@Noah63 I can't imagine what criteria is used in hiring the CS reps, as so many of them seem to have an attitude of completely brushing you off, or not even bothering to actually read what you wrote, just pick out some catch word like Reviews and cut and paste some useless link to the Help pages. Many don't appear to have any knowledge at all about Airbnb written policy. These people are being paid a salary but some don't seem to want to expend any effort (although I'd venture to guess it's a pittance, which is not how you get good employees who care about doing a good job and I think most of them must be in the 18-early 20's range, so have little life experience or understanding of human psychology). They refuse to connect you with a supervisor because that makes them look bad, they probably get raked over the coals about not being able to resolve the issue themselves, and poor responses are so common that they'd be connecting us with a supervisor probably 90% of the time.
I've definitely had decent, helpful reps some of the time. And some who weren't at the outset, but I've diplomatically gotten them to come around. There are definitely tricks in how you talk to them that facilitate a better response.
Some tips for communicating with CS-
If writing, state your issue extremely clearly and simply.
Use bullet points or numbers to state the facts of the issue. They don't seem to absorb the problem when writing in paragraphs or can't be bothered to read through it.
Outline the issue in chronological order.
1. I did such and such
2. This then happened
3. I tried to resolve it on my own by doing XXX.
4. I'd like your assistance to___.
Try not to convey frustration or anger, even if you are ready to pull your hair out.
At least appear to be giving them the benefit of the doubt. "Hi, XXX, thank you for the response but it didn't actually answer my question, perhaps I wasn't clear enough. The issue is___.
Be polite. Always thank them for their time. Never tell them they're incompetent or rage about Airbnb. Try to engage them personally "I don't know what part of the world you're in , but have a nice evening, or day, as the case may be".
Be persistent and insistent but gentle. They have frustrated hosts and guests yelling at them all day.
If they are indeed helpful, heap on the praise.
I've gotten reps who didn't even bother to read what I wrote and just sent a cut and paste response completely turned around by using these methods, as well as pointing out politely and respectfully that their initial response was exactly what frustrates both hosts and guests and gives Airbnb a bad rep for customer service.
And if you get one that's really useless or has a bad attitude, don't waste your time- thank them for their time, let the conversation close, and call or write back in the hopes you'll get a better one.