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I’m heartily sick and tired of Help. I’ve found that in any situation that isn’t straightforward, they are only interested in getting rid of you as quickly as possible.
In simple matters they get your sorted out quickly, but try asking them to sort out something out of the ordinary and all you get is fobbed off.
Is it just me or are others among you also noticing this?
Clearly we need the details… What happened?
RR
There’s been a couple of things over the past two years… The latest was today, when they somehow managed to book a guest for five days into a block of seven days which I had sectioned for the one booking. I told them that yesterday I had marked off a 7 day block on my calendar, and had double checked it to make sure it was blocked off as I would be on holidays at that time.
Anyway, they then booked the guest in for 5 days and told me I hadn’t blocked off the seven days at all. I know that I did. I asked them if they could check if there was something wrong with my downloaded app and got no reply. So, then I contacted them again, told them I’d been speaking to Rachel and went over the problem again. The second bloke then said he’d pass it back to Rachel again and of course I’ve not heard from her.
This is just one of several problems I’ve had.
So now I have to get another host in my apartment building to look after my guest because a) they seem to have stuffed up by accepting the booking, and b) they can’t be bothered helping me out with it.
In future, I won’t bother asking. I should have just cancelled the booking but I didn’t think that fair on the guest as it’s not their fault.
The previous problems I’ve had are much too lengthy to go into. You get the idea.
I would get on the phone with the local CS rep and request them to cancel it for you. If u contact them through the Application they sometimes take a year to answer, despite promises of faster response times for superhosts. There shouldn’t be any penalties for cancellation under an honest technical glitch.
I’ve had this happen at least 5 times @docdave53. In each case they checked and found I had blocked the dates so cancelled the booking.
Personally i have always found them helpful but can appreciate your frustration.
Did they refuse to check for you?
I’ve already made arrangements with another host in my apartment complex to look after my guest. I really just can’t be bothered dealing with Help anymore - they just want to close the ticket and get rid of you. I’ve had enough.
They are helpful at dealing with simple problems, but anything that requires a bit of mucking around elicits short cuts and so forth. They’re not competent and they don’t care about your problem.
They didn’t bother to get back to me about any technical issues with my app.
It’s interesting you’ve had the same problem. They told me that I didn’t block off the dates as a block booking, and Rachel told me there was no record of my having done it. However, I was very careful to make sure it was done because I knew I’d be away.
What they could have done is just be bloody helpful for a change!!! Let’s suppose it was my mistake (which I doubt) - all they had to do was take the problem off me, apologise to the guest and reinstate the block booking.
But of course, that would be HELPING me - too much bloody trouble for them.
I’ve had a gutfull of them.
Thanks for the reply Helsi - appreciated - it’s reassuring to know I’m not going mad and that the same thing has happened to another host.
I had this happen and they told me that the property was not blocked and therefore available, when I said no I had blocked it they told me to prove it! I told them there is no way to prove it, that there are no email confirmations when you block a date and that they need to prove it to me that it was not blocked. Stalemate. They ended up cancelling the guest with no penalty, but there was a penalty they took me off instant book for awhile, when I realized what had happened and called them they were like well it will be reevaluated in 5 days. So I took my listing off IB myself for two days and turned it back on and it worked. CS is a PITA and we as hosts are at the mercy of underpaid and untrained people who just want to get through the shift.
RR
it’s a freaking bug in the software!!! Call them back and tell them you are not responsible for their bugs and ask them to pass this on the developers. The exact thing has happened to me a few months back. I blocked days off on my phone, only to go home and see some dude booked me. I called CS and yelled at them and I got the booking cancelled. I am a software engineer so I know this is a bug and they can’t talk me down!
Don;t be discouraged. Ask to talk to their supervisor. I’m amazed they didn’t fix this one yet! Please report it to the developers as well. If we complain more perhaps they will fix it. When you report it please state the phone make and model and what operating system you use.
Interesting @RiverRock in every case I had, they simply went back and checked their system and confirmed that indeed I had blocked the dates, and agreed to cancel the guest who booked my blocked dates.
Not sure why they wouldn’t do this for you. Shows how arbitrary it can be.
I think the CS agent I had just assumed if it was available it could not have been blocked. I do not think she checked anything.
RR
Ok adrienne12 , I will. As much as it pains me to have yo speak to deal with them yet again I’ll do it because you asked so nicely 
I agree with RiverRockRetreat - I think they’re just faking it.
I’ll get back to you later in the day.
Here’s another stuff up. For some strange reason, Airbnb have accepted and confirmed a booking from a guest who hasn’t paid the full amount. Now, the guest is going to try and pay it, and I’ve had to advise the guest to be careful because of Airbnb’s propensity to stuff up anything out of the ordinary.
Stand by folks - any money you like they stuff this up too!
I hat to sound negative, but they just don’t get anything right and I’ll be pleasantly pleased if they manage to do this right.
@docdave53, are you a Superhost? And do you contact Help by calling?
General question for all: Is it true that Superhosts get faster assistance from Airbnb Help?
We are Superhosts, and we’ve had great help every time we’ve called Airbnb. I found out early that a call is far better than an email. When I call, I either get connected right away or I get a call back very promptly. An email is much more hit-or-miss. I think Airbnb’s help says that a call will get a faster response, and it’s true.
We’re in the US. I don’t know if calling is as easy in all other countries.
Rebecca
If I were a guest using this feature I’d be “stuffed up” about hosts who don’t understand the policies of the platform they are using.
May I ask how long you’ve been hosting on Airbnb?
@KKC my understanding wasn’t about the pay part now/pay the rest later feature but that it was one of those ones where a payment didn’t actually go through. We hear about those where guests even end up staying without a payment ever going through…
I don’t see your interpretation at all.
I used to be a superhost, but I host an older property an so it only rates at 4.7.
I just checked the booking this morning and it seems to be ok now.
I’ve hosted for two years almost fully booked throughout.
I looked at the figures this morning and they seem to be ok. I can’t remember what they were previously - didn’t make a note.
During the previous two years I have had several problems which were very frustrating to get sorted out, and I do think the case workers were simply trying to close the ticket and move on without the problem having been fixed. Most notably, I’ve noticed they don’t read the complaint properly and have made assumptions, and I’ve had to rephrase it despite having thoroughly explained it in the first instance.
Sorry to hear that. Best of luck to you.