Guest stayed and didn't complete payment- No payout for hosts

[Laura2592]

I had a guest stay for three nights. They called me prior saying there was trouble with a credit card. I directed them to Airbnb. I thought it was unusual and posted here. Everyone reassured me that the guest could not stay without completed payment.

They came and went. No payout. Now on my 4th call to Airbnb requesting the payout a very nice customer service rep said they did not complete their payment. She is looking into "options." HOW on Earth could this happen??  I am still waiting for a "resolution."

This is the holiday season and we are booked solid. We had several inquiries for the guests' dates. Be careful my fellow hosts!

Also a note for Airbnb CR-- I was called by three different names in the course of a 45 min conversation with two reps- Lorna, Lauren and Laura. My name is Laura 🙂 It is a little frustrating to not be called by the correct name when trying to resolve a problem. Doesn't make you feel as though you are heard or matter much.

[Emilia42]

@Laura2592 

Oh my goodness, this is 100% an Airbnb problem. How is a host to know that there are issues with the payment?! You wouldn't know until the following day after the guest checks in. How can you prevent something like this?! I put all my trust into Airbnb, trusting that they will pay me. Now, I cannot even trust that they will follow through with that anymore 😞 

[Laura2592]

@Emilia42  its incredibly frustrating. I've spent several hours on the phone and am no further ahead. Every time I call I just get punted to someone else who says "we are working on a resolution" and then...nothing.  I was told today it's a probably just delayed because if holidays but I got a payout ON Christmas from another guest.  No one seems to be very sure of how to fix this issue.  Its scary to think that as a host we have very little recourse if our guests have a payment issue. 

[Colleen253]

@Laura2592  This has got to be the nadir of host suffering at the hands of Airbnb. All other host complaints begin to pale in comparison to this. There is a lot of this happening recently, judging by the number of postings about it. Airbnb CS reps famously never know what's going on or what to do about anything, so this doesn't bode well. Were the guests a good stay or were they problematic in other ways?  Did they say what the problem was with the card? Can you call them back about it, and ask them to contact Airbnb?

[Laura2592]

@Colleen253  no comment on the guest stay. I have a thread in host circle with details but am careful about sharing publicly here. I did contact the guest. They said they talked to Airbnb and "everything looks good on my end" and 5that I should contact Airbnb.  If that is true  its absurd because I have called them four times.  Still no payment.  I am calling back again today. Last reo said to give them a few hours to resolve and I have. I will be calling again after my errands today.

[Nikolai12]

Hi Laura, sorry about your experience, that is awful. I would insist on talking to a supervisor from here on

[John4416]

Hi Laura, 

Does everything look normal on the reservations page for the guest when there is a "problem with a credit card"? Does it show "confirmed" and a confirmation code, or does something show "pending"? A person saying "problem with a credit card" is a red flag. I had a guest tell me that once, but his reservation was pending or waiting my approval. He evidently got things fixed and was confirmed by Airbnb because I would never have approved with someone alerting me to something that could pose a really big problem. I'd like to know for future reference.

John

[Ange2]

@Laura2592    It does happen particularly on same day reservations,  Airbnb shows everything is fine but later finds out it is not, usually too late for the host because the guest has come and gone.  Other hosts have experienced this and have reported that they have been told to contact the guest directly and that  Airbnb takes no responsibility.

Can you call the guest and get them to pay you? 

Do you think it was a scam or an error?

[Laura2592]

@Ange2 the guest called me before the stay to report they had a cc problem.  So if it was a scam I was alerted and did not realize.  I told the guest to call Airbnb because as a host I don't get involved with that.

[Ange2]

@Laura2592    In that case probably not a scam unless it's a new super sophisticated variety.  I would go with  @Kelly149   route and see if the guest can contact Airbnb and sort it out, or sort it out directly with the guest if Airbnb continue to be slow to the resolve.

[Emilia42]

@Laura2592 This is all barzar to me because we have read a few posts on here about guests who have had their reservation canceled on them (by Airbnb) because the second payment did not go through. So how was your guest allow to stay if Airbnb haven't received the funds? I don't understand how they cannot see what is going on behind the scenes. Did they charge the guests credit card or not?!  What if you didn't notice this and didn't call them? Would Airbnb have just ignored it, hoping you were oblivious? 

[Lachristy0]

this happened to me, guest used a fake credit card from what a rep told me at Airbnb. Guest had already stayed, when they were cancelled at end of their reservation they realized Airbnb was on to them and they left the house and stole tvs, dvd players, and blankets. they trashed house and left burnt marks from smoking on my tables, floors and chairs. Airbnb took very little responsibility for damages, told me the 2 things they would replace was final decision and couldn't be overturned. Of course, they didn't pay me for hosting the guest either

[Kelly149]

@Laura2592 I had a problem awhile back with a guest ..... they booked for 5, wrote out their rental agreement for 8. ABB dithered on cancelling them, so I was stuck hosting and adjusted their reservation to charge for 8 - within 24hrs of their arrival! So then they arrive with 10 people (** those 2 are just kids, they don't matter, right?), stay, and leave the next morning. 4pm payout time comes and nothing, so I call ABB. As it turns out, the first payment went thru but the addition for the 3 extra guests DIDN'T so ABB held ALL the money. The payments team said 'they'd reach out to the guest and take care of it'. This guest was multiple problems so I kept my mouth shut and waited to review the guest until the 13th hour. After my review posted the guest messaged, said no one from ABB had contacted her and she had no idea her payment hadn't completed - her bank had changed her card number - so then SHE called ABB, made the payment and I got paid16 days later. ABB was absolutely no help at all.

In the end, if they don't fulfill their end of the deal to collect the money, you'll get no money and there's nothing they'll offer in the way of help. Worse than that, if they only collect part of the money, they'll keep what they did collect and not send you any of it. This is one reason why I make sure that I know how to contact guest direct and that I know who they actually are. (phone, email, DL, mailing address)

[Tracy405]

Do you actually collect that information from each guest and if so how do you do that?

[Danny400]

Hi Tracy

My place is in Spain, here there is a touristic license required to rent your property legally, part of this license is that you have to submit a copy of the ID/Passport to the guardia civil within 24hrs of their entry...similar to a hotel,I always insist on the documentation prior to their arrival to prepare the entry forms. I am aware that not everywhere has these procedures by law but you can make it part of your rules I suppose..its not an unreasonable request seeing that a potential stranger will be staying n your home/property....where else would someone expect to stay without proving ID! this of course wouldst full proof someone with bad intentions but it could certainly put them off or make them think twice.