Calling Airbnb and getting bad information

[Beth235]

It has been two times in the past month that I have called to get clarification before I accepted a booking. Both times it has been about having the potential guest update their verified information to include a government ID. I found on these two bookings that I was sent to the offices in the Philippines. Both times I found the staff to be pleasant, but they gave me information that was totally incorrect and as a Superhost strongly knew their suggestions could negatively impact me. I found myself calling back several times and/or asking to speak to a supervisor. Has anyone else had these issues, and if so what have you done? Thanks!

[Emiel1]

@Beth235,

I would not waste  time and money on calling Airbnb with such a issue. You can require guests having ID verified (it's a setting), otherwise decline or accept them using your common sense. Why speak to somebody in the Philipppines, who has lesser knowledge of Airbnb than you have yourself ?

Best regards, Emiel

[Beth235]

Hi Emile,

Good point however after getting a generated note from Airbnb that it could effect my Superhost status I am reluctant to just decline. Truth is I’ve only declined once in over two years. I wrote a polite letter to the requester but still Airbnb sent this message.  

[Emiel1]

Hello @Beth235 ,

You can check your status in section "progress" (from main menu), which also contains your "acceptance" rating. Keep an eye on them to check how you are doing.

Those annoying messages are sent automatically by the Airbnb computer, so do not bother that much about them.

best regards, Emiel

[Susan17]

@Beth235 Unfortunately, that's how Airbnb Customer Service works these days. You can phone in 5 times in a day, get through to several different offshore call-centres, and be given 5 conflicting answers to your question. 

Last time I called CX, first call went through to the Philippines. Spoke (or tried to!) with a very pleasant-sounding young lady, but we couldn't understand a word each other said, so I gave up. Second call went through to Romania, but the phone lines were so bad that communication was impossible. Third call was picked up by lovely CX agent in Portugal. Clear phone line, we understood each other perfectly - but the poor lad was clueless on Airbnb policies (not his fault, Airbnb routinely fails to update their customer service departments on policy/practice changes, and leaves them completely in the dark)

So, I had half my morning wasted, and still no answers. The irony is, Airbnb's non-US HQ is just down the road from me here in Dublin, and we're constantly hearing about the 500 staff they employ. None of them ever seem to answer the phones anymore though! 

As for the verified ID issue - absolutely no point in calling Airbnb about this, as the verification is not actually done by Airbnb at all, but is outsourced to a rather controversial third-party outfit called Jumio. 

Hope you got sorted in the end anyway!

[Beth235]

Thanks Susan,

i really appreciate your feedback. 

[Fred13]

@Emiel1 Is 100% correct, do not waste time with Airbnb's flaky customer service.  Set you requirements to suit your taste and level of risk-taking and work with the potential guest direct. Self-reliance is a requirement when dealing with Airbnb.