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.

[Laura2592]

@Sarah977  agreed.  Training helps employees feel connected to the organizational mission and increases satisfaction/decreases turnover.  It also helps managers to know who has talent and who might be a better fit in a different division or different company.  I think a lot of startups just have bootstrapped their way into existence with a good idea and a venture capitalist investment.  Doesn't mean that they understand how to run an actual business.  We are seeing a lot of these companies get a lot of attention these days. Maybe they will wise up as they mature.

[Susan17]

@Laura2592 

Lost/delayed/missing payouts - incl monies (allegedly) uncollected from guests - is one of the most common, most serious issues plaguing the Airbnb platform, and causes stress, misery and hardship for countless numbers of hosts worldwide, on a daily basis. This is not a recent issue - it's been going on for years, as evidenced by the thousands of anguished posts on the subject, not only on this forum, but across all STR-related groups and blogs. 

I'm sorry to let you know that, as per the Payments Terms - and by deeming  itself a Limited  Payment Collection Agent  - Airbnb absolves itself from the responsibility of having to make the host whole, in the event of their failure to collect payment from the guest. It's all there in black and white, unfortunately. 

7.1 Generally

Generally speaking, Airbnb Payments will collect the Total Fees from a Guest at the time the Guest’s booking request is accepted by the host, or at any other time mutually agreed between the Guest and Airbnb Payments.

(The key get-out phrase here being "generally speaking...")

9.2

Each Providing Member understands that Airbnb Payments’ obligation to pay the Providing Member (host) is subject to and conditional upon successful receipt of the associated payments from Purchasing Members (guests). Airbnb Payments guarantees payments to Providing Members only for such amounts that have been successfully received  by Airbnb Payments from Purchasing Members in accordance with these Payments Terms.

So legally, they have themselves covered, no matter what the outcome, and are under no obligation whatsoever to furnish your payment, as long as they can claim not to have received payment from the guest.

That's not to say you absolutely won't get paid out - but it will literally depend on on any number of factors (sympathetic/unsympathetic CX agents, how much noise you make, whether or not as a new-ish host, they feel its worth keeping you sweet by paying you from Airbnb coffers "as a one-time courtesy", they pay you in order to stop you from sounding off on the CC about it etc etc) 

So keep posting, keep phoning, keep escalating, and don't give up. It's your money, you earned it, and you have every right to it. Best of luck to you! 

[Laura2592]

Thanks @Susan17 -- my husband and I are talking about tweeting this next. We are seriously considering moving off the platform. Its just not stable enough. I don't want to guess about whether or not I will get paid by every guest. This is the holiday season when almost everyone needs any and all extra cash they can get. Hard to believe that this is actually happening.

[John1080]

@Laura2592, I feel most of the people I have hosted and have chatted with would willingly agree to pay if the situation was explained to them. Hopefully, this group will do the right thing and try to pay one way or another.

It would be nice if Airbnb would step up, get their **bleep**e together and contact the guest, explaining they are sorry, but they need to process the payment. It's too bad that the CS person the guest spoke to earlier was so confused, which likely will add to the frustration of the guest. 

Hopefully this guest is honest! 

[Lisa5074]

I am experiencing this SAME issue! A guest booked my place from Dec 31 - Jan 5th - and WELL in advance. (Doesn't the payment go through when they book?!?!?!) Anyhow, in looking, I have not received any payout from AirBNB yet, even though it clearly shows the reservation was taken, accepted and shows what my payout should be. I am in the process of AirBNB researching it. Needless to say, I am going to be the squeaky wheel on this because these folks stayed for 5 days and this is absolutely criminal that AirBNB might not support the payout to the hosts. Ugh....I can't even.....

[Jim472]

@Laura2592 did they actually have a confirmed reservation or was it just pending and they showed up and you let them in? I often get inquiries that I accept and then get the dreaded awaiting payment message. That said once the payment has been made you will have a record in your chat.

If that message isn't there then it's not really on airbnb. Can you provide? 

[Laura2592]

@Jim472 it was confirmed. They even modified it. It was made weeks  in advance. 

[Susan17]

@Laura2592 

Ah... there was a modification? Ok, so that opens up a couple of other possibilities here too. Firstly, there's another long-term known "glitch" in the Airbnb system that essentially freezes the payouts of an indeterminate number of hosts, once any sort of alteration or modification has been made to the booking. Sometimes - but not always - these payouts appear in the "upcoming payments" tab of hosts' Transaction History, and typically, are only ever released when the host finally notices them/stumbles across them. Presumably, all the altered payouts that go unnoticed, remain on Airbnb's balance sheet, and in Airbnb's bank account. 

Secondly, regardless of the reason for the full payment not being collected from the guest (original credit card expired, technical issues, insufficient funds in guests account to meet second payment etc, Airbnb typically will not release any part of the  payment to the host, until the full amount has been collected from the guest (if that ever happens)

[Susan17]

There were scores of responses to the post above (and many similar posts) - almost all from other unsuspecting hosts, who subsequently discovered unpaid funds in their own transaction histories. Every single payout due from Airbnb should be checked, and then double-checked - both to confirm arrival in host account, and to ascertain that the funds received, are indeed for the correct amounts. 

[Robin4]

@Laura2592 

This looks very much like you are yet another victim of the 'pay less up front scheme' where the guest makes the initial 50% payment on making the booking and the automated system attempts to claim the remaining 50% from the same credit card a few days before arrival. Did you receive a payment decline notice from Airbnb prior to the stay Laura?

Airbnb will notify the guest and tell them their payment was unsuccessful and to put another payment method in place and the guest will be given 48 hours to make the remaining payment.

As this is not a large issue Customer service staff  may not have a dedicated protocol to follow when it crops up. 

If payment is not forthcoming in the Airbnb time-frame they will cancel the reservation and refund the guests first 50% payment, but this can be up to week or more from the time that second payment claim was attempted. I can envisage that the guest , if they were travelling might not even be aware that the second payment claim was not successful!

This could be entirely wrong but, without knowing more details, it is another possibility Laura.

Cheers.......Rob

[Laura2592]

@Robin4  I didn't get anything about the payment being declined. The guest called me before the stay to say there was trouble with their credit card and I directed them to Airbnb.  I got nothing from Airbnb saying they had not paid or that there was an issue.  I posted a thread in this forum asking if anyone thought there would be a payment problem  and was reassured that the guest could not stay without paying.  Guess that's not correct 😞

[Susan17]

Sorry @Laura2592, the information you were given was very much incorrect. Due to the multitude of flaws, weaknesses and get-out clauses in the Airbnb system, guests can indeed - and all too often, do - stay without paying a single cent. 

[Robin4]

@Laura2592 

It is not unknown for a host to be stood up over a hosting Laura, I had a guest such as this one of yours early in my hosting career. Airbnb informed me once the guest had arrived that there was a problem with their payment method and the reservation was cancelled. I rung CX and told them the guest was already on my premises and they said there was nothing they could do about it.....they had not been able to secure payment from the guest and I was on my own. I was all set to speak with the guest about it the next morning and as soon as he came out of the cottage, he was totally upfront and honest and told me there had been a problem with his payment and he offered to pay me in cash for the night which I accepted. The problem disappeared but, it did highlight the vulnerability that hosts are exposed to with payment issues. 

I don't know your situation but I do know of a number of hosts who have lost out due to collection issues with the 'Pay Less Up-Front' scheme and my feeling was that you are another of those. 

Cheers........Rob

[Laura2592]

Another phone call this morning. Spoke to Angelique who seemed reasonably well informed.

Apparently there are two competing stories about what happened. One is that the guest didn't pay the full amount and Airbnb "forgot" to inform me. This means it was escalated to collections but my rep does not have any way of getting in direct contact with collections (?) and can only message, which she did. This is what has been more recently told to me.

The other story or possibility is that the guest DID pay and and there was a "bug" that delayed my payout. This was the earlier version of events and one that was told to the guests when they called. There is a bug team who is working on this (a "technical team") but the CR reps also don't have direct access to them. No one seems to know which story is the actual truth.

Its been 5 days since I have been told I would be paid out and I still have not had anything. I asked for a partial pay out or a courtesy pay out-- really anything so I can reconcile at year's end with a little something to show for this stay-- and am  now awaiting a case manager to call me back.

I will continue to call daily about this. We don't have a Twitter account but my husband is creating one to tweet this and also send to an Airbnb host group he belongs to on FB to warn folks in our area. Its crazy that you do the work, get your space all prepped and spiffy and then have to beg for your payment. Icky to have to keep contacting the guest. Please send me your good thoughts.

[Natalie198]

Wow, this is absolutely horrid. I do not know what to advise about this as we are all equally exposed to this, and I have no clue how to avoid situation like this. I can totally feel our frustration and pain.