Forwarding of emails to booked guests not working as it is suposed to

[David181]

After a guest books as a host I should be able to send an email to the guest Airbnb temporary email address with phone numbers and hyperlinks and it is supposed to be forwarded to the guests personal email address by Airbnb.

We have been letting our holiday house over the internet since the year 2000, long before Airbnb was born. We had previously run property management, consulting and publishing in the hospitality industry since 1974. We only started using Airbnb in 2014 and Airbnb has developed into an important source of additional bookings but own website is a bigger source of bookings. Our website is very extensive, you want the complete inventory with how many pots and pans of each size it is there, trouble shooting manual for the washing machine error codes it is there, instructions how to use the media player it is there etc, and of course our website has maps and itineraries for skiing, mountain biking, walking, fishing, cycling, touring, wineries etc.

This is a holiday house and guest self check-in and we pay a local caretaker to be on standby to deal with any problems. Our booking confirmation email to guests developed over many years is comprehensive with lots of essential information for guests particularly as many arrive very late at night and we are in a bushfire area, in addition we provide hyperlinks to information on our website. In the way of the world many guests do not take much notice of the help we try to give them, but others tell us that they really appreciate the information and it becomes a source of recommendation and repeat business.

The forwarding of the confirmation emails via Airbnb seemed to work well for the first 12 months, and them about a year ago an Airbnb guest who booked at the last minute did not get the confirmation email forwarded by Airbnb. They arrived at the house at night on the eve of a holiday weekend without the door code or the caretakers details when both myself and my back-up were out of phone or email contact that evening. The guest had to find alternative accommodation in the middle of the night. In over 40 years of hosting holiday guests that has never happened before. I then found a second guest due to arrive the next week who also did not get the email delivered by Airbnb.

I know that the email was sent successfully because we send a copy to another email address as part of our team approach to managing bookings. I did some tests and found that no matter what email client I used or if I used webmail the confirmation emails were not being delivered. If I tried to paste them into the Airbnb messaging system the formatting was destroyed making them almost unreadable and sometimes deleting the caretakers phone number even it is after the guest had booked.

I phoned Airbnb to get the problem fixed and to get compensation for the guest for their error. I spent literally days on the phone. Airbnb were in denial;

1. We do not forward emails. "Yes you do, but it took two days to convince them that is what their own website says they do."
2. You did not send the email. "Yes I did, I have already sent you the proof twice please look at it."
3. The guest is lying; they did not look at the email they received. "No they are not, there are multiple examples"
4. Yes we agree we had a problem we are very sorry. We need to compensate the guest, here is my proposal how much are you prepared to contribute. Their response was measly.
5. We need to fix this problem. I need to work with one of your IT people to do some testing to find out why these emails are not being forwarded as they should be. Yes we will pass on your request.

I never heard from their IT support, I have complained in detailed emails and comments numerous times in the last 12 months without response despite promises. Our confirmation emails are still not being forwarded and the failure rate seems to now be 100%. I now ring the Airbnb guest once they have booked and negotiate with them how we are going to deliver to them the information they need and that we want to deliver to them.

I should not be surprised I used to work for a big multi-national that is how they operate despite what they say to the contrary.

[Jim100]

I have had numerous examples of emails I sent to confirmed guests through Airbnb's email forwarding service (to the temporary email address airbnb provides) that were either not received by the guest or were received 3 weeks or more later. In some cases my welcome email was received after the guest had visited and returned to their home.

I have been with airbnb a long time. At one time Airbnb provided guests and hosts each other's personal email addresses after booking. Things worked fine then. I had a copy of what I sent to who. Now, once it its sent we have nothing to confirm that we sent it unless we send a copy to ourselves.

Airbnb has been totally unresponsive to the problem saying only they will look into it. In the meantime my guests are left wondering why I do not respond to their booking with the welcoming info they want and need. 

[William43]

I have had this problem as well. I found this out when guests were unhappy with my response time and repeated questions that I had already answered.

I now try to get the guests email address via phone text after confirmation of the booking. If my guests are from my own country I call them.