Disappointed in Airbnb

Ashlee9
Level 1
Los Angeles, CA

Disappointed in Airbnb

I have been a member of Airbnb for over 4 years now. I have used them to travel and to host. I brag to my friends and family about all the amazing experiences and people I have met through the company.

When I travel to other countries/cities I tend to rent out my apartment. As I am preparing to travel for more than 2 weeks, I booked my apartment out to 4 different guests. One was a woman coming to help her son move, another a young lady who was coming from Illinois to look for apartments in the area. The day of my first guest's arrival (Wednesday, May 9, 2018) I log onto my Airbnb app to message her with my keylock code only to find out all my guests have “canceled” their reservations. Odd. Why would 4 people all cancel on the same day?

Immediately, I call help support to try to figure out what is going on. The man on the phone said he wasn’t sure and someone would contact me. Needless to say, it is Friday and no one has contacted me, however, I constantly am contacting them. Repeatedly calling almost every 2 hours to be told, “It is a technical error and someone will contact me as soon as possible,” and that my case file has been updated to “urgent”.

I finally got one of the desk support workers to let me speak to the on-site manager of that department today (Friday, May 11, 2018), who was extremely unhelpful. I have never been treated so poorly by a company, especially a company I have supported over the years. The fact that the company’s departments can only communicate with each via e-mail is absurd and total bull**bleep**. I must admit they have their employees very trained well to give you the runaround. To not even be given any EXPLANATION about what is going on baffles me. That’s all I want. An explanation of what is going on.

Because of an unknown “technical error” I lost out on money to help supply my travels, and the company put these poor people who already had accommodations/plans in search for new accommodations on short notice. If I were them, I’d be just as irritated.

I’m still booking accommodations for my travels and I will not be using Airbnb to do so and will continue to tell my story to family, friends, and travelers to warn them about the procedures of how they deal with their customers.

10 Replies 10

@Ashlee9

"Because of an unknown “technical error” "

 

same thing happened to a guest on here last weekend travelling to Ireland....all his accommodation bookings cancelled and he was told he would be refunded...i dont know what happened with it,in the end..he was on his way to the airport from the US ....that morning told everything was cancelled 

Colleen47
Level 10
Frisco, CO

Wow what a bummer. I'm so sorry to hear about this disappointing experience with thier customer service. I've been very fortunate so far, and really hope not to go through anything like that. I'd be screwed financially if this happened. Can you imagine counting on this money to make payments? Surely they have something useful to tell you or some way of rebooking those guests. Good luck @Ashlee9

It seems to me that AirBnb owes you the rent.  It sounds like a technical error or a glitch in their system caused this, which makes them responsible.  And AirBnb would be the first to penalize you by deactivating your listing or lowering it in the standings if you perpetrated something of the same magnitude.  I think the bigger pic here is that these total-Web-computer business models do not work well (Uber, et al), and I also think they're unhealthy since they erase all personal and human interaction.  Do that in a quest for money and disaster will eventually happen.  I'm frustrated over the far more minor matter of cheery AirBnb'ers inquiring and saying they want to book my home, and when I approve it, I never hear from them again, not so much as a message saying they have made other arrangements.  No replies to my communcations with them.  I am so frustrated by the rudeness of that, and that is nothing compared to what you've experienced. 

@Ginna1 I don't think having a reservation with Airbnb is a 'right' to either stay in or get paid for, at least not yet. Yes, this manner of booking arragements, draws out the most impersonal of human interaction. 

Daniela707
Level 2
Montreal, Canada

I'm having the exact same issue, from last Friday.  I had a guest who was booking for a weekend, and suddenly on her end she was charged, and on my end it was cancelled.  It's still cancelled and she was still charged and we don't know what to do.  I'm nervous that others might be looking and trying to book but having difficulty - therefor losing money!   

  I can't find any support contact besides email, and haven't heard back from anyone as of yet.  INCREDIBLY frustrating.  If Airbnb is going to help us run our vacation rental businesses, and take a cut, they should at least provide proper support.

I had one of those, but since upon looking at 'Future Transaction' it still was listed, we both 'acted' as if the cancellation was not to be believed and the booking took place as 'normal'. Strange happening indeed.

I find it odd that @Ashlee9's profile is now missing from the platform.  Is this part of the problem? 

@Alice-and-Jeff0

Alice it appears Ashlee may have pulled the plug...as you say the 404 icecream girl has struck again!

I don't know if you have noticed but there appears to be a lot of complaints about the way CS is being handled on a really basic level. It seems some agents are not up to speed with the rules but, they do have the ability to affect changes which can have really detrimetal effects on hosts careers.

 

I had a situation last month where I had two Airbnb confirmed guests on my property for the same night....and I only have one listing. It's a long story which I won't go into now but CS in Manilla were completely useless! When called about this, the mouth opened but nothing coherent came out of it!

It was up to me here to find one of the confirmed guests another listing in the area, feed his kids while all this played out, and get the situation under control. There was fault on all sides except mine, but it brought home to me that we really are on our own. Problems like Ashlee's are becoming more and more frequent and it is no good us expecting big brother to pick up the pieces and bury our heads in the sand. It is up to us to work out a contigency plan for every situation!

 

It's getting cold here Alice, there is a chill in the air and the leaves have gone red......

IMG20180515151037.jpg

 

Cheers.....Rob

Crystal129
Level 2
Salem, OR

I think it is sad that the system is computerized entirely. AirBnB really needs to put a human touch into the service side of the business.

I had my first guest last night, and I spent well over $300 for a supposedly $160 visit. I read up on all the information on how to be a great host, and I provided a spotless home, bought plants for outdoor patio, continental breakfast foods/snacks/bottled waters, juice, fresh fruit, bagels, donuts, muffins, creamer, tea, fresh coffee, and even beer and wine for an added treat.

Because I do not have air conditioning, which my guest KNEW I did not have, she canceled online without telling me in person, after I asked if everything was alright.

For some reason, I never received a $50 cleaning fee, and I reimbursed her for two nights she canceled out on.

 

I literally sweated my butt off cleaning my yard and house (which by the way, has all brand new berber carpet, brand new hard wood flooring, brand new bathroom remodel) and I spent all my time and energy on guests who were polite, but canceled after one night due to the heat wave, well I am now over drawn in my bank account as I was counting on that money that was so called "Confirmed!" 

Not to mention the AirBnB site states it will credit my account within 24 hours after guest arrives, and then today I get a notice saying it will be more like a week from today! What the heck!

I am on a budget! I am unemployed, and a displaced fire victim from Sonoma. I had to get SNAP (free food program from the state) and I used the full $125 and $134 of my own money to buy the items for my guests.

I LOST a LOT of time, money, energy but what hurts the most is this sadness in my chest. I feel hurt and used and really depressed.

If this is how it's going to be I will stop being a host.

Any comments appreciated. I know already what a dummy I am for going over board, but the site states treat people like you want to be treated so I rolled out the red carpets. 

And I have zero ratings so far, so Air BnB gave me a negative star! HOW DARE THEY!

Jill338
Level 2
Kalbarri, Australia

I hear you! I am done! 

 

So disappointed! 

 

They managed to kill my plans and my passion for hosting, in one fell swoop, over one difficult guest, despite my best efforts. 

 

I will never recommend AirBnb to another person. I will tell everyone the TRUTH instead. 

 

Just another heartless bigwig with too much money and power. 

 

As soon as I fulfill my bookings for this year, I am putting in permanent tenants, again.