Chuck55 - This is awful customer service for sure and I don't blame you for wanting to bail on Airbnb.  It's so clear where they fall down over and over again! The support teams do not have enough authority, there doesn't even seem to be enough training or understanding about urgency or high-priority cases.  And I cringe every time I read a response from them with what is clearly a language barrier, likely a cultural misunderstanding, as well as defensiveness of themselves as a customer service rep other than representing Airbnb as a company.  

 

There is an urban legend that Bill Gates told Brian Chesky that if he wanted to be successful, he absolutely needed to invest in better customer service.  Guess Brian is too busy thinking about his Airline or next "specialty program" than to invest in the basics.  My apologies that you and your friends were stranded - it isn't the way things should go.  

Chuck55
Level 2
New York, NY

I think both of you are exactly right - the customer service is real pain point. In poking around I found numerous similar stories and I think it is beyond unacceptable that a company as large as Airbnb cannot be more supportive. 

 

I agree that CS agents are not empowered to make a situation correct. I also think the escalation protocol needs to be examined. If a person has had multiple reservation failures, all within 24 hours, that should be an automatic escalation to a manager who is more empowered. Even cable companies know this. 

 

I'm glad to know there are hosts out there like you both who care and appreciate the situation. Even words like this were missing - I genuinely felt I was met with a "he thinks he can get something from us" attitude when all I was really looking for was a roof over my head in a foreign country. 

Mark116
Level 10
Jersey City, NJ

That is mind bogglingly bad.  The scariest thing there is that it was the stranded customer who was able to find another airbnb, not the customer service department. 

Unfortuanetly one of the airbnb's disadvantage is lack of flexiblility...because of your unique command (big group), it is difficult to find an alternative at host's short notice. I understand your frustration but I don't think hotels have what you need anyway. 

Cathie19
Level 10
Darwin, Australia

So sorry @Chuck55 for your experience and circumstance. 

The situation of a large travelling group with no accommodation is untenable . As a host on the other side of the world, I apologise on behalf of every traveller in us. I can’t imagine your anxiety and frustration.

 

Airbnb needs to be able to have staff on shift who can sincerely make these bigger financial decisions. As it was listed as a plumbing issue, that is “operational” and shouldn’t be bantered back and forth.

Lisa723
Level 10
Quilcene, WA

That is appalling. So sorry.

Helen3
Level 10
Bristol, United Kingdom

Dreadful experience @Chuck55. A shame there wasn't another Airbnb in central London - it's our low season  so they should have been able to find you something fairly easily. Even if it was two, two bed places in the same building.

 

Liverpool is not a London suburb by the way it's hundreds of miles away in the north west of England 🙂

 

Personally I would have booked a hotel, rather than gone through this pavlava so I could enjoy the wedding and relax. And just got them to refund my account so I could do so.

 

They should have rebooked you with a five star superhost who they had spoken to personally to confirm the booking and check in process rather than an impersonal airbnb management company.

 

Unbelievably bad luck for this to happen twice.