Payout issue + very poor Airbnb customer support

[Natalie1499]

Hi everyone,

I’m hoping someone can help or at least share if they’ve had a similar experience.

I recently set up my hosting profile and had my first guests stay last weekend. When I set up my account, I added my current bank details correctly as the payout method as I was asked to as part of the registration. But when I went to check the payout status, I discovered Airbnb had sent the funds to a closed bank account – one they had on file from years ago when I was a guest receiving refunds.

That account is long closed. ING (my old bank) has confirmed they cannot accept funds and that any transfer would be automatically rejected. I've spoken to them twice. 

I’ve since updated my payment method and removed the closed account. My current bank account is now the only one listed and is set as the default. But Airbnb still sent my first payout to the wrong account, and support has been absolutely appalling.

After several rounds of explaining this very clearly to two support agents, I received the following message from “Senior Case Manager” Sunny, which I’m posting here in full - and which I've received in various iterations over and over again. 

"Thank you for reaching out to us. This is sunny, Your senior case manager and I hope that this message finds you well.

I tried calling you however I was unable to connect with you, I wanted to inform you that the bank will give you a form to transfer your money from the closed to the active account, this process can only be done by your bank we cannot help you with that, I request you to get in touch with your bank, and they will get this resolved for you, we have done all that we could from our end.

I am saying this because I know your time be valuable you will get the same answer from us.

Thank you for understanding, That said I will be closing this case for the time being now."

I cannot describe how infuriating it is to receive this kind of message. It is condescending, incorrect, and dismissive. ING cannot provide any such form, because the account is closed and cannot receive money. There is no manual recovery process because there is no account to recover it from. ING laughed at me when I read them this message and said this process does not exist. 

This is a simple situation: the bank rejected the payment. Airbnb should be able to receive the bounced payment and resend it to the correct account on file. Instead, they are shutting the case and refusing to help.

Another support agent told me that maybe if I wait, it will just get resent to the right account automatically. So helpful.

I’m based in Australia and I’m preparing to lodge a formal complaint with Fair Trading and then take the matter to small claims if it’s not resolved in the next week. I also have two more bookings lined up but am genuinely considering cancelling and walking away from Airbnb altogether. This has left a really bad taste.

Has anyone else had a payout sent to the wrong (closed) account? Did it eventually get fixed? Would love to hear how it was resolved, if at all.

Thanks in advance.

[Chippy3]

@Natalie1499 I’m really sorry you’re having to deal with this,  it sounds incredibly frustrating situation, especially when you’ve done everything right on your end. I’ve seen similar cases before where payouts were mistakenly routed to a closed account, and in many cases, it is possible to get it resolved. though it can take some persistence and the right approach with support.

If it helps, I’ve navigated similar issues before and might be able to point you in the right direction based on what’s worked in other situations. Feel free to DM me if you’d like to chat through a couple of options happy to help however I can.

[Natalie1499]

Hey @Chippy3 thanks for taking the time to respond! I've had a bizarre update from 'ol Sunny the Senior Case Manager - it's a rollercoaster so buckle up! 

I'd love to get your thoughts on what this means? My thoughts are in the [] with italics and the bolding is my doing. 

The message: 

"Hello Natalie,

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us. [My thoughts were not happy ones and I shared them liberally!]

Upholding the policies and standards that protect our community is very important to us. [Such sincere and believable sentiments!].  

We’ve given your case and its details careful consideration, and we determined that you will get the payout today, and you will get it in your new payout method. [Oh awesome! I stand corrected - this is the outcome that I should have had 24 hours ago! I'm so sorry I ever doubted you Airbnb] 

We understand that this might not be what you’d hoped for [What?! Incorrect! This is exactly what I hoped for. I'm confused], but we came to this outcome because once the payout is released we do not get it back [literally not possible], please contact you bank for any further queries. [All doubts have now returned. What a ride!] 

[I have contacted the bank 3 times at this point - they have now confirmed 3 times that it is impossible for them to accept money to an account that does not exist, that it MUST be returned to the sender when this happens so I don't know why Sunny the Senior Case Manager seems to think there's some magic bank trick where they just collect random transactions and I can just fill out a form to apply?! This doesn't exist! And believe me, I asked! The bank thinks I'm nuts and I'm pretty sure they are glad I closed my account.]

Our review is complete now, and we won’t be able to offer additional support on this case at this time. [You've literally offered no support at any time so why change now!] 

If you’d like to provide feedback on Airbnb’s policies or your experience, you can do so any time at:
airbnb.com/feedback [Oh, I will! Don't worry!] 

Best regards. [I think you know what you can with your regards. Have a lovely day!] "

So, I'm very confused. I DO want the payment sent to my new payment method - but this message makes zero sense. Are they paying out to the new payment method?! Or are they doing nothing? Who knows! 

At this point, I'm just fed up with them so if the payment doesn't arrive by the end of next week along with the other one (which is being sent to the right account) I'm just going to file a small claim against them. Make them run around in circles instead of me. It's the principle of the thing at this point. I don't even care about the money - I just want nothing to do with them anymore. This is the worst customer support experience I've had for years. 

I wouldn't mind so much if the original mistake was mine - but it wasn't! It was theirs! 

[Chippy3]

A classic case of copy and paste gone wrong.  I'd suggest following up again, keep it short, sweet and concise with the following:

Hi Airbnb Support,

Thanks for your message, but it appears to contain conflicting information and may include a clerical error. On one hand, it says the payout will be sent to my new payout method today, and on the other, it implies that the payout was already sent and cannot be recovered.

To clarify, can you please confirm that the payment will be sent today to the new bank account currently on file?

Appreciate your help in clearing this up.

[Natalie1499]

They've closed the message chain - so I have to start the whole interaction again I presume. It won't let me respond to that message!