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.

[Lachristy0]

you will not get paid, hate to be bearer of ad news but you wont. I experienced same thing, you will keep getting run around and no one will pay you.  

[Colleen253]

@Lachristy0  What happened in your case? I mean, where did the problem originate, guest, Airbnb?

[Natalie198]

I personally never accept reservations without a payment in full. If I accept request, and after acceptance it shows as "awaiting payment", I call Airbnb right away and cancel reservation. When they try to coerce me into waiting, I tell them to cancel for now, and guest can IB with me after getting the payment together. Always works.

[Laura2592]

@Natalie198where do you see that info? I am looking at my Earnings tab as well as my Upcoming Reservations and can't tell. I would love to monitor this in the future.

[Emilia42]

@Natalie198 All payments go through Airbnb. How can you tell how much as guest has or hasn't paid?

[Susan17]

@Emilia42 

Shortly after split payments were first introduced, I called Airbnb several times to try and get a straight answer as to where hosts might find the notification on their listings, informing them that their guests have only partially paid for their reservations. (I also asked why Airbnb were giving hosts the misleading impression that they had a confirmed, fully paid booking, when in reality, the guest had only paid a 50% deposit)

I was told by one agent (and I quote), "The guests' financial concerns are none of hosts' business", and by another, "It's your responsibility as an Airbnb host, to respect guests' privacy". 

[Emilia42]

HA! I'm pretty sure receiving the funds for the services I provide is 100% my business.

[Laura2592]

Contacted support yet again. No case manager has EVER called me despite repeated requests. This is really terrible.  Payout is still showing as pending for this year.

[Sarah977]

@Emilia42 @Susan17  Whether the guest pays in a split payment or not wouldn't be, and shouldn't be something we need to know if Airbnb guaranteed we'd be paid anyway (which is their responsibility since they insist on handling all the $), even if they weren't able to collect on the second payment, instead of going "Oh, sorry, the guest didn't pay, what a shame, but we're opening up your calendar that's been blocked for 2 months, so it's all good."

[Susan17]

@Sarah977 

Absolutely, as self-appointed Payment Collection Agent, it should  be Airbnb's responsibility to ensure we're paid in full, when they fail to do their one job of collecting our payments, @Sarah977 . Except it's not, because they absolve themselves of that responsibility, by way of their farcical (and unlawful, in many jurusdictions) T&Cs. 

The reason I asked those questions of CX in the first place, was because I had a situation with a big group of guests, 4 day booking, substantial amount. About a week before arrival date, I got an email saying the booking had been cancelled, and the guest refunded the amount they had already paid (strict cancellation policy!). No further explanation. So I called CX for clarification, and they told me that it was because there was a problem with the guests' card, and they hadn't been able to collect the second payment. They couldn't (or wouldn't) explain to me why the first payment had been returned to the guests either.

As I was on the phone, I started to get frantic messages from the guests, who had obviously just learned of the booking being cancelled themselves. They insisted there was nothing wrong with their card, and they wanted to re-book immediately. There followed two days of endless to-ing and fro-ing and faffing around with CX, as their payment was rejected by Airbnb, again and again. In the end, they were so pissed off with Airbnb that they said they didn't trust their payment or security processes one bit, and didn't want to proceed with booking (or attempting to book) through the platform. Took 5 minutes for them to Paypal me the money instead, and they insisted on paying me the amount of the Airbnb service fees too (which I wouldn't have charged them, of course), as so much of my time had been taken up with trying to get them sorted. They were fab guests.

[Patrick568]

This is one of the oddest issues I've heard from AirBnB. Has anyone else had this happen?

[Susan17]

Happens all the time, @Patrick568. Standard practice for this company. Below are just a couple of other cases I saw in the past few hours (in one, the host had already been paid - 2 months ago - and Airbnb jhave just come back to inform her that the hadn't been able to collect the payment from the guest at the time, and that they'd be deducting the amount from her future payments (which they've now already done. Charming. 

[Susan17]

[Susan17]

[Nicholas231]

check his 

reservatoin sept 30 -60 day recurring payment sept 30 to oct 30 

payment was split to 1900 and 5500 makes no sense with payouts the 2nd and 2nd. they only paid base ratye by checkin to oct 5. they notified me the day of a 5500 payouyt, and there are damages ,and major issues of a total un payment equal to 4000 dollars. i said ok after weeks of non stop bull**bleep**. and eventually this will be a major class action suit who i will join or start if they do not pay hosts and familys hard earned investmebnts and homes to be treated lilke a flousy hotel. i said shut my accou=nt done. and every listing. i dont care about 7-10k in income but we will  never list with them again. which is 10 percent of our property dispersa. so i feel all your pain and dont give up. its bs and by policy, and by your policy and 10.2 10.3 10.4 1.5 10.6