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So I’m wondering when people thing it’s appropriate to call Airbnb. It seems to me that hosts are very quick to run to Airbnb for all kinds of things that I would consider just part of being a host.
I’ve been hosting for over 4 years and I think I’ve called them about five times. Once about a missed payment, once about getting my full name removed from a review, once about a complicated reservation that I couldn’t manage to resolve, once about re-locating guests that I found abandoned in my local shop (yes, indeed) and once when a guest took seriously ill and I had to re-locate incoming guests. The latter, by the way, was just to get their help in transferring the reservation because I had already found another host to take them.
Obviously there are serious situations where Airbnb needs to step up and help, like when your place is completed trashed, stuff is blatantly stolen etc. but it seems quite often that hosts are advised to call Airbnb over the most trivial things. I’d be interested to hear what others think. Maybe I turned into a nasty old Blackpool landlady ( for any Brits on here)
I’ve only called Airbnb three times. Two were regarding guests who were getting muddled up and couldn’t figure out how to book.
The third time was me being daft - IB had been turned off for some reason and I was being stupid about how to reinstate it. Totally my fault for not paying attention.
On each occasion, the reps were great.
I have had guests who I’ve had to throw out but have done it myself without resorting to Airbnb. I’ve had damage and not reported it because I’ve considered it wear and tear. To be honest, I don’t like hearing stories about hosts who try to claim for every broken wine glass or stains on the sheets.
Well, clearly we both have our hairnets firmly in place and all is well in our benign domain . It does concern me a bit, though, that CS people have to deal with all kinds of trivial things. No wonder they pull the plug on support when hosts are calling about ‘waahhh, my guests ate crackers in the bed and my rules say no eating’.
I called three times in a year. Twice because of a delayed payment and once because a guest had trouble completing the verification process. Obviously I call them when there’s nothing I can do myself.
I used to send emails but a CS employee once told me I would better call.
Air also called me twice after I emailed them, once because I wanted to know what my “acceptance rate” was and the other time because I was worried about my placement in search results.
I must have been lucky but I have always been able to talk to a CS employee right away and they always solved my problem within a few hours. What I find strange is that they must have been trained to say something kind in each call (congrats for your ratings, your Superhost status, your beautiful photos, blablabla) which is nice but feels artificial.
I’ve called them because a guest never communicated, and indeed, never showed up. They tried to contact the guest and were unsuccessful.
A guest was to arrive in two days, was a week-long booking, but said she’d cancel ‘sometime later this evening when I get home from work’. Air cancelled for me so I could rebook asap
A guest booked to arrive that day but didn’t finish the verification process - but was still blocking my dates without any guarantee that she’d submit the needed id to finalize the booking. She was unreachable for the several hours we tried to contact her, so air canceled for me and I was able to rebook
A guest with two horrible little children for a week=long stay was seriously making my entire family crazy. They just held my hand, but were very helpful.
I’ve called Airbnb a lot; I think we are now in double digit territory, although this is almost certainly because I am often a guest too (and I have had issues with hosts a lot)
Reasons for calling Airbnb include:
-The lift in my building breaking just as someone with mobility issues was due to check in
Missing guests who hadn’t replied to any correspondence
-guests who arrived hours later than anticipated and hadn’t updated me; meanwhile I had an appointment and had to leave
I used to be a super host and started getting 4 star reviews all the time. I called Airbnb to ask what I might have been doing wrong since I clearly wasn’t meeting guest expectations. That was a funny convo.
the first time I had to refund a guest because I had inadvertently dropped a used feminine product. My idea of a total nightmare and they got a 50% discount.
a couple of times when it’s become clear a booking was third party. I don’t even accept bookings made by parents for their family members.
the rest of the times it’s been other host related; no communication usually but frequently calendar and payment issues. I now get why guests start with ‘is it available?’ Because I myself have come across a horrible amount of time wasters who either say sorry, it’s not available we’re already hosting someone (calendar says otherwise) or oh yeah but we need to increase the price. This happened in Berlin, where every single host I contacted (8 different hosts) pulled that crap and eventually the only way I was able to book anything was instant book. I’ve been back and checked some of their calendars since; guess what still not updated and prices not changed, which definitely starts to make you wonder if something else is going on. So yea called Airbnb and ranted.
I think i called more when ia m a guest than a host. issues were that i could not get into the house, and host was not repsonsive. I was basically on a street. And ohter things when i had to cancell couple times.
I called more than a host in a very beginning when i could not understand how it works, but then almost stopped completely. I think the last time i called it was 4 months ago about claim on damage deposit.
I think a lot of people call Airbnb because they are forced to (since Air is holding the funds). Airbnb has chosen to insert themselves into the middle of every little thing.
I have read some silly posts where the host calls Air because their guest is weird. Let’s hope that’s not the majority of hosts…lol.
But I call all the time to get clarification/understading on their policies, chargeback issues, proof of extenuating circumstances, stolen credit cards, host guarantee, changes in terms/conditions, etc…especially when I read on this forum all of the conflicting posts of how Air handles their cases. And I call multiple times to compare all the incorrect answers the reps. give me. It’s sad when their own employees aren’t knowledgeable enough to know their own policies. Now…I have not had any of these issues, but I like to understand the policies of a company I work with - before there is an issue. For example - it is important for me to understand that my guest can now cancel for basically any reason at all, and I won’t get paid out - even if it my highest sought after week for the entire year.
I’ve made maybe two calls in two years, as bookings go generally smoothly. The last time I called for a substantial problem was for the Jennifer party 'ho. And they were very very good with me.
I find more often, they call me. When a guest canceled due to a supposed mother in law emergency and I was on strict…they wanted me to refund some out of the goodness of my heart. NO. Maybe I should have, because they sided with the guest and took it all. I did rebook, and they accidentally took that too! Which meant a phone call. Then when the guy panicked over dengue. Canceled the same day. Air called and wanted me to refund as a goodwill gesture. Huh?? Because a guest panicked over nothing? NO. THey sided with me and I got everything but the cleaning.
It’s funny how they call and make you feel guilty and encourage you to refund because a guest canceled without a good reason.
I also used to fall for their flattery. You have a beautiful place and look how long you’ve been with us. But then I realized it was a put on.
I’ve only called once, when I had a guest cancel when they found out one of their party had a smaller budget then they were expecting and they were out their fee and I decided I wanted to let them stay and lower my price a bit and I called to make sure their booking fee they lost would go towards it before we reinstated it. Since I had just raised my rates the week before and it was still more than I would have made if they’d booked it just a few days prior and it made me look awesome!
for any Brits on here)
