AirBnb refuse to let callers speak with a Supervisor.

William29
Level 3
United States

AirBnb refuse to let callers speak with a Supervisor.

 

AirBnb Customer Service is horendous.  And if you ask to speak to a supervisor, they refuse!  Amazing.  Of course they have bad service when they have no supervisor to answer to. 

 

AIRBNB IS THE WORST.

 

*Title edited*

36 Replies 36
Noah63
Level 1
Lancaster, PA

I have had both sides, I have had a few reps who were terrible, but many who were very helpful and patient even when I was frustrated. 

 

I will say thought, I am going thrrough a terriblw one right now with Xcavier of the Trust and Safety team (#9978658 not sure if that is their ID). In any case, he has been combative to workt with and is requesting documentation that is not even requiered to operate as a business in our state. On top of that I asked to speak with his supervisor or work with someone else repeatedly and he ignores the request every time...

 

Needless to say I filed a feedback complaint (not sure that will get back to his supervisor, but I can hope) and called the main line to get the case escalated so it can be reassigned. 

 

Fingers crossed I wind up with a good one and Xcavier finds a less customer centric job. 

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@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.

 

 

 

 

Shara78
Level 2
Chiang Mai, Thailand

Yes I have a problem with them too ,seriously thinking of leaving very Airbnb very soon .

Behnam4
Level 2
Los Angeles, CA

Our trip/flight was cancelled due to Covid restrictions and after hours of frustration neither the host and nor the airbnb initiated a refund!! Worst customer  service experience ever!!

Rebecca1428
Level 1
Valley Stream, NY

THE WORST

Carly47
Level 3
Winston-Salem, NC

@William29 I totally agree. I have been dealing with damage to my place and have been in discussions with customer service for 3 weeks!! I think their  training is to just keep you going in circles until you give up. When I ask to speak to a supervisor I am told "they are in a different time zone and are unable to take your call" or "I would need to close out this complaint and you would need to start a new one". Absolutely TERRIBLE. I have been with them for 5 years and it has never been this useless. Owners are treated like numbers now and complaints as open tabs that need to be closed out but not resolved. I hate it. 

Carly47
Level 3
Winston-Salem, NC

@Tina194 This seems to be the new customer service strategy. To keep passing you around and telling you conflicting things until you give in and they can close the ticket. It is all about closing out your complaint.