Terrible customer service

Terrible customer service

The host said they had WiFi and it's on their amenities list but it's just a hotspot on his phone so when he's not there it's not available. When I got there he says he'll get it fixed in two days, two days go by, now he says he has to get it delivered and he doesn't know when it'll be here...
 
Also, his hot water is not working, when I got there he says there was some "trick" to get it working. So he turns the heating on and has to run his kitchen tap to get his shower warm, only the pressure is extremely weak and when I turn the shower tap to get more pressure it just goes cold, I turn it back to the hottest side but it's cold as well. 
 
He actually admitted to me he has to get it fixed and that he's been taking cold showers since before I got there and that I'm the only one who's gotten any hot water at all. There doesn't seem to be hot water in the taps anymore and I tried his "trick" the other day but it was just an icy cold shower.
 
I'm supposed to be here for a month, I reported it to Airbnb and got passed around to a bunch of support people who have said a myriad of different things. Recently they're just kind of saying they're "reaching out" to the host, who seems to be avoiding answering or has said that there is hot water, so he's lying, as well as Airbnb seemingly not giving a rat's ass about the situation.
 
In the meantime I've been staying at his mom's house but she's not here and he kind of says, we'll stay for a few nights, then one more night, then maybe we can stay a few more days. It's just extremely difficult to not know how long I'll be in a place, while having to go back to his other place to get my clothes or do laundry or to get food since it's all back there and the WiFi and hot water is all here. 
 
It's been going on for a week so far and I'm concerned Airbnb probably will drop the ball like they usually do and I'll have no recourse to do anything, when I just kind of thought the stuff I paid for is supposed to just be there so I can get on with things.
37 Replies 37
Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Declan49 

 

You are going to need to play hard ball now. If they are not responding to messages, call them. Keep calling and badgering. Remain calm and polite, but state clearly that the situation is totally unacceptable. Quote the Aircover policy back to them. Copy and paste it into the messages. Tell them that you have followed every step that is outlined there and that the host has had ample time now to resolve the problems and seems to show no signs of doing anything.

 

And what about the host? Are you still seeing him in person at all? If so, can you ask him why he is not responding to Airbnb or why he told them there was hot water when there wasn't? Or, are you trying to avoid a confrontation with him? I understand it's a very uncomfortable situation to be put in, especially when you are staying with his mum! Again, stay calm, polite, but firm. 

 

This guy may not be a scammer, just simply clueless and unprofessional, but it's still not okay.

Ya, I see him everyday and I've asked him when he'll fix the WiFi and the water and why he's not being honest with Airbnb but I never really get a firm answer from him, it's always kind of like "I'll do it tomorrow" then he doesn't do it, then it's like "oh, next week" or "I need to call the technician" or " I don't know when it's delivered, nothing I can do about it" etc... etc....

 

Yesterday I complained for a long time and he said he'd talk to Airbnb about a refund but I don't know if he will, I have to keep badgering him about everything all the time and it doesn't really get done. 

@Declan49   I'm afraid you've severely misread the terms of the refund policy. Let's go over this really fast:

 

 If we determine that a Travel Issue has disrupted the stay, we will provide a full or partial refund and, depending on the circumstances, may assist the guest with finding comparable or better accommodations. 

 

Notice here that there's no guarantee that you'll receive assistance in relocating or any offer in booking somewhere better. In the vast majority of cases like yours, the only thing the guest receives is a refund for the nights unstayed. So if you booked a dirt-cheap flat, and then decide during the stay that it's not up to snuff, you're going to have to cover the cost of booking a new place at the last minute that might be substantially more expensive. 

 

That might seem unfair, but on the other hand, the alternate scenario is that guests could trawl the site for the worst bargain-basement listings they could find purely for the purpose of complaining getting relocated to a listing way above their budget. That would be a really unsustainable scam strategy; at some point, you have to take some responsibility for choosing a place with the reputation to match your standards and budgeting accordingly.

 

I fully agree that there should have been more competent customer service on the line to talk you through this, but we're shouting into a void there because Airbnb is dashing through outsourcing on the path to fully automating customer service, and this is simply not a priority for them.

 

What you need to do now is go back to CS with a much more specific request for how you want this issue to be resolved (the only feasible one being the advance of your checkout date and a refund for the remainder) and be much more judicious about how you choose your replacement booking. It seems that you have a tendency to book some very questionable listings as long-term housing but lack the flexibility in standards to live with the consequences of your choices. If you don't change that, you're destined to have the exact same problem many more times in the future.

No, here is what one of the representatives linked me from Aircover, it could help you next time you're in a pickle: 

 

Get-What-You-Booked Guarantee

 

If at any time during your stay you find your listing isn't as advertised – for example, the fridge stops working and your Host can’t easily fix it, or it has fewer bedrooms than listed – you'll have three days to report it and we’ll find you a similar or better home, or we’ll refund you.

 

airbnb.com/help/article/3218

 

Also, that wouldn't make sense to only get refunded for unstayed nights if you're missing amenities the entire time.

 

Well, it's not an accurate representation to say "I've decided it's not up to snuff", because the things I paid for as advertised weren't there, that's being deceived, not some kind of subjective determination on my part.

 

I agree it could become absurd to get upgraded many times the initial price but bargain basement doesn't mean broken or lacking advertised amenities, it just means less good.

 

If Airbnb allows broken or deceiving listings on the site then they should take the hit for it, not the customer. It's not as if you can just randomly complain about something and they just automatically give you the money, there has to be an actual issue.

 

Also, I didn't choose a one star place, it's 4.20 stars.. you sound like one of those self accountability idealogues since you're blaming me for something that has nothing to do with the decisions I made, since I was decieved by the listing and failed by customer service, you would probably love the book extreme ownership by Jocko willink, he's like you guys.

 

I don't even know how you can accuse me of not having a "specific request" huh?? As if, for the past week I've just been saying hmmm I don't know if I want you to find me another place or refund me... what is your assumption even based off of...you have a strange tendency to blame me for something I haven't done.

 

Budget isn't broken or missing, it's just less good....the same standard applies to a 5000 per night or 16 per night with regards to amenities.

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Declan49 

 

I agree with you that missing WiFi and no hot water is unacceptable, whether the accommodation is budget or not, and that the listing was misleading if it offered both. Airbnb CS has no excuse for not relocating or refunding you, seeing as you have both given the host an opportunity to resolve the issues and reported them within the specified time frames.

 

However, as I mentioned before, in future, please communicate with the host about issues in writing via the Airbnb messaging system. That way, CS would be able to see his promises to fix the issues, tomorrow, next week, or whenever, and his failure to do so. At the moment, it sounds like they only have his word against yours that there is no hot water.

 


@Declan49 wrote:

 

Also, I didn't choose a one star place, it's 4.20 stars.. 

 


Okay, so you didn't know that a 4.2* rating was low. Why would you? I do think though that you need to be pickier when choosing your accommodation. I have no idea what the reviews were like for the listing you are staying in. You seem to think they were okay, but then you also booked another listing, with 4.17* I assume thinking the reviews were okay, when they really weren't.

 

That listing had only four reviews prior to yours. One was good, but just said 'great', one was so-so, one was just "." which you can take to mean VERY bad, and then the other was this:

 

"not the worst place. but the hospitality is zero. as you pay for cleaning fees, she never offered to clean the room or change the sheets or gave me toilet paper or clean towels. room was smelly. I only say that because every other airbnb have minimalist services like these because you basically pay for it, so im not asking for much she even charge you if you used the stove and nag you each time there is a misplaced bread crumb on the table."

 

I am not surprised you were then dissatisfied with this accommodation. I wouldn't have booked it in a million years!

I don't know if you know that reply was towards the other guy, not you @Huma0 . I left that place because it faced a very busy road and it was impossible to sleep. I don't care about the host cleaning stuff because after sharing houses for a few years I've learned no one cleans anything and I'll just end up cleaning up after everyone. 

 

Well it's been going on for a really long time, various people say they tried reaching out to the host or have actually reached out to him and he's said various things....but the next person never really picks up where that left off... The host barely replies to the messages so it didn't make sense to message him as I see him everyday. 

 

Check this **bleep** out, from today, the most recent person says since he doesn't list hot water as an amenity then he doesn't have to provide it...?!  Edit: I should add it doesn't say "no hot water" or something like that in the description or no hot water in the amenities....does not 

 

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

Not in the house rules....not in health and safety.... nowhere anywhere does it say no hot water or that it's "an extra" or whatever the hell they just said.... Not sure why I can't edit that post anymore so had to write it here. Not in the directions under the map..... nowhere....

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Declan49 

 

Ok, so hot water seems like a pretty essential amenity (depending on where you are), but unfortunately, it is one of the amenities in the list that hosts can choose from and if the host did not list it as offered, he does not need to offer it, nor does he need to state on the listing that it is not offered. It's the same as if I did not have air conditioning. I don't need to specify that, I just click the X next to it, and then it won't show as an amenity on my listing.

 

Screenshot 2022-09-24 at 13.14.49.png

 

 

Of course, for something as basic as hot water, the host would be wise to mention this loud and clear on the listing and it's odd that he kept telling you that he was going to get it fixed, as if it was a temporary problem, rather than just state that it was not an amenity he offered. 

 

Then the whole thing about the host offering hot water as "an additional amenity" makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. As you can see from the screenshot above, there is no option to select hot water as an 'additional' amenity (unlike, for example a washer or dryer, where you can select whether it is free to use or there is a fee). 

 

If the host was offering hot water as an additional amenity, he would need to specify this in the listing description. Also, when you asked for hot water, the host would then have told you that you needed to pay extra. Now, how can he do that if it is not working, or simply not there? The rep is talking absolute nonsense. Oh, and by the way, that "I'm now going to be out of the office for two days" is a standard CS avoidance tactic.

 

Could you tell me A. where are you staying, i.e. which country/city (sorry if I missed that earlier in the thread) and also what the listing specifies RE the WiFi. That was listed, no?

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Declan49 

 

Also, could you link the listing? I'd like to take a look in case there is anything there that might help your case.

I don't know, I've stayed in other Airbnb and they've never had to list hot water. As if people would just be fine with freezing cold showers, it makes no sense. I've never seen it listed because why would you have to list something as basic as this, maybe if you're in a developing country or something? Or maybe the middle of the woods or the savannah...

 

Do they have to list a bed as well??? A fridge?? "Oh here's the room, no bed though, never said I had one did I?" "Here's the kitchen, nothing in it...but it's sure a kitchen, my room which I named "kitchen", look there's the sign, now why would you assume anything at all would be in the kitchen room, it's not listed in the amenities is it."

 

WiFi on his listing just shows WiFi as an amenity like usual.

 

To be fair for the kitchens, usually they would note: no fridge access, only microwave access, only used after xx o'clock, etc...

 

Anyways, I'm in a city in Belgium but I don't think I'm allowed to link the listing since I think it's against privacy rules if people would harass the host or something...not sure. Tried to figure out how to send you a message but I don't see where I can do that.

 

I need a lawyer or someone to look at the state of this customer service thread, there's no way they can be allowed to do this, well maybe they can but I would want to show everyone what they're doing, it's a lot.

@Declan49 I think you can link to the listing as it is publicly available

Not sure, mods already removed screenshots. Don't want to get in trouble for linking 😞 

@Declan49 Of course these things should be there . The host is waiting for your money to go through before he can spend it . So its a good idea to ask him to do a variation of your stay and to refund the days you do not stay , do this via messenger and be prepared to actually leave , oh you already have , well keep talking to Airbnb . H

Unless he advertised a tent , even then there has to be some available facilities including hot water. H

It's his apartment. That makes sense, is there a policy that says which facilities are supposed to be there?