Sadly, we had to have our guests rehoused (evicted). Here is the story of Airbnb's terribly slow and unprofessional response.
At 10:15am on December 28, 2015 we called Airbnb to report that one of our guests (we list three rooms) had sent us a message complaining about another guest. Details of the complaint are listed in a previous post. The offending guests were sent a message informing them of their disruptive behavior (behavior in conflict with our house rules). The offending guests never replied to this message and their behaviors persisted the following two nights). The offending guests check-out this morning at 9:40am. nearly 48 hours after Airbnb was informed of the issue.
During the phone conversation that ensued on the first call, we were assured that Airbnb agreed the guests should be rehoused and the remainder of their booking terminated. Airbnb further assured us that the trust and safety team would be notified and that we would hear back from them soon, either the same day or the following day. We expressed the need for this issue to be dealt with immediately as it was time sensitive. We said that we would like them to be rehoused that very day. The Airbnb agent said that she could not promise timely action by Airbnb but that she would label the case at the highest priority.
After no response from Airbnb the remainder of the day, we called customer service again at 8:45pm on December 28. We were told the same thing, that the agent could not promise timely action by Airbnb but that she would label the case at the highest priority. The agent indicated that the case had not been labeled with any level of priority and that may be why we had received no timely response. I asked the agent what we should do if the guests created further disturbances that evening. The agent said that we had the right to ask them to leave at any time. We explained that confronting guests, particularly those for whom English language was not a strength would be awkward, uncomfortable and that we did not want to create a dramatic situation and as such would appreciate it if a Chinese speaking agent could speak to the offending guests to explain the situation and ask them to leave on our behalf. We were assured that this would happen but that Airbnb could not assure us as to when this would occur.
At 8:30am December 29, 2015 we heard from Doris, a trust and safety team member who asked us what our issue was. I asked her what the case file included. She said the case file just indicated that we were having a problem with a guest and she then wanted to hear what the problem was. We were extremely frustrated that Airbnb failed to create a case file that was informative or in any way complete. So, for a third time and to a third Airbnb agent, we explained the situation again. She agreed that the guest should be relocated and that the remainder of the booking be terminated with a full payout forthcoming to us as hosts. She explained that Airbnb no longer cancelled reservations in case of eviction rather amended the reservation leaving both the guest and the host an opportunity to review one another. We expressed our concern that guests who have been evicted for behavior that they alone were responsible for were unlikely to leave a favorable review for a host and that this new policy was rather unjust. She agreed with me but said that she was unable to cancel their reservation. She assured us that she would forward us a link highlighting the new policy regarding evictions. This link was never sent to us.
At 9:37am December 29, Doris sent this message via email:
"Hey Josh (Ernie), Thanks for speaking with me earlier. I just called Yuqin. Unfortunately she does not speak English, so my Chinese colleague will be contacting her now. I'll let you know as soon as I hear more!All the best, Doris"
We did not hear from Airbnb again at any time December 29 by their own initiative.
At 1:11pm We sent this message to Doris:
"Hi Doris,
It has been over four hours since we spoke and I still have no resolution to this case. Please keep me advised as to the progress. All in all, this case has been going on for over 24 hours with no effective action by Airbnb.
Thanks,
Josh Thayer"
There was no response from Doris.
At 1:15pm we reached out to Laura Hughes, a high level Airbnb agent in the hospitality department, to plead for assistance from her. She assured me that she would look into the matter and have a response for me within the next few hours.
At 4:52pm we sent the following email to Doris:
"Hi Doris,
We still have not heard back from Airbnb regarding this issue. I'm sitting here wondering what is happening. Any news for me yet?
Thanks,
Josh Thayer"
There was no reply from Doris.
At 7:48pm, after no response was forthcoming from Laura we texted her the following message:
"Hi Laura,
Just wanted to let you know that there has been absolutely zero action or follow through from Airbnb. Very disappointing.
Thanks,
Josh Thayer"
Here is her reply:
"Hey Josh,
I've contacted several folks who are looking into it. There's a lot of high priority issues right now with the holidays that they are dealing with. Sorry for the lack of attention you are getting on this."
We are left wondering what other issues could possibly be of higher priority.
At 11:13pm we sent an email to Doris (We cc'd Chip Conley, Laura Hughes and Jonny Styron) that read as follows:
"Hi Doris,
This is my third email to you. My prior two emails have gone without any response from you.
I called Airbnb yesterday morning (December 28, 2015) at 10:15 am to report this very troubling, uncomfortable and disturbing issue. It is now 11:13pm December 29, 2015 and I have had no action, resolution or reasonable response by Airbnb. The offending guests are still in my home. They are still violating the rules and they are still disturbing my other guests. Why has Airbnb taken no action in over 36 hours after promising me that the guests would be relocated and their reservation either terminated, cancelled or altered? I feel terrible for my other guests who have been so deeply disturbed that they felt the need to send me the following message:
"Good morning! There were a few issues last night with another guest that we felt the need to address. I am not one to complain, but after stepping in urine this morning next to the commode, I could not hold my tongue any longer. As I recall in the house rule section, quiet hours after 10pm were established, and it was a bit frustrating when the new guests did not follow these. After this time, the couple was arguing (yelling in their room) with each other, then one of them proceeded to sing in the shower, and do their laundry in the bathroom sink leaving the entire sink and floor soaking wet. Each time a door was closed, it was slammed shut with quite some noise. The first night here was absolutely lovely, calm, and private, and the other guests were very respectful and friendly. Last night was a bit frustrating with all the noise, and this morning, stepping in someone else's urine was quite distasteful. Rather than address the guests directly with any form of conflict, we felt it was better to share our concerns with you, to handle it in a more diplomatic way. Thank you for sharing your space with us, and have a great day."
The issues persisted last night and I was forced to confront the guests again to plead with them to respect the rules and the other guests. There offensive and disruptive behavior continues tonight, again. Airbnb should have taken immediate action yesterday morning. Neither my guests nor I should be continuing to deal with this uncomfortable situation.
I reached out to Laura Hughes today at 1:00pm to plead for assistance from her. She assured me that she would look into the matter and have a response for me within the next few hours. At 7:48pm, after no response was forthcoming from Laura I texted her the following message:
"Hi Laura,
Just wanted to let you know that there has been absolutely zero action or follow through from Airbnb. Very disappointing.
Thanks,
Josh Thayer"
Here is her reply:
"Hey Josh,
I've contacted several folks who are looking into it. There's a lot of high priority issues right now with the holidays that they are dealing with. Sorry for the lack of attention you are getting on this."
I am left wondering what other issues could possibly be of higher priority.
I am of the deeply concerned by the lack of responsiveness from Airbnb regarding this matter.
Please help me!
Very disappointed,
Josh Thayer"
At 6:21am we received the following email from an Airbnb agent named James:
"Hello Ernest,
Thank you for reaching out to me today, I hope this message finds you very well. My name is James and I am a case manager with the trip experience team, here at Airbnb. I am sorry for the delay in my response, I was out of the office. I have altered the dates of the reservation to end today on December 30, 2015, this means that Yuqing must leave the porperty today. Even though this was altered you will still be receiving your full payout for this reservation. If you have any questions, please let me know and I will be happy to assist you.
Best regards,
James"
As I said earlier, the offending guest checked out this morning, December 30, at 9:40am. We received no email reply nor telephone call from Doris, Chip, Laura or Jonny.
The booking was amended to show a check-out for December 30, 2015. We were prompted to leave a review for the guest which we have done.
Airbnb promised us last May at a round table meeting with all the people cc'd in my email among others that Airbnb recognized the shortcomings of its customer service department and that not only would there be more available agents, but that in addition:
1) The agents that answered the phones when a host or a guest called in would be trained such that all policies would be uniform followed and all advice and answers given to community members would be uniformly delivered.
2) These agents would wither have the authority to make timely decisions when necessary or that they would have immediate access to someone with the authority to make these timely decisions such that a host (or guest) with a time sensitive issue would be able to receive immediate customer support.
Going on 8 months after these assurances were given, Airbnb has still failed to deliver this level of service as evidenced by the customer service received for this particular issue.
Very disappointing.
