Customer Service - CANCELATIONS-COVID RESTRICTIONS- Safety Buffers

[Jillian115]

So many horror stories these days with Customer Service.  

Recently a reservation that does not meet my county or the State of California health guidelines was able to get through back to back between reservations WITH THE BOOKING BUFFER IN PLACE.

The case states:  A system glitch allowed the guest to book, the reservation needs to be canceled without penalty for host or guest. The guest has booked another listing.

After waiting a week for customer service to get back to me (by phone) -- at midnight I received an email from Airbnb saying the guest wants to cancel as well and they need to confirm I'm okay with it. Then at four AM, the same CS rep assigned to the case sent another email stating she is going on vacation and will not be able to solve the issue until she returns. I have called and waited through the 45 minute holds twice, sent an unanswered message through the chat, only to be told twice they can not help me cancel the reservation and I have to wait for the case to be escalated. Then the agent assigned to the case goes on vacation. UNBELIEVABLE. UGH

[Michelle1648]

Lets see if I can respond as I keep getting errors.  See my post, simply the worst customer service ever.  I get that Covid has strained the business but no excuses for the experiences we as hosts are having.  Unacceptable. 

[Colleen253]

To contact Airbnb CS these days is to enter a special kind of hell, designed just for hosts (and perhaps a special few chosen guests). Or perhaps, a state of purgatory? Hmmm:

"Today, purgatory can refer to any place or situation in which suffering and misery are felt to be sharp but temporary" (Merriam Webster)

The jury is still out about temporary though. 

To 'go on vacation' is Airbnb speak for "I really can't help because I haven't been trained to do so, and now I must run away" and 'to escalate'  is, in reality, the opposite of increase rapidly.