AirBnB is Unavailable and Unresponsive

Jason22
Level 7
Lexington, KY

AirBnB is Unavailable and Unresponsive

I've been a so-called superhost for a few years, but I also get roughly half of my reservations from HomeAway/VRBO. I have decided to switch my loyalty to HomeAway/VRBO due to AirBnB's lack of availability and responsiveness to issues and common-sense solutions, or even having any semblance of a customer service department. Why should AirBnB collect service fees from me and my guests when their operation is inferior to their competition (who, for example, is easily available by phone or e-mail 24/7)? In most basic terms, I will block my AirBnB calendar until a month or two in advance to ensure that HomeAway/VRBO gets the vast majority of my business moving forward. I encourage anyone else who feels similar to do the same. Perhaps they will begin to be available and responsive once they see a difference in their revenue stream.

171 Replies 171

@Annabel11. Post on their Facebook page.

Yes we are having the same problem waiting to be paid for a booking but don't know who to contact 

AirBnB is Unavailable and Unresponsive. They keep their contact info hidden like a cache of gold. And it appears that the 855 and 888 numbers that you posted were redacted. Great. A company that refuses to be transparent, has a practice of "slamming" which is turning services on or off without your permission and you can't even call them to raise a ruckus. They are starting to collect occupancy tax because they want to go Public with an IPO (initial public offering) which they can't do if they are not in compliance with local and state tax laws.   I still don't understand why they have the appeal that they do. VRBO burns them in everyway.

It's so interesting how it works differently for all of us.  I have done 180 rentals with airbnb in the past 6 months and they have been amazing. Their service is superior to anyone.  My HomeAway and VRBO rentals (which used to bring me 350 reservations a year) have dried up to nothing and their service is the absolute worst.

 

I guess it just shows that nothing is consistent. 

 

@Jeffery5. I have a short history of short term rentals, but 30 years of long term. My applied philosophy is that tenants should live as well as I do but not better....actually they do, I dont have a dishwasher or garbage disposal.

 

Abnb has been great for me, but when there has been a problem...computer glitches, all, it is a nightmare trying to find someon to resolve it.  Perhaps your having 40 properties listed with them has something to do with it? 

 

I am also very curious about the $219 cleaning fee on you $88/night rentals in Lauderdale?

is that working?  I like the idea...it takes the rental up to where it should be  Please let us know some of your experiences with this system....very interested.

.

I've been doing short term rentals for 18 years. So lots of experience and time to see many changes in the industry.  Expecially in the past year.  Most not good. It's been a year of change for sure. 

 

I only started with Airbnb only 6 months ago and it has been an amazing experience since day one.  I was, and still am, totally frustrated with Flipkey and HomeAway and their huge decline in rentals and service. My prices are down on Airbnb but I have already hosted 180 reservations and many more on the books.   Considering it was low season in my location that's really good. 

 

I am sorry to hear that some don't get good service from Airbnb.  Like I said, it's been great for me and assumed it was the same for everyone. I actually a bit shocked. 

 

The cleaning fee is interesting. On Airbnb, they do not have options to add other fees. They are working on that.  So my $219 includes my $150 cleaning fee and my $69 damage waiver lumped together.  We self insure.  But the cleaning fee acutally covers the cleaning and the check in fee.  I pay my manager $50 for every check in. 99% of our reservations are hosted check-in's.  I do not make money on the $219. Some of my properties cost of to $130 to clean. Some $70. So it balances out when you add the $50 I pay to my manager.  It's a break even propositon, but I have had very little resistance.  It's also part of why I'm a superhost.  My managers in Florida and Mexico are the ones that make me look good. 

 

Hope that helps. 

 

Jeffery

 

 

Is so nice to own so many rentals. Do you sometimes would like to sell some ?

Millie3
Level 1
New South Wales, Australia

I agree with you.

I agree with all of this message.... but what is "slamming." I have had the same issue with Customer Service. I want to pull my hair out and I've only been hosting for 3 months. I hope slamming doesn't mean them somehow turning things on and off within my profile. I recently lost a huge reservation due to what the guest said was my lack of responding to an important message (which is 100% did, within minutes of him asking, it's in the thread) I'm wondering if their messaging system is off at all. What frustrates me is that the times I have had to call for system errors they accused me of somehow glitching the system. They havent taken accountability with the issues I've experienced so far...

This lack of availability is a sticking point for me, too. There is a huge building full of workers in SF. Are they only developing algorhythms so they can avoid human contact? Does VRBO work for renting out a room in the house or just the whole house?

 

Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@David126.....There is no Superhost number here in Aust it is just the regular 02 8520 3333 number but it does say......

"Priority support: We move Superhost calls to the front of the phone queue"!

How on earth they figure that one out when they have no idea who is calling is anyones guess!!!!!

Cheers....Rob

Assuming you call from your ABB registered number then I am sure the system they use can recognise  your number and divert it accordingly.

David
Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@David126....Yeah, that's an interesting thought David, but I don't always use my registered phone number, in fact, more often than not I use the home phone which is a VoIP service and Airbnb know nothing about that number.

I think it possibly has more to do with the fact that the help traffic is really minimal here compared to the USA and the UK and hold times are not long, generally less than 5 minutes! So I think it's possibly just a bit of PR on Airbnb's part. You could be right but, I just threw the last line of that post in as a touch of sarcasm!!

Once again, thanks for that observation, I think you, more than anyone else on the community, will always offer an alternate point of view....something others of us haven't thought of.....and that's gold!

Cheers....Rob

As a 'new' Host, just awarded SuperHost, I am also frustrated with no customer support service. I had no idea that there was a SuperHost phone number as there was no such info provided to me (Vancouver Island). I am very confused re: the cancellation protocal. My guest had to cancel due to legitimate curcumstance, and I requested she submit a cancellation: when  clicked on the accept button it generated a result that shows 'I' cancelled... so, now, I guess I will lose this Super Host status?  Again, so frustrating not to have access to a 'live chat' (I am visually impaired therefore disability access is a real issue when doing volumes of reading and scanning). Cheers

 I am hoping someone in Canada can guide me.  I live in Sidney, B.C. and to date have not received any money from Airbnb.  The history transactions show "payout" to my bank account but no money has been deposited into my bank account.  Payments are shown arriving in my bank account as far back as a month ago and  I don't know how I can notify them.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.  Is there a Canadian number I can call?  Thanks, Gail