How I found Love on Airbnb

‘My name is Love,’ typed the help assistant, ‘and I’m a member of the Airbnb community support team.’

I was using one of those chat boxes, where someone from the company you’re grappling with, embodied in a flashing cursor, interacts with you in print on a live chat screen.

Now, I’m a big fan of the chat box. The chat box works when all other forms of customer service fail. Chances are you will get much better service if you stop expecting companies to speak to you on the phone, and start letting them do what they do best, which is to solve your issue without speaking to you, because speaking to you is where all the problems start, let’s face it.

I like the Airbnb chat box almost more than any other, because they have a particularly stringent policy that they must resolve your issue, no matter how difficult it is.