Response Rate problems - some light reading for the enlightened Host

[Diana495]

Diana

13:50

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Airbnb Support
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13 AUGUST 2019
Diana
Diana
23:26

Diana
Diana
11:17
Airbnb Support
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30 JULY 2019
Diana
Diana
15:26
Airbnb Support
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23 JULY 2019
Diana
Diana
23:18
Why are you sending me emails to answer an enquiry that you have told me is 'not possible'? It is not possible, you are right (for a change) because the room is already booked. Why should I need to respond to enquiries that are not possible and have my stats suffer because of it? Another rubbish Airbnb flaw.
What are you going to do about it?
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Please wait while we route your case.
23:18
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Thanks for your message - Airbnb Support is connecting you to a chat agent. Your chat session will begin in 1-2 minutes.
23:18
Airbnb Support
Airbnb Support
23:19
Hi Diana, my name is Jhon C and I'm with Airbnb support. I'd be happy to help you today. Please allow me a few minutes to investigate.
Airbnb Support
Airbnb Support
23:26
Can you send me a copy of the email that was sent to you?
Is this a resevation inquiry by Sophie? Have you tried responding? And what was the message after you respond?
Are you there?
I understand that you are a bit occupied at this moment, but as we are connected over live chat, I will have to close this conversation now. However, in case you feel that the issue is not resolved then you may reopen this case. For this you just have to click on the option as “Yes, I Still Need help”. We appreciate your patience with us and being a part of our community. Have a nice day!
Airbnb Support
Airbnb Support
23:39
Do you still need help?
Yes, I still need help.
24 JULY 2019
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We're forwarding you to a team that can better assist you. While response times may vary, we do our best to respond within 24 hours. The next available specialist will review the conversation and reply directly to you here. Thank you for your patience.
00:23
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Your issue has been sent to an Airbnb support specialist - expect a reply in this thread within 24 hours.
00:23
Diana
Diana
00:26
Why would I respond? The room is 'not possible'. I am not in the habit of wasting my time. I assume Sophie can read. It is your systems that are not set up correctly. When a room becomes 'not possible' your systems should no longer expect one to reply to someone else trying to book the same room on the same date. Usual Airbnb sjite software.
What are you going to do about the impact on my stats because of your **bleep**e software?
btw this isn't a live chat when you take upto 24 hours to respond.
25 JULY 2019
Airbnb Support
Airbnb Support
14:47
Hi Diana,

This is Hana Customer Specialist from Airbnb. I understand that you are receiving notification to confirm a reservation for a guest. I check here that you have same inquiry at that time with Sophie and Elaine but you respond first to Elaine that's why its not possible to accept the inquiry of Sophie.

Thank You
Diana
Diana
17:18
?????
wtf
Please have another go at reading my message
I already know what you have said - it is how Airbnb works, if you weren't already aware..........
Please refer this conversation to someone with some knowledge of your systems and ask them for an intelligent reply. Cheers
27 JULY 2019
Airbnb Support
Airbnb Support
13:05
I understand your concern about getting a notification on an already booked date in your calendar. All notifications are system generated but I really appreciate you brought it in our attention and definitely you have fair point that there should be no more prompt when the date is already booked. We will let our technical team to work on it and really appreciate if you can fill out our feedback form by clicking this website www.airbnb.com/feedback so they can also determine the severity of impact especially to our loyal Host like you. For the mean time ,since you are in a Request to Book for your listing, you may need to manually response to every guest who sent you a message including if in case the place is no longer available. As a Host, you have the power to choose which Guest you wanted to stay in your Listing.
30 JULY 2019
Airbnb Support
Airbnb Support
15:19
Hello Diana,

Thank you for taking my call, it was a pleasure speaking with you. I hope I was able to provide you with what you needed to know about the email that you receive about you need to respond on inquiry of the guest even you already accept the first inquiry. In regard to that you need to response on every inquiry you will receive before you accept the reservation that is for the guest to know that the listing is not available. Responding quickly to the inquiry or reservation can make trust to the hosting community. 

You can check this link: https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/336/


I'll close out this thread. However, If you come across any other questions or concerns, just let us know! Thanks for being a valuable member of the Airbnb community. We also have a Help Center to serve you at www.airbnb.com/help

Kind regards.
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Thanks for your message — Airbnb Support will reply as soon as a specialist becomes available.
15:26
Diana
Diana
15:27
This link has nothing to do with my question.
I don't understand what you have said "In regard to that you need to response on every inquiry you will receive before you accept the reservation that is for the guest to know that the listing is not available."
If the room is booked, replying to enquiries about the room for the same date is stupid and a waste of my time and Airbnb should not penalise Hosts for not replying. The suggestion from you is that Guests are stupid and not capable of seeing that the room is unavailable. Host's can not be held responsible for stupid Guests or fr that matter stupid Airbnb software.
On the phone you specifically said that you would explain how Hosts are NOT penalised for not replying to Guest enquiries where a room is already booked. You have not done so. Please EXPLAIN.
You continue to waste my time, as what happens for EVERY question that I have for Airbnb - true incompetence. As I have said if you existed based on Reviews, Airbnb would have gone under a long time ago.
Airbnb Support
Airbnb Support
15:42
Hi Diana,

Thanks for reaching out to us regarding this issue. I've forwarded your inquiry to a member of my team who can better assist you. They'll be getting in touch with you soon.

In the meantime, please feel free to respond to this message with any further questions or concerns.

Best regards,
Airbnb Support
Airbnb Support
17:05
Hi Diana, 

Greetings! My name is Bella from Airbnb, and one of the Case Manager here. I hope you are well and enjoying your day so far. I have just received your message, and I am happy to assist.

I am so sorry that this happened don’t worry, we will work toward fixing this situation for you.

May I know more about your concern, and can you provide the confirmation code of your reservation so I can check it here on my end. Thanks for your patience on this.
Diana
Diana
18:08
Please feel free to read this thread.
Airbnb Support
Airbnb Support
22:06
Let me check for your and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks for your patience on this.
Diana
Diana
22:08
I am quite sure that I don't have much patience
2 AUGUST 2019
Airbnb Support
Airbnb Support
21:54
Hi Diana, 

I hope your doing good today! I would have loved to call you but as I'm not in the same location as you, the time zone difference is not allowing us to communicate over the phone. 

Again, I personally apologize for any hassle caused to you in this case and if you have any feedback on how we can enhance Airbnb platform, please don't hesitate to let us know by visiting this link https://www.airbnb.com/help/feedback. Rest assured that all feedback are being analyze internally, and we take it very seriously. 

Incase this thread will be closed don't hesitate to give us a call back. However, if you come across any other questions or concerns, just let us know! Thanks for being a valuable member of the Airbnb community. We also have a Help Center to serve you at www.airbnb.com/help

Have a wonderful day to you and please take good care! With ❤️ from Airbnb.
3 AUGUST 2019
Diana
Diana
20:33
Why would the thread be closed? I have asked a question and have been assured that I will receive answer. I'd very much like this one answered before I go down the route of another thread of time wasting bull**bleep**. btw I think what you meant to say "I hope that you 'er well today" . I have no love for Airbnb, it is run and serviced by a bunch of incompetent individuals.
Airbnb Support
Airbnb Support
20:47
Hi Diana,I know this problem is very frustrating, i'm sorry to hear if your host did not respond to all your messages. we know you've planned for this trip. Although we do our best to encourage all of our hosts to stay active, there are inevitably some hosts who are not as responsive as we would want them to be.

Thanks for your pateince on this.
Diana
Diana
23:28
what are you talking about for God's sake? I am a god **bleep** host you are the idiots who haven't got a god **bleep** clue.
How about reading this thread and listening to the phone call that you made to me where you insisted that you understood the problem and would get back to me, you complete and utter idiots.
6 AUGUST 2019
Airbnb Support
Airbnb Support
20:28
Hi Diana, please, could you send this idea to the development team at this link, your feedback is important to us because they help us to improve our services: : https://www.airbnb.com/help/feedback
Please be advise that the response rate measures the percentage of new inquiries and reservation requests that you’ve responded to within 24 hours, in the past 30 days. It includes responses to all message threads that have a countdown timer.

If you've received fewer than 10 new inquiries or reservation requests in the past 30 days, we calculate your response rate based on your responses to the 10 most recent new message threads you’ve received in the past 90 days.

You can read more about how we calculate response rates in our Help Center article:
www.airbnb.com/help/question/430

Thanks for your kind understanding.
7 AUGUST 2019
Diana
Diana
00:22
Thank you for your response. Please confirm that you will therefore adjust my response rate to indicate that I have a 100% response rate to all bookings that are bookable. and in return I will provide you with feedback.
I await your response and apologies for the dimwits that have previously wasted my time.
Diana
Diana
19:33
??????
Airbnb Support
Airbnb Support
21:00
Hi Diana, thanks for getting back to me, to become a Superhost, your account needs to be in good standing and you’ll have met and maintained the following requirements by each assessment date (January 1, April 1, July 1, and October 1):

- You’ve hosted at least 10 trips OR 100 nights and at least 3 trips
- A 90% response rate or higher
- The average rating of all reviews left by guests needs to be higher or equal to 4.8
- Your cancellation rate is 1% or less (i.e. one cancellation per 100 reservations – with the exception of any confirmed cases of extenuating circumstances)"

The Superhost section of your dashboard helps you track your progress. The data in your dashboard updates automatically, though it may take a day or two to reflect your most recent trips. It also tells you the date of the next assessment. 

If you earn Superhost status, you'll be notified at the end of each evaluation period—usually between the 8th and 10th of the assessment month. 

Because Superhost status is based on your activity in the twelve months prior to the next assessment, the numbers on your Superhost dashboard may change, even if you haven’t completed a trip recently, because the window of time updates daily.

The response rate on your listing and the one in the Superhost dashboard can be different, because they represent different periods of time.
The response rate on your listing page represents the past 30 days, for any listing you manage, while in the Superhost section of your dashboard, it is calculated based on the 12 months prior to the next assessment date. 

To see message threads that may have negatively impacted your response rate, log into your Airbnb account and go to:

https://www.airbnb.com/inbox?filter=late_or_no_response
Diana
Diana
22:49
this is of no help as it does not address the issue. Superhost status is meaningless when you do not adhere to my contract and you allow vexacious reviews. Your system is flawed. . Your colleague told me in a telephone conversation that you recorded that it wouldn't have an effect on my performance, but you are saying that it will have. Sort yourselves out.
Diana
Diana
23:01
and provide me with the confirmation that you have already provided assurances about.
9 AUGUST 2019
Airbnb Support
Airbnb Support
20:38
Hi Diana, thanks for your message and sorry for the late response, please know that the superhost status might only affect once the requirements did not meet. Can you please verify to me the reservation code affecting your superhost status? so I can check it here thanks.
Diana
Diana
20:47
No, because I am not a superhost thanks to incompetent Airbnb and vexacious Guests. My conern is nothing to do with Superhost status, it is to do with performance criteria. You can read this history and record of your email trail to determine the reservation code yourself. This is something that should have been done at the start of this thread and not 100's of messages and weeks later.
Airbnb Support
Airbnb Support
21:30
I understand what you mean but the reservation code, does not showing in your email, please check the reservation code in your account, so I can double check it here. Thanks.
Diana
Diana
22:01
The whole point is that they didn't reserve the room, and yet Airbnb chased me to respond to an enquiry when the room was already booked. You would know this if you had taken the trouble to read this thread. Clearly you have not and are only doing half a job. You will not resolve this problem unless you apply yourself and do your job.
12 AUGUST 2019
Airbnb Support
Airbnb Support
16:44
Hi Diana,

Thank you for taking the time to share your perspective.

After gathering and carefully reviewing this case, we have decided to end this because all the information was already provided based on your message above, though reservation code was not found. 

We consider this decision final.

Best regards,
Diana
Diana
17:49
I have a recorded conversation (that i have recorded) whereby your representative told me that my response rate would NOT be affected because there is a fault in your systems.
Since that conversation, you have wasted considerable amounts of my time with personnel who are either too stupid or can't be bothered to read the thread and understand the issue. Which of these are you?
Please provide all data you hold on any means that you use to determine the response rate that you rate me as.
This thread has gone on for far far far far far too long NOT because of anything that I have done or failed to understand, but because you employ idiots to respond to proper business livelihood issues whom have not either provided an educated meaningful apology or agreed to re-rate my response rate to 100% as I was informed you would.
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Thanks for your message — Airbnb Support will reply as soon as a specialist becomes available.
11:17
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This support case is closed. Still need help? Visit our Help Centre. https://www.airbnb.com/help

I called you twice today and was told that someone would call me back, they didn't. Oh just another of Airbnb's standard practice of lack of your responsibility .
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23:26
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Thanks for your message - Airbnb Support is connecting you to a chat agent. Your chat session will begin in 1-2 minutes.
23:26
Airbnb Support
Airbnb Support
23:27
Hi Diana, my name is Somya B and I'm with Airbnb support. I'd be happy to help you today.
Hi Diana,

Thanks for reaching out to us regarding this issue. I've forwarded your inquiry to a member of my team who can better assist you. They'll be getting in touch with you soon.

In the meantime, please feel free to respond to this message with any further questions or concerns.

Best regards,
14 AUGUST 2019
󱜄
This support case is closed. Still need help? Visit our Help Centre. https://www.airbnb.com/help12:18

Somya B contacted me at close to midnight , saying "In the meantime, please feel free to respond to this message with any further questions or concerns.". Within less than 12 hours , 10 of which are sleeping hours you close this thread. 
The evidence suggests that this is YET ANOTHER failure of Airbnb's Customer Service.

AND, no one ha contacted me in the meantime, so I will keep this thread open, until I receive a proper response.

󹀁

Thanks for your message — Airbnb Support will reply as soon as a specialist becomes available.

[Allison2]

Their CS has been abysmal since they outsourced. Many times I know their TOS better than they do.

I used to really like this company. Now I find the Kafkaesque bureaucracy stunning. It feels so risky to have them as a business partner when I can't trust their ability to understand, much less handle, issues. Especially when they can simply shut down a conversation unilaterally.

[Diana495]

They don't appear to understand that they are dealing with business professionals.  AS a business professional I don't have time to spend dealing with ignorant CS reps, I pay for and expect a professional service.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

so, @Diana495 what was the reservation code ? 🙂

[Diana495]

Is this not an oxymoron? A reservation code when there was no reservation?

[Ann489]

@Diana495   Airbnb's customer service has gotten progressively worse over the years. I dread every time I need to contact them.  99% of the reps I have dealt with in recent months had such poor English skills that it was almost impossible to make out what they were trying to say.   😛

PS: I'm not a native speaker myself, but if you work for a multi-national company and are expected to deal with English speakers on a daily basis then your English should be better than kindergarten level.

[Diana495]

PS: I'm not a native speaker myself, but if you work for a multi-national company and are expected to deal with English speakers on a daily basis then your English should be better than kindergarten level.

Indeed!!!

[Sarah977]

@Diana495  It's like some Abbott and Costello comedy skit- "Who's on first?"

Would be hilarious if it wasn't so infuriating.

[Sarah977]

@Diana495  and others

While this post was certainly entertaining reading in a roll-ones-eyes, how-can-they-be-so-unbearably-stupid way,  it does highlight some of the ways in which users contacting Airbnb make things even more difficult for themselves while hoping to get a straight, appropriate answer or a successful resolution.

As someone mentioned that many of the reps don't even seem to understand English well enough to grok what you are telling them, I've over time found what seems to be the most effective way to communicate with them, which isn't saying it will always work. Depends how much of a clueless rep you're dealing with. But I'll share what I've learned here.

Do not write in paragraphs. Use short sentences, put each new sentence on the next line. Bullet point form and in chronological order of the issue.

This happened.

Then I did this.

Then I found that...

Can you explain why this happened?

What can be done about this?

It's also pointless to insult the rep's intelligence, no matter how much they deserve it, no matter whether you wish you could stick your hand through the phone or the computer and strangle them. No one is ever inclined to help someone who calls them names or insults them. Keep your goal in mind- to get an acceptable resolution.

It's also pointless to talk to them about how terrible Airbnb's policies are- they don't make those policies, they are following orders from higher ups in how they deal with things.

Stay focused on your issue in a firm, polite and clear manner. Try not to get emotional, even if you have every good reason to be.

Try to engage with them in a personal way, using their name, whether it's wishing them a good day, thanking them for their response, even if it's not the response you were looking for ("Thank you for your response Jessica, I appreciate you working on this. However, you seem to have misunderstood the issue...") These reps are bombarded with calls and messages from angry guests and hosts all day long. What these users are initially angry about has nothing to do with the reps- it's Airbnb policies that they are angry about, which the reps don't have any influence over. I've found that being polite and personable with them makes them more interested in helping me in an appropriate way. Even if my greetings are as insincere as their rote "We appreciate all the hard work you hosts do.", I can suck that up for the sake of having my issue dealt with responsibly. 

So even though the reps are often infuriatingly dense or do understand, but are just trying to get rid of you, there are tricks to getting them to come around and assist you as best they can.  And that's the goal, right?

[Diana495]

I am afraid that I don't have time to play games or stuck on anything, I am running a professional business and I pay Aibnb to provide a professional service. 

[Helen350]

@Diana495 (@Sarah977)

It's not playing games, Diana. It's basic emotional intelligence, common courtesy & sheer pragmatism in dealing with people politely & kindly if you want a desired outcome, i.m.o. (Wot @Sarah977 said.)

I do wonder if you are a teensy weency  bit uptight in your dealings with anyone who doesn't agree with you? - I spent a while perusing your listings.... &  your  killer public responses to what you apparently  saw as criticism was spookily intriguing.... (On YOUR profile too, which the original guest likely won't see - but your future guests will! - Could make them scared to visit?!)

- IS it a professional business letting a couple of rooms dead cheaply in your own home? Just pondering..... I see it as a bit of fun, tho' the money is an important part of my income. I rather tend to view myself as an amateur - It's only Airbnb! (As the man from the council said when he sauntered round casually, after a malicious complaint from neighbours that I was running an illegal business! "Nah!" he said, "It's only Airbnb, that's just like having lodgers, really!" )

I love being an Airbnb host! It's a gas! - Might have even taught me to lighten up!

[Sarah977]

@Diana495  I understand. and fully agree that these type of nonsensical responses from CS are atrocious and inexcusable coming from a company that is raking in outrageous profits and can well afford to provide professional customer service.

My point was that it can often take much less time, be less frustrating, and yield better results to learn how to play their game.

[Helen350]

@Sarah977 "It can often take much less time, be less frustrating, and yield better results to learn how to play their game." - Brilliant!

[Niel3]

Looks like their live chat is using automated chatbots to handle and respond to initial interactions based on keywords in what the real person trying to communicate with AirBNB types in their messages. Lazy, cheap and sloppy.

I am seeing this more and more on "live chat" interfaces these days so always try and phone & speak to a real person if I can.

[Kyoto-Houses0]

I've said it from the very beginning — and I've been a host from the very beginning — Airbnb is a GREAT business, and a **bleep** **bleep**ty company. 
They have not changed in all the years that I've been with them.

@Sarah977  & @Helen350 
appreciate your input & opinion — very mature & savvy, however business or not, Airbnb CS sucks in every way imaginable. Typical upstart American IT company from San Fran — always have been, and always will be. In the very very beginning they did actually show that they cared about the hosts & the hosting experience — but very soon after they got spoiled and realized, where else were home renters gonna go?

SO SO SO happy that other services (TA, BdC, etc) have finally jumped on the home rental bandwagon.
Not that they're much better, but might (just might…) incentivize Airbnb to get with the program.

I follow the same tactic as @Diana495  because I truly hope that my insults will cause 1). the CS staff to quit, 2). get together, 3). make a website dedicated to how many of them have quit due to the total crap way that Airbnb co. preps them and supports (lack thereof…) them in their work, which is (should be… ) a vital part of the company.

As @Diana495  said, if Airbnb survived on reviews, the company would've sank a LONG long time ago. 
great business, horrible company.  I really appreciate what their business opportunity has allowed me to do in my life, but dealing with the company is trash.

Still have a(nother — because it's not the first time… ) unpaid booking (from end of Dec) that sits around waiting for 'tech' to work out the glitch. In the real world, the company'd be held liable & in breach of contract for not paying out on time (after all, the 'tech' glitch is THEIR problem, not mine — I've already upheld my end of the business contract by hosting the people and it is my responsibility to get the rent paid on the house even tho airbnb is holding MY money). but in airbnb world, as a host, we wait… and wait… and wait…