Hi @bearbnb,
Is this the only public posting that you made about this? If so, I guess we all have to keep such options in mind, if Airbnb ignores us. Sigh. Thanks for sharing.
In India, asking for ID is routine procedure. For foreigners, that’s passports. And the Govt of India has a rather invasive form called Form C for foreigners. Let me know if you want to see what it looks like. Personally, if I ran into these sorts of situations regularly, I would certainly start asking a lot more questions and asking for more information.
I think “genuine” guests would only not want to show ID for fear of identity theft, which seems to be a real thing in some parts of the world.
Yes, when I had to push beyond the gopher level, I actually had to shame the gopher totally, pointing out, in a very stern voice, the three things I just had to teach HIM about the website.
It’s all part of this change in culture to business using ‘hip’ jargon to sound cool. For me the result is much like everyone here has said “Hope you’re having a great day!! Thanks so much for reaching out to us!! I’ll be super happy the help you today, no worries!!” and that just clutters up the communication and makes it hard to discern what they are saying. As most websites - they are so full of hipness and jargon but often don’t say what they actually DO.
@bearbnb, so sorry you had this horrible experience. So glad air has finally woken up. Good luck with your recovery. It’s really no joke how these stressful situations stay with us. Once you get everything resolved, do please let us know, and around the world we’ll all raise a toast!!
1 Like
Easily preventable : only allow guests recommended by previous hosts to use Instant Booking.
I believe that is an option in IB. I certainly use it.
The sad thing is that these days it seems all the companies must be telling their front line staff to do everything in their power not to get management involved. I really haven’t figured out yet if young employees today are just that stupid, or if they are reprimanded for every call that they can’t resolve on their own. It really blows my mind how many times I have to explain things to customer service reps, as they don’t even know their own policies. Whenever I hear of a new policy on these boards, and then call customer service for clarification…I pretty much already know the person on the other end of the phone is going to say they have not heard of this new policy. How does the person in charge add a policy, yet isn’t capable of ensuring every rep. is notified before their shift begins?
1 Like
That and “hope this helps”, which usually follows something that was not at all helpful.
3 Likes
In addition to whatever verification these listing websites supposedly do, I also require a signed contract with the name, address, email and phone number of the guest and a list of everyone in the group. (I allow up to 6 people).
Then I tell them;
“For payments made by credit card I also need you to scan a photo ID
(driver license, etc.) and send it back to me as well. The name and address
on the contract, the ID and the credit card all need to match or there
will be a problem.”
Once in a while someone questions this but so far they have all sent it. They don’t know that I will not actually be able to see any info about the credit card.
1 Like
Only “reaching out” is a legacy phrase used by companies like Bank of America…
. I have noticed Air is more likely to be fond of saying things like “I hope this email finds you well.” Have seen that so much it’s getting to be a bit nauseating.
1 Like
I think they are third-party contracted call center employees. When you call them, they are often all over the country. If Air officially calls you I notice the phone is a 408 number. But of course that can be spoofed easily.
I have only been here about a year (many years on HomeAway/VRBO). This is my take. Airbnb has now become a huge, bureaucratic $corporation$. All the departments and ‘teams’ are now competing with one another for budget, influence and bonuses and don’t (even) give out their phone numbers within the company (if they don’t have to), email only. A hierarchy of status develops, depending on who you know and who you ****. Everybody (in management) either fears and loathes or envies each other. The programmers look down upon all. CS, ie; the people that actually have to talk to customers are on the bottom. Luckily, for the management, there is an endless supply of wide eyed Millennials who will bear the torch of the ‘sharing’ economy. Occasionally, ‘heroes’ will arise, sometimes do some good, hopefully use it to their advantage, but for the most part this thing is racing to the ‘promised land’. The IPO. When that happens you will not recognize the company or the site.
2 Likes
This is so dark and dystopian. Like the Donald Trump acceptance speech. Sadly, you may be right.
1 Like
Me For CEO Of Airbnb! I Will Make Airbnb Great Again!
8 Likes
hahahahahahahahahaha
I have found my last 12 or so IB’s have all come from first time users without previous recommendations or reviews. I guess that correlates with the site’s rise in popularity.
If you’re concerned about this incident happening again - which would be a worst-case scenario - you should turn IB off for new, non-reviewed users. Allow only reviewed users to use IB.
It also helps prevent people who aren’t familiar with how the site works booking for the wrong number of guests.
1 Like
Actually, as mentioned in a previous post, by eliminating the same day booking window, I’m afforded more communication time with IB’ers, whether newbies or not. From there I can evaluate their authenticity. Combined with security devices this allows for maximised booking potential and piece of mind.
2 Likes
Certainly sounds a lot safer than same-day unrestricted IBs, However in the event you have to cancel a suspicious IB you could still incur Air penalties. CMIIW