Disaster Alert: I made the mistake of hosting a two-month rental through Airbnb for overseas guests. They were fully prepared to pay both months up front, along with a security deposit. But I needed a commercial lease to satisfy their home government-funded institution. So I went through Airbnb. NEVER AGAIN.
I’ve been hosting since Airbnb started, and have been a Superhost for a long time, but had no idea they capriciously only do payouts monthly for longer stays. My guests’ home institution now has to hassle with two payments instead of one. Their original bank card expired in the meantime, so I lose a day there, and get to wait until my mortgage and all of my bills (on auto-pay) are past due (and so will overdraw all of my accounts) to receive the second payment. I’m on “vacation,” but now have to fret over finances. I got put on hold when I asked to speak to a supervisor for 30 minutes, and then the agent came back on the line to say they were all in a meeting, but she’d follow up in 16 hours!!! The real kicker though: the email Airbnb sent me said that IF they could not receive payment from my guest for the second month, I’d be on my own!!! They said they’d have NO LIABILITY! I’m 4,000 miles away and I drove here. WTF??!! Fortunately, I’d vetted my guests.
The second month began on the 6th of July; Airbnb is now telling me that my second payment won’t hit my bank until the 13th. The phone agent was obstreperous, telling me that if I need payment faster I should contact my bank. Yet Airbnb still hasn’t paid out the funds to my bank. No matter how many times I explained that I’d not received the payout email from Airbnb, the agent kept repeating that I could call my bank, like a robot. How can my bank do anything if Airbnb hasn’t paid me out??
By the way, my bank manages to shift money to another bank for me in a single day. Why can’t Airbnb accomplish the same thing? Because they’re exploiting us, their business partners. It’s beyond unconscionable. Never, never, never will I ever use Airbnb for a longer rental again. Avoid this pain like the plague. Don’t think you can plan a trip and trust Airbnb to manage the financial aspects of your rental. Use a property manager and get your funds and security deposit up front.