I’m a guest that made a monthly booking but not being charged monthly

[Ryan2603]

My ticket is currently open over the weekend with the promise of being replied to in 2 days. My situation is very straight forward and easy to understand. I made a booking between February 17th and April 24th. I checked in on the 17th and everything has gone easy and peachy perfect except for what I believe to be a mistake on airbnbs billing end. I checked my upcoming payments and not only are the monthly amounts different but they are charging me on the 7th of March and not the 17th of march. This is 10 days early of a monthly payment. I believe the “1” digit between 7th and 17th was not input and a billing mistake on their end. My initial monthly payment was 585 but my next payment is 10 days early and 649. Shouldn’t my next payment be 585 on the 17th of march? Both the billing date and amount are incorrect. Then it goes on to list my last payment on April 7 th when it should be April 17th.   I was redirected from air bnb to their billing article describing how they bill and I understand it crystal clear. They charge you one month up front and release that to the host after check in, after that the next payment will be charged one month later for the remaining time of the booking so as I understand it according to airbnbs policy it should look like this…  February 17th check in 585 charged before that date released to the host that day. Next payment 585 March 17th. Final payment April 17th.  Now here’s how it’s currently looking on my end in billing. February 17th check in. 585 payment completed released to host. Next payment March 7th 649. Next payment April 7th for the remaining time until April 24th checkout. As you can see I think I have a valid point to be concerned. My guess is someone forgot to input the “1” in 17th in the billing and that’s the best I can come up with. As far as why my monthly rate is not the same 585 for both months I have no idea on that one. But I think my monthly rate shouldn’t magically increase the next month from 585 to 649. Should I just hope they get back to me on Monday? Hoping to get this sorted asap. 

[Emiel1]

@Ryan2603 

The installments should be monthly installments (although amount of each installment can be slightly different) , but total of all installments must (ofcourse) match the booking price.

Is there some variable in your booking which changes on the 7th (like a tax change) ?

Probably there is bug in your billing, Airbnb must sort it out.

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/245/pay-for-a-longterm-reservation

[Ryan2603]

Airbnb got back to me about the problem and I thought I should mention this to anyone moving to a new city or place. We know we like to plan our budget in advance and when moving to a new city it gets expensive fast or returning home from living abroad. Car, car license fee, insurance etc…. Pretty soon you spent 5-10k just to get on your feet and don’t even have an apartment or place to call your own yet. Luckily Airbnb charges monthly and you planned your budget around that, NOT! So here’s what really happens. Airbnb will keep redirecting you to their page which states you are booked one month upfront then monthly after that. This is a lie and it’s not true. What really happens is Airbnb charges you a month up front then 20 days later they charge you the next month. When you get to your third month it starts to go monthly but there is no mention at all about this during the time of booking or after. It’s only when you keep asking them why your being charged 10 days early that they give you a real answer after first claiming it was a glitch.  After July 2020 they updated their terms that they charge every 20 days for the second month but again no mention of this at time of booking. Airbnb get your stuff in order. This could put people on the street who are basing their budget around a monthly schedule which is what your advertising, monthly payments, but then charging every 20 days on the second month of booking. 

[Debra300]

@Ryan2603,

Airbnb charges payment for every 28 days, not 30 or 31, like a full month. There were problems in the past where Airbnb didn't notify hosts in a timely manner about payment issues, and sometimes guests would have been in a place for up to a couple of weeks.  To ensure that neither Airbnb nor the host are left out of pocket, payments are processed before the 28th day.

After your initial payment, Airbnb will process the next months payment three weeks later.  The reason for this is to allow a guest time to fix any payment issues before their paid period ends.  A host may cancel a reservation on the 28th day if the guest doesn't a valid form of payment by the 27th day.  If the reservation is canceled, the guest will have to submit for a new one (and have it accepted by the host) if they want to stay in the same location.

[Ryan2603]

That’s a lot different front what Airbnb told me and what has actually happened. You say three weeks for the second payment? Mine was 19 days later. You say on the 28th or I have 28 days to update a payment method if it doesn’t go through? Airbnb told me 2-3 days. You can see an attached screen shot of their reply. So what I experienced was 19 days plus 2-3 days to update payment before being kicked out. 22 days max here. That’s a big difference from 28 days. I want to live in your world of having 28 days to update make payments but unfortunately I live in airbnbs world of given just 22 days total including the updating payment time. Airbnb needs to be clear when you make initial booking that your second payment will be expected 22 days later, not monthly, not 28 days. Not 29 days. Not anything in that range.  Your just told monthly when you make the initial booking. It’s kind of borderline cheating. Just tell the people upfront it’s not monthly until your third month, is that so difficult. At least then they can clearly plan out their budget instead of this 22 day second payment surprise bs going on