Payout Delay, Missing Transaction

[Mary866]

I'm calling it a delay but it's been four days since my last guest checked in and I have received no payment from Airbnb and still no email indicating that a payout was sent.  This is very unusual because Airbnb always has notified me at the end of  Day 1 after check-in to let me know that a payment has been sent.  I checked my transactions page and the reservation was oddly missing.  It was not in the completed payments column nor in the upcoming payments column.  There is no 'pending column' where I hope my transaction is hiding. I called Airbnb customer service on Day 2 after check-in to see if there was some kind of problem or hold on the payout and the representative told me that there was no problem, that the payment was supposed to be sent but for some unexplainable reason, wasn't.  She advised me to wait a couple of days to see if anything happens.  I've been monitoring my deposit account daily to see if there has been any deposits from Airbnb - there are none. And still no email from Airbnb even after my guests have checked out.  

I'm fortunate that my bookings have picked up again after the devastating cancellations in March thru June, none of which qualified for relief funds.  Now I'm becoming concerned that Airbnb may be having financial troubles, as predicted early in the Coronavirus outbrea, and can't pay make the prompt payments that we rely on.  After absorbing nearly $10,000 in lost bookings this Spring, I really depend on those timely payments for my damage control plan.  An interesting note:  I did online searches for 'Airbnb financial trouble' and found many articles from March and April, but none, yes none, that are more recent than early June.  

Have any other hosts experienced this delay, or non-payment?  I'd appreciate your feedback.

[Sarah977]

@Stephanie365  Long before COVID, I read a host's post on another hosting forum- the host had 6 missing payouts dating back months. She had been contacting Airbnb about it, many times, they just kept saying it was some glitch and they were working on it (yeah, for like 4 months). Finally she contacted the guests for whom she had never gotten paid, 5 of them responded, and they called Airbnb to ask what had happened to the money they had paid for the stays, as the host said she had never gotten paid for their bookings.

The money all magically appeared in her account the next morning.

I am quite convinced that Airbnb is intentionally and illegally retaining funds that are rightfully the hosts'. For months on end. And only the relentlessly squeaky wheels get the grease. This needs to come to attention of the media. They need to be seriously investigated. Not paying out hosts for bookings already completed is fraud, plain and simple.

[Stephanie365]

@Sarah977  there is a technology reporter at CNBC who is doing an investigative piece on AirBNB and their magical missing payments. It's happening often enough that the mainstream media is latching onto it.

The reporter's name is Sal Rodriguez and he wants to hear from hosts who are experiencing this.  If you're on Facebook, his name is Sal Rodriguez in San Fran.  If you're on T uu i tt er, his handle is t uu i tt er (dot) com slash sal19 

And if you don't hear from me on this platform again, it's because AirBNB gave me the boot.

[Sarah977]

@Stephanie365  Yes, I was aware that there are some journalists on this. I don't have any missing payouts myself- I haven't hosted my home-share since early March because of COVID. And unless hosts start posting that they've received all the money owed them, I'm hesitant to continue renting through Airbnb, although I've always been paid- sometimes a few days late, but it all came though without having to keep contacting CS. 

What I don't quite get is when hosts say they haven't been paid for months, for lots of completed stays. If I didn't get paid for a reservation, I'd tell Airbnb to do a neutral cancellation for all upcoming bookings until they got their act together. And I'd apologize to my guests, letting them know exactly why I couldn't host them. Then they could call Airbnb and give them hell. No way I'd just keep hosting Airbnb guests if I wasn't getting paid.

I'm sure those links will be useful to the hosts who are awaiting their money. Hope you don't get the boot, but the way things have been going lately, it might be a blessing in disguise.

[Sally10]

Hello

I too have Not been paid I have been a host since 2013 ! I have communicated with airbnb and just getting run around this has never happened before. I have guests staying at my home right now the pay out should have been last week I told airbnb that if I don't hear from them perhaps I should tell my guests!

I am beginning to think that Airbnb is crashing Im very worried. I have bookings coming up and wondering if I should tell my potential guests what's going on !!!!

[Lisa2052]

My thoughts exactly! We have had two reservations in the last week that we have not been paid for. I have taken down all the names and phone numbers for upcoming gas and I am thinking about calling them individually and let you know and telling them to cancel the reservations and goes for me personally.

[Matt-And-Ashley1]

Classic...Robbing Peter to pay Paul.   AirBnMadoff

[Stephanie365]

It's called Arbitrage. 😉

[Mary866]

I just assumed that Airbnb made most of their money by holding those deposits, sometimes for months, before releasing any part of it to the host until the day after check-in.  Think of all that worldwide deposit money just sitting there (or likely not just sitting) at their disposal.  I suspect that now they have come up short after refunding all those COVID cancellations in full while hanging hosts out to dry.  Are we expected to cover their losses again?

[Debra300]

I called Airbnb CS, and the wait time to speak with someone wasn't unbearable.  While on the call, the rep said that the payout was processed on July 18.  I told her that I never received a payout notification, and she apologized for that.  I just checked my payment account, and the amount was credited today.  

I also inquired with her about an issue that I repoorted last week, the editing page for one of my listings isn't like all of the others, and was missing the Other Things to Note section.  Well, it turns out there was an issue, and they fixed it, but hadn't bothered to notify me.

So, for my two most recent issues, it appears that individuals just aren't sending out the proper updates.

[Debra300]

One more follow up.  Obviously, there is something going on with Airbnb's payout system.  About an hour ago, I received the payout email for the July 16-18 stay, but the payment was posted to my account yesterday, and it still has a "Processing" status in my transaction history.  Hopefully, the late notification is an indication that they are trying to remit the delayed payments.

[Roman149]

With over 280 reviews and Superhost status, I am having exactly same problem with AirBnb as described by several of fellows Hosts. The facts are that I got a "Confirmed reservation" for 13 nights, starting July 9th. As of now, and after several unsuccessful attempts to resolve the issue with Customer Service, I have not been paid, and this payout is not even listed on Transaction History.

The problem is huge; it involves: 1.- Monetary, and 2.- Trust erosion, issues.

The question is: should a Host affected throw good money after bad by taking new reservations?

What would be the right course of action from Host point of view?

[Anthony1148]

@Roman149  That is exactly how I feel. I fear to allow my future bookings to stay. What if I’m not payed? At what point do I cancel my future bookings?

[Sally10]

Yes 

I have lots of bookings coming up I also fear not being paid I am wondering if I should tell my guests what is happening I am so furious 

Sally Catalana

[Roman149]

It is real non-sense, from good  business practice point of view, to punish our customer base (Guests) by cancelling their reservations outright. Perhaps, a way to protect both Host and Guest would be to inform Guests of the ongoing issue and alert them that, without payment to Host before check in, reservation is not valid.   Without Trust it'd be very difficult for AirBnB to remain active in the future.

[Colleen253]

@Anthony1148 What if I’m not payed? At what point do I cancel my future bookings? 

I tell you what, the minute I'M not paid out, I'm out.

Get set up on other platforms, if you're not already. Then the first time you're not paid, get AIRBNB to cancel your upcoming bookings, citing the fact they aren't paying you.