Dates in csv transactions download

[Rob12298]

I have been on Airbnb for 9 years.

I am trying to get a sensible answer to the following problem.

topic: dates in csv transactions download

I have been arguing with Airbnb over the last week about dates in csv transactions download.

The issue is that I have just done another csv download and parsed the data and the date problem is still there.

The insert image is not allowing me to add my screenshot to illustrate the issue.
Ie if the date is on the left, it is a string (text) and incorrect,
and if the date is on the right, it is a number and is correct and the way Excel expects a date to perform.

This means I can't sort the data by date nor do date calculations because the data is not correct and not consistent.

I think this is an Australia wide and probably a world wide problem.

The lack of understanding on this by Airbnb is very disappointing.

Does anyone else have this problem?

**[Title and content updated for relevancy by Community Manager] 

[Rebecca]

Hi @Rob12298 👋

I saw your comment on the introduce yourself thread but thought it would get more attention as a stand alone thread. So I've popped it here and updated the title, I hope that's okay. Hopefully, we'll be able to get some experienced Hosts to offer some advice/support to you 😊

[Joan2709]

Hi @Rob12298 

The CSV files must be "converted" to Excel format. This requires you to manually manipulate the columns to make them wider. All the columns with dates (and some of the text columns too) have to be widened in order to viewed correctly in Excel. It's a pain. There also could be issues with the version of Excel you are using if it's an older version. 

[Rob12298 · Accepted solution]

Thanks Joan but that is not the problem.

I've been arguing with Airbnb since 18th June with about 20 messages and some phone calls but none of them understood my issue. I did not get to speak to anybody technical.

I solved it myself in the end.

The problem is the dates default to US dates which means if I need the date format to be ddmmyyyy then my dates don't download correctly and actually they are wrong so I can't use the data.

I had to change the Regional Date format to English (US), do the download then change the Regional Date format back to English (Australia)

The download process needs to offer a choice of date format so that the world including Australia who use ddmmyyyy can download dates correctly and to be useful.

This is a long standing issue (see my messages) and makes me wonder if Airbnb has a technical support division.

They promised to forward on my suggestion but I have no confidence they will do anything about it.

So tough luck for the rest of the world that does not use US date format!

[Joan2709]

@Rob12298 

Agree...there should be an option to choose the date format. Glad you were able to figure out a work around, but it's frustrating that was necessary. 

[Rob12298]

Thanks Joan. I feel sorry for the millions of users out there having this problem!

[Rob12298]

This is a continuation of threads from 2017 and 2020 which were not solved.

Thanks Joan but that is not the problem.

I've been arguing with Airbnb since 18th June with about 20 messages and some phone calls but none of them understood my issue. I did not get to speak to anybody technical.

I solved it myself in the end.

The problem is the dates default to US dates which means if I need the date format to be ddmmyyyy then my dates don't download correctly and actually they are wrong so I can't use the data.

I had to change the Regional Date format to English (US), do the download then change the Regional Date format back to English (Australia)

Doing a US format mmddyyyy download with a Regional Setting of English (Australia) ddmmyyyy thinks that any date with a month greater than 12 is text eg 06/16/2024 because it thinks 16 is a month (mm) when it is actually a day (dd) and it doesn't recognise it so it turns it into text.

The dates with US mm < 12 are wrong because it thinks they are US dates not Australian dates. I hope this makes sense!

The download process needs to offer a choice of date format so that the world including Australia who use ddmmyyyy can download dates correctly and to be useful.

This is a long standing issue (see my messages and those from CSV threads from 2017 and 2020) and makes me wonder if Airbnb has a technical support division.

They promised to forward on my suggestion but I have no confidence they will do anything about it.

So tough luck for the rest of the world that does not use US date format!

[Joan2709]

@Rob12298 

I did a bit more digging in Excel settings. Could you try the date format with the * asterik in front of it in the date options? Per the callout it says it should revert dates to the correct format automatically? Might not work depending on the csv file formats, but worth trying. Might save you from having to switch back and forth between regional date formats. Should default to what you have set in your computer operating system. This may not work if the CSV file is wrong:

[Elaine701]

@Rob12298 

I wish that were the only problem. The big problem I have is getting the CSV in the first place.

Aside from the constant changing of the user interface making it more and more difficult to find, the big problem is the PIN. Whenever I go to the earnings page, it sends a code to my mobile phone, which I have to enter into the app to get access, but then it asks for a PIN number, which I've never had, and can't find where you create one. So, I have to send a message to support, which takes some time to get a response, and eventually they'll unblock it, after about 10 or more attempts to access the earnings page on my side.

I can deal with the date issue with our own import facility- it automatically converts the date format from US to global.

I'm sure there's a better way, but I suspect it's not of great interest to them to work on it. In the mean time, just have to live with it.