Supervisor accountability

[Sarah4962]

I was promised a refund but the approved refund amount that I received doesn't match the receipts I submitted. Because the "review team" has already issued the refund, I can't get anyone (supervisor or otherwise) to explain why the amounts don't match. Additionally, from the moment the issue on our trip occurred, airbnb customer service has provided inaccurate or conflicting information and one failed to submit urgent information in the correct manner. 

If nothing else I would like to be refunded the amount I was promised and would like some explanation/acknowledgement that airbnb failed to resolve an urgent issue for our large travel group. 

[Bhumika]

Hey @Sarah4962 ,

Welcome to the Community Center and thanks for posting.

We understand your concerns and have passed them on to the team if they could get in touch with you.

Please also note that Community Center is not a Customer Support Channel, although we are happy to help you and have reached out to the team.

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[Sarah4962]

Thanks for responding Bhumika. The support center has simply stopped responding so I am trying to find different ways of resolving my refund issue. There would be a lot less concerns in this community forum if airbnb had a more transparent/functional customer service structure. 

There is nowhere to file formal complaints (unless I am an EU resident) and there is no way to reach out directly to folks that might be able to help. My concern has been in a escalation/de-escalation loop for the past week and I can't get anyone to answer my questions about the current status of this problem. 

[Helen744]

@Sarah4962 Refund amounts depend on various things , including if you cancelled before arriving., the hosts cancellation policy , if Airbnb kept their own fee, if the cleaning fee was kept or refunded etcetera. CS is not infallible and many complaints are made about the way the system operates but Airbnbs are not hotels and they do not have the capacity to change bookings on short notice as hotels do, so cancellations like that attract various penalties as the host is probably unable to book to someone else. What was your 'reason ' for cancelling as only certain reasons can attract a full refund ....H

[Sarah4962]

Hi Helen744,

The hosts were incredible in this situation. We had a property without water due to a maintenance issue and that host promptly refunded the full amount. A host for another property rearranged a cleaning schedule to host my group of 14 last minute. My issue very specifically refers to various customer service agents giving me inaccurate information, conflicting information and failing to process details in a timely fashion in order to get us into our new rental. I am currently requesting that airbnb simply do what a customer service rep said they would-which is cover the difference in cost from the original property and the second property. They haven't done this and will not provide a reason why. I am very understanding of situations that occur outside of folks' control. I have very specific complaints when a body designed to provide customer support does not do what they could have done within hours of us knowing we didn't have running water. 

[Helen3]

What a horrible experience to turn up at the property with your large group to find no running water.

Have you gone into their guest T&Cs and quoted the relevant section to their CS. @Sarah4962 

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/aircover 

They should pay the difference (if they agreed this in advance) or rather Airbnb pay the difference to you and recover this amount from the host who cancelled your booking.

I do wonder how the original host let you check into a property without running water? Surely this would have been picked up by their cleaning crew when they went to clean before your stay?

[Fred13]

You submitted receipts, for costs incurred related to this water reality?

Also "airbnb customer service has provided inaccurate or conflicting information and one failed to submit urgent information in the correct manner." I notice you just joined this board, have you had much experience dealing with Airbnb or another booking agency?

[Sarah4962]

Fred13,

Yes, I have submitted all receipts and followed all of their protocols regarding the situation and circumstances. I have used airbnb and other booking services for all kinds of travel, what made this situation a challenge was us being a group of 14. Airbnb stated that I would receive a refund to make up for the difference in price for the two rentals (there was only one rental in the area that could accommodate our group) , the amount I have received doesn't match the actual cost and nobody can explain why. My experiences with hosts have been wonderful. My experience with customer service on this issue has been disappointing and unproductive. Multiple agents gave conflicting information on how to resolve this issue which took a lot of time during which we were at a property with no running water. Ultimately it seems we could have easily booked a second property the night of the issue and airbnb could have worked to issue a refund amount after the fact. Instead, I experienced a coupon debacle that lasted almost 24 hours (wrong amounts applied, specific protocols not used by agents resulting in coupon amount not being adjusted). Now, through the portal I just get an automated message stating that a team has carefully reviewed the case. I can't get a human on the phone that can explain why the full amount promised hasn't been refunded. Agents have been consistently vague, have not followed up as promised and the supervisor will not call me back.  This was an unfortunate situation that could have been handled in a timely and productive way.