Ridiculous customer service

[Sylvain539]

Hello community, I've read some people really had problem with the customer service and I want to know if some people find a way to have better service?

A host rent me the entire apartment but the bedroom and the neighbor is only separate by a door with no soundproof. I can literally clearly hear everything going on there, including him having a number 2 and because the door is not seal, I can also smell everything coming from there...It's like watching the Tv with him, even if I'm sure it's on a decent volume on his side.  Host don't give a f*** so after paying hundreds, even thousand of Airbnb fee in the past 7 years, booking a lot of monthly rent (with the high fee coming with that) I was expecting a great service (first time user for a big issue). Well I was so wrong.

I wrote them more than 54 hours ago. The average time of response was 3 hours for each message at the beginning. Talk to many different people at the beginning and have to repeat my story each time. Than after many exchanges and waiting time, I was sending video and audio proof of what I said was true. One of the person at the customer service wrote me I was eligible for a refund if "I leave today" with an amount already establish. That was 31 hours ago by the way! So I said good, "start the refund process please" and I will leave as soon as you did. 2 hours later I wrote them again I was waiting for the refund starting process. 8 hours after that they said I was eligible for a refund, I wrote them again that I was going to bed so I can't leave today (it was 1 am). They answer me 13 hours after their message of refund eligibility to say that "I just want to inform you that we are still doing an investigation on this case and I will update you once we already have the solution". I wrote them a couple of message to give them a follow up of my interaction with the host (who still don't give a f***) and only offer me an old pair of earplugs to solve the problem (true story) but I didn't receive any message from customer service since their message "they are still investigating" 12 hours ago!

After reading some review of their atrocious customer service here and on trustpilot, I'm really glad I didn't leave when they said I was eligible if "I leave today" as it seem like some people did leave and never got any refund (so be careful by the way). They also seem to get you tired of waiting for their long response so you will give up, which I will not do. I think when there's no writing in a chat for a long time, they close the chat...so maybe that's why they don't answer me anymore but I wrote them a little message from time to time to say hi, what's going on with my airbnb fee...

So anyone with a solution please? Someone decent at the Airbnb customer service ready to help me?

[Lorina14]

@Sylvain539 

I’m sorry that your first experience with Airbnb has been poor with accommodations, host response and customer service. This is a community of hosts and guests so we don’t have a pull on support - we share ideas and suggestions for issues.

The most I can do is flag a community host manager (board moderator) and they can flag your message and send it to the appropriate team for response. @Bhumika @Paula @Rebecca could you please help Sylvain out?

I’ve heard of similar situations of the chat closing or waiting for hours for replies and no clear resolution. I’d also call them as I feel you get better support with a call. It’s also frustrating that one would have to keep summarizing the experience for each new rep they speak to (I’ve had this happen myself). Please keep all documentation of your interactions.

Please let us know how things progress.

[Sylvain539]

Thank you for your answer and your help. It's really appreciated. I thought it was Airbnb customer service that answer me when I saw your notification...I was like, no way they will answer me so quickly. I was right hahaha  

It's not my first experience on Airbnb, I had many (and paid a lot of Airbnb fee) but it's my first really bad experience where I need the support I've paid by thousand of dollars since I join Airbnb 9 years ago. So it's really frustrating to have such a bad service when you really need one after paying so much of fee. 

P.S. I don't want to call them for that specific reason (your suggestion) that I want to keep all the proof of exchanges and writing is better for that...

[Lorina14]

@Sylvain539 

You’re welcome! Sorry I misunderstood - yes you’d hope when you need help you would get good support when needed. 

I would call and just repeat everything you said in your chat (so it is documented as it was the same thing). From my experience the chat takes a while to have a response. Sometimes they will call you to address your concern but if for some reason you miss it then who knows when they will call back again. So I would just call them and reference the day/date/time you called or chatted with someone and let them take it from there.

Let them know that you also have a chat opened but the progress is so slow with the concerns at hand. Remind them that you were used to having good customer support from Airbnb (as a long time customer/ guest) so are surprised at this experience and inconsistencies in the representative’s responses. 

Let us know how that may help.💫

[Rebecca]

Hey there @Sylvain539 and @Lorina14 👋

I'm truly sorry to hear of your recent experience with Airbnb Support. I have sent you a direct message with some more information and hopefully someone will be in touch with you soon. 

Please keep us updated and thank you for the tag @Lorina14 😊 

Rebecca 🌟 

[Sylvain539]

I want to thank @Rebecca  and @Lorina14! Not sure if it was the Rebecca message that help my experience with the customer service or because I finally get a great employee (Jigger C) but I was able to have a refund (on the way) and leave the place in a total of 5 hours of relatively quick exchange (well compared to my past experience it was quick 😅).

Few bumbs on the road, like: they sent me by message the amount of the refund I will receive "leaving today" which I agreed on but when I received the total refund it was 100$ Canadian under the total we'd agreed on. So had to wait for them to send me the difference in 2 different ways before it was completed... 

Then they said I needed to leave immediately. I said give me some time to pack (last time they offer me a refund I packed for nothing so I decided to wait the refund confirmation that time) and check for an hotel room but they said no, you have to leave now. 😅 Well I still packed my things and leave but try to find an hotel room in the building hallway instead.

In the end, I'm glad that my worst Airbnb experience (yeah I know some people had way worst than me) is behind me and I will now being able to sleep quietly without having to hear everything my bedroom neighbour do, including having a number 2 with the smell that come with that... 🙄

I really think Airbnb customer service need to improve and a lot. This whole process (before today) was a real pain in the a**

Thank you again to Rebecca and Lorina 🙏😘

[Rebecca]

We make a great team @Lorina14  ⭐

Really glad it's all sorted out for you @Sylvain539 😍

[Lorina14]

@Sylvain539 

I’m so glad that you finally got resolution and are away from that stinky, loud situation. Yes, flagging a moderator helps your issue to be directed to the right team. 

Thank you @Rebecca for helping him get traction on his issue so he could get to a new place!