airbnb support staff are not trained and don't understand how the software works

[Fiona107]

On the 17th December I raised the fact that under the 'location' of my listing it shows

the address of a neighbour in my village and not my address.  Nine days later after 

several 'chats' and numerous messages they are still saying they can't see what I can see

even though I have explained this several times.  It is in part that I edit as a host, but it gets

sent to guests when they book as follows (my address is not Eastburn Farmhouse) :

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/manage-your-space/35767515/details/location-details

Location

Address

Eastburn Farmhouse, Newbiggin, Leyburn DL8 3TD, UK

This address is only shown to guests with a reservation.

Map marker

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General location (default)

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The circle will be shown on your listing. Only guests with a confirmed reservation will be able to see the pin.

Eastburn Farmhouse, Newbiggin, Leyburn DL8 3TD, UK

Directions

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Visibility for booked guests

This is not my correct address AIRBNB can't get this information correct despite my having pointed this out to them over 6 times and I am not allowed to change the location only they can do this.   

Guests please check my emails for specific address and directions. 

Share details after the free cancellation period

Marking this box means guests won’t see your address, last name, or phone number while they’re able to cancel for free. After the free cancellation window, we’ll send guests this information. While this option gives you additional privacy, it can make it harder for guests to plan their trip.

[Jeff158]

@Fiona107 

Have you given them the GPS coordinates, go to https://itouchmap.com/ and zoom right down to your house to get the right ones.

Below is the info I had to send:

[Sarah977]

@Jeff158  And how would one find out their GPS co-ordinates if they don't live in a place where their house appears on the map and the address doesn't either? I've Googled this and can't get any applicable answer.

[Jeff158]

@Sarah977 

Even if its not on the map you should be able to locate its position.

This ones part of google and shows enough to move the pointer to where you live.

[Sarah977]

@Jeff158 Thanks, I'll try it.

[Fiona107]

Hi alex, the problem was no body listened properly to what I told them when I rang, nobody properly read all the messages I sent to customer support and then finally yesterday after nearly 2 weeks someone investigated properly and hey presto:

Airbnb Support

11:15

You are right. In your interface it does say "Eastburn Farmhouse, Newbiggin, Leyburn DL8 3TD, UK". In our admin interface it doesn't, that why I (and maybe my colleagues) thought the issue has been solved. I will try to report it as a bug and I hope they get it fixed. But it can take some time.

In the meantime, just go on doing what you already are - inform that guests via message what the exact location in Newbiggin. Sorry for the trouble.
Yonatan

[Fiona107]

Jeff, I gave them the coordinates on the first day I raised this.  My hamlet does not have a street name, my address is simply name of cottage, name of hamlet, hame of nearest town and post code.  There is a bug in their host interface which they have finally acknowledged.  I worked in IT for 30 years I used to test software the problem is that the customer support people are not technical and or not trained to understand how the software works.  They give up when they don't understand and they close the cases down, they did this to me at least 6 times. 

[John1080]

I can’t speak to this issue directly, but can say I agree wholeheartedly that many of the CS reps I’ve interacted with seem ignorant of the policies and unsure how to help or answer simple questions.

When I get one off those people, I usually finish the call with an “Okay, thank you,” and call back until I get someone who is knowledgeable enough to help me. 

[Fiona107]

FINALLY THEY ACKNOWLEDGE THE PROBLEM 

Airbnb Support

11:15

You are right. In your interface it does say "Eastburn Farmhouse, Newbiggin, Leyburn DL8 3TD, UK". In our admin interface it doesn't, that why I (and maybe my colleagues) thought the issue has been solved. I will try to report it as a bug and I hope they get it fixed. But it can take some time.

In the meantime, just go on doing what you already are - inform that guests via message what the exact location in Newbiggin. Sorry for the trouble.
Yonatan

[Mike-And-Helen0]

@Fiona107 you're right about the understanding of the software of course.

I had a similar issue being similarly rural.

I sent CS screenshots of the map with a mark where I wanted the pin and they did it for me.

No magic bullet though, I still get dinged on location because people don't read the directions!

[Susan17]

@Fiona107 

I've been on Airbnb since 2010, and despite giving Airbnb my co-ordinates and exact address on countless occasions, the system somehow scrambles them time and time and time again. My home has relocated itself all over Dublin (or disappeared altogether), my address has been given out incorrectly to guests more times than I've had hot dinners, and the whole palaver has cost me untold amounts of time, stress, and money over the years. This is not down to the CX staff, and never has been - they've tried their very best to help, and 95% of them have been unfailingly polite and lovely - but Airbnb's sh*tty, dysfunctional, archaic systems and processes, make their task nigh on impossible.

I totally get that you're beyond frustrated and despondent with it all at this point - and believe me, I've been there many, many times myself - and yes, you're correct that the staff aren't trained properly (or at all, in many instances), but that's entirely the fault of Airbnb and Voxpro, the outsourcing company that employs (and overworks and underpays) them, not down to the agents themselves. 

I do hope you get sorted, but in my experience, if this is happening on your account now, it's an issue you'll very possibly encounter repeatedly. Might be worth scrapping your account, and starting over, in the hopes you get a less problematic one next time. 

[Susan17]

Just to give some idea of the ugly conditions that the CX staff are working under, here's just one Voxpro employee review, who was on the Airbnb contract. Hundreds of reviews of this company to be found online, citing extremely low pay, zero work-life balance, abusive and exploitative treatment of staff, no benefits, no sick pay, no extra pay for working holidays such as Christmas, a culture of bullying and misogyny, managerial incompetence, chaotic and highly oppressive working environment, inadeguate processes, high levels of depression amongst employees, constantly malfunctioning equipment, complete lack of training, nightmare client (Airbnb) etc etc (And this is just in the Irish office - one can only imagine what the conditions in the Bucharest and Manila offices are like (the Fulsom, CA office has already been shut down)

"High turnover of staff. Minimum/Low pay for high responsibility.

Hot desking - desks not cleaned and computers not working properly. You'd think a call centre would have a dedicated tech team to go around checking computers? No.

Teams are constantly getting moved to new areas because of the lack of space and poor organisation. Work life balance is very poor. Schedules are made by voxprogroup in Manila for agents in Ireland, who seem to make a lot of mistakes with the schedules and change the rotation without prior notice. You will also have to wait for your schedule to get updated from time to time so you can plan your life and know what days you are working the next week.Its also Impossible to get the holidays you want off.

Internal managers are hired based on who they are friends with and not their actual capabilities at being a people person, seems to be the more spineless you are the more you will progress. Ive seen so many fellow colleagues including myself burst in to tears out of frustration and sometimes lack of support.

The client Airbnb makes constant changes to workflows without seeming to consider those on the front lines, leading to tenured agents/quality leads being demotivated and frustrated. Decisions that effect your life and work are made without or with very little communication by management. The Canteen closes at 2pm so If you start your shift at 1.30pm -make sure to bring food. Your made feel just a like a number in a corporation. I left after 2 years for the sake of my mental health unfortunately"

The only (very slight) chance of improvement on the horizon is that Voxpro has  been sold earlier this month, in full, to Canadian company Telus International, in a deal worth $150,000,000 (just...how??), and Dan Keily, the absolute muppet of a founder/CEO (and good buddy of Airbnb's Global Head of Community Support, Aisling Hassell) has "stepped down". However, as Telus has already owned 55% of the company since August 2016 anyway, and has overseen Voxpro's descent into the mire, it's probably a little optimistic to imagine much will improve (they've been losing clients hand over fist in recent times, by all accounts).

Still, we can hope, can't we? Realistically though, not much hope of conditions improving for the poor CX employees anytime soon. So let's all try to bear all that in mind the next time we have reason to call in.

[Sarah977]

@Susan17  I have always had sympathy for the CS reps. I've always suspected they are poorly paid and treated. If they've been hired to answer English-speakers and their English isn't that fluent, whose fault is that?A lot of hosts and guests, I'm sure, get their patience pushed to major frustration level and I'm sure the staff gets yelled at by customers a lot. Yes, they are poorly trained, but whose fault is that? If you have to wait days for a response, because the case manager you're dealing with will be "out of the office", and there is no one assigned to take over, whose fault is that? 

I always try to be polite to the reps. I sometimes tell them I don't envy their job, that it must be really hard. I wish them a good night or good morning, I always say thank you. I've noticed that just making that little effort to acknowlege them on a personal level sometimes makes all the difference in them suddenly changing their tune and start engaging in a helpful way, rather than continuing to send useless links to the Help center and cut and paste replies.

Telus? Horrid company. They run the phone service in Canada, at least in British Columbia. You call and they shunt it to an agent in India, or lord knows where, whose accent is impossible to decipher. That's after being on hold for an hour.