Airbnb Last minute booking horror stories

[Ephraim0]

We are all familiar with the last minute booking horror stories, that are not only bad experiences but hosts are often stiffed for the payment which never cleared. Peersonally I believe that is airbnb's responsability,  as that's the primary service we are paying airbnb for, to process and handle payments. However in any case I declined a booking request that seemed iffy for a 6:00am checkin made after midnight that same day. Thankfully I read a review this person left his last host in which he ranted about a situation in which he was clearly wrong. My question is how much time must elapse for a host to be confident that a payment has cleared? Thanks

[Lawrene0]

@Ephraim0, I had a guest's booking expire for non-payment after 24 hours, so I would assume you are safe after 24 hours. Good job turning down that iffy request! Bullet dodged. 

[Ephraim0]

@Lawrene0 Yes, Amen indeed! Funny because I dont always do that much research only this dude was clearly a body builder, and not the type that got that way from protien shakes alone if you catch my drift. So between that and the request to checkin 6 hours later I figured it was worth looking into. Turns out he asked his last host if he could check out late at 3pm. The host said he could stay until 6pm. The host waited for him to arrive to complete his checkout. The guy arrives at 8pm  (2 hours later) and requests a cash overnight stay. The host said  it would not be possible and the guy became verbally aggressive and posted that the host kicked him out of his home. What a jerk. Sometimes fate has us look at what we need to see I think. Thank goodness!

[Ange2]

@Ephraim0   I agree Airbnb is the middle man, their job is to collect and pay,  they should have some kind of insurance that covers non-payment.

Maybe you have seen this post,  after the guest arrived the host was told that the payment had not cleared and Airbnb response was:   "If you have questions regarding the payment problem, you can try contacting your guest. If your guest did not submit payment with success ................................., Airbnb will not be responsible for issuing its host of payment. 

Really!  It does not inspire confidence.

[Ephraim0]

@Ange2 I agree, airbnb's role is to be responsible for payment. It ends there as far as I'm concerened , not with the host. They make 15% from every stay in our homes they need to start taking responsabilty thats why we pay them. Between sticking it to hosts when payments default, the horror stories about how people have been failed repeatedly by the "Host Insurance Gaurantee", the lack of customer service one must wonder what exactly they do to earn their money besides host a website and abuse hosts. 

[Linda108]

@Ephraim0  Apparently I am the only person who is confused.  You declined the booking request.  What payment are you expecting?  Did I misunderstand what was posted?

[Ephraim0]

@Linda108 It's a question of curiosity. Yes I declined that booking, however I wonder at what point are we as hosts guaranteed that a payment for a reservation has cleared. is it 24 hours, 48 hours??