dishonest hosts who advertise wifi that is unusable

[Julian1134]

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i need wifi for my job. i need wifi to stream content. I NEED WIFI!.

whenever i stay in airbnb places that advertise wifi, the wifi is unusable. airbnb's response? "move to another place". 

hosts are contractually obliged (according to what airbnb have told me) to ensure that if they advertise wifi then it must work uninterrupted. i just stayed in a place that had the worst wifi i've ever encountered. it was unusable. the last place i stayed in was also advertising wifi which again was unusable. 

i've already told airbnb to get hosts to run a speed test on their wifi, screenshot the result and then post the screenshot on their listing. this allows guests to make an informed decision as to whether the wifi is going to be suitable for their needs. the last host i complained about said, "this is a holiday house and you shouldn't be working". yes really. 

it's like arriving at a listing to discover the bed has no mattress. 

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[Julian1134]

@Helen350  @Ian-And-Anne-Marie0 

Yes Helen I did read the thread. 'all' isn't the same as 'most'.....and thanks to Ian and anne-mnarie for pointing that out.

[Sarah977]

@Julian1134  Airbnb gave you false information, as they often do. There is no requirement that if Wifi is listed, that it has to work uninterrupted. There are several boxes that hosts have the option of clicking on regarding Wifi in the "Amenities" section, one of which is "High Speed, Unlimited". If the listing claims that, then you might have reason to complain, if it doesn't, you don't. And hosts have no control over occasional server interruptions or issues. Guests who blame hosts for things outside their control are quite unwelcome guests.

I list Wifi, but my connection cell-based, not high speed and metered. I am quite clear in my listing that this is the case and that it isn't suitable for guests who rely on Wifi to work online, nor for streaming or anything that requires high speeds or heavy data usage.  

[Julian1134]

@Sarah977 

hey Sarah thanks for that. I didn't know that. I spoke to airbnb (call centre in the philipines) and the person I spoke to obviously wasn't giving me correct information.

you're obviously doing the best you can to be transparent and that's commendable. my complaint was that the vast majority of places I had stayed at weren't being as transparent as they could be. 

my reason for posting the thread was to suggest hosts screenshot their wifi speed so that anyone wanting to visit would know what to expect. it seems a no brainer to me and I think Airbnb should enforce it. the fluctuation argument doesn't apply. that was never anything I complained about. I'm talking about hosts who deliberately choose the cheapest wifi they can in order to offer it as an amenity and thereby achieve more profit. that is dishonest in my book. I know this happens because I have friends who host on airbnb and freely admit they provide crap wifi in order to make as much profit as possible. I don't like that.....but then I'm a socialist.

I was due to stay at the following place until covid 19 kicked off. the host has a screen shot photo of his wifi speed. 

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[Sarah977]

@Julian1134  I'd love to have high speed, unlimited Wifi, but I don't have that choice- there are no phone lines out to where I live. So cell-based, using my phone as a hot spot, is my only option. Some of my neighbors paid a private contractor to string phone lines to where they'll connect, which cost them $1000, which I can't afford. And the truth is, they have way more outages than I do, sometimes without internet for days because there is something wrong with the line- a tree branch fell on it, or a front-end loader ripped the line out. Happens all the time around here. 

But I agree, that certainly if a host tells you their Wifi is great, and suitable for someone who has to regularly work online, that should be the case in reality.

[Huma0]

@Sarah977  is right in that just because one CS rep tells you something, that doesn't mean it is true. I would say most of the experienced hosts who regularly post on this forum know more about CS policy than 75% of the reps I have spoken to, many of whom are woefully undertrained.

[Huma0]

I actually had a guest enquiry just yesterday about the quality of my WiFi and if it was fibre or not, as he would be working from home. I didn't need to screenshot or anything (that doesn't make much sense anyway given that any WiFi connection can fluctuate from time to time). I simply told him exactly what package I had, that the WiFi was pretty reliable (I work from home and have had many guests who have worked/studied from my place) but that, like ANY WiFi, it does occasionally need rebooting. I'm not going to make concrete promises about something that is not 100% within my control.

Do I have a water supply? Yes, of course. Should I be blamed if very occasionally the water board decides to temporarily cut it to conduct repairs?

[Julian1134]

@Huma0

that is a false analogy since there is no option for a host to tick a box which says 'water supply present'. it's a sine qua non that water will be present (unless otherwise stated). 

water is also essential for life.....wifi isn't.

I don't know why people keep resorting to the mention of 'fluctuations' since that was NEVER  mentioned in my original posting.

anyway, you don't need to make concrete promises about your wifi.....you can simply screenshot a test result and post it on your listing. it would take you seconds.

[Robbie54]

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[Julian1134]

@Robbie54 

one of those statements is an objective truth. the other is merely a hypothetical imperative at best.

even if you can't bring yourself to admit it, I think you know the difference between water and wifi. 

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Julian1134 

...any host advertising wifi has to ensure that the wifi is good enough to be uninterrupted with no buffering.

 ...airbnb have a clause in their contract that stipulates that if hosts advertise wifi then the wifi has to be usable ie: no buffering or interrupted streaming

Good info.. never seen or considered that before.

@Sarah977 

There are several boxes that hosts have the option of clicking on regarding Wifi in the "Amenities" section, one of which is "High Speed, Unlimited".

Good Info too.. Off to upgrade my listing.

[Robbie54]

It's impossible to claim no interrupted streaming or buffering, Airbnb and any ** person should know better.  No one is immune from issues such as power cuts or equipment becoming faulty through no fault of the owner. **

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[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Robbie54 

 Airbnb and any sane person should know better.  

There you have it in a nutshell.. No claim was made for any sane person.

[Julian1134]

@Robbie54 

I never asserted any of that. another straw man fallacy. and any sane person wouldn't resort to questioning the sanity of someone who clearly operates and functions in the world (as I do).

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[Helen350]

@Julian1134 I don't know @Robbie54 personally & I have had only a small amount of communication with him (or her?) here in the CC.

I certainly have not seen enough of him/her to make any informed assumptions about his/her character.... But I've seen nothing offensive on this thread (from Robbie.)

I DO find YOUR remarks highly offensive & hurtful even, even tho you are talking about him not me.... You know nothing about Robbie**

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[Julian1134]

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