I had an incredible virtual experience with an awesome host who agreed to let me make a deposit for an initial estimated amount of participants, and then pay for the amount of participants present after the event. I had a very hard time getting my payment through (was initially booking using a cooperate card, not in my name, which was impossible because of all the security protocols, and eventually decided to use my own card and apply for reimbursement.) I got my card to work for the deposit, but when I tried to pay the balance after the event, I kept getting messages saying my card needed to be verified (even though I used the same card I had used to make the initial booking.) I've been calling air bnb all day hoping to reach someone who can be helpful but they just keep saying they will need someone to call me back because Air BnB doesn't handle virtual experiences (and they refuse to give me a direct phone line to virtual experiences.) I reported this issue during my first failed attempt at booking and they said the same thing -- and no one called me back, so I don't think I'll hear from them again this time.
That said, I'd really like to pay my host, and now I'm concerned this will get turned over to collections or something. I'm beyond frustrated -- I have sunk hours into simply trying to give air bnb money owed. Has anyone dealt with this? Any advice?