Payout issues in South Africa

[Magdel13]

We have been struggling for months to receive Airbnb payouts despite numerous calls with 'Airbnb support Ambassadors'

The payout info (bank details) is added (correctly) on the Airbnb platform, (for background, we run a business so we specify the business info), Airbnb verifies it a few days later. Airbnb tries sending funds. We receive an email from Bidvest Mandates and need to verify information. We input the info. But (every time) the information Bidvest/SARB receives from Airbnb, it specifies the 'recipient type' as a person instead of a business. This is despite us inputting all the business information and specifying that we run a business. The mandate gets rejected by Bidvest, and returns the payout to Airbnb. Then we get the same error, can't process payout and need to load the bank details again. We've done this more than 10 times and have also spoken to soooo many Airbnb support consultants. We are extremely frustrated. It's been months that we have been stuck in this loop. I've got all the emails and screenshots as proof. 

We are superhosts with 3 listings and have been hosting on Airbnb for over 3 years.

Airbnb have now said they will escalate my case to a supervisor. I threatened to contact the CEO because I don't know what other options there are. We are very frustrated with this situation. 

[Mike--Leonora-and-Samant0]

We have had the same issue, also in South Africa. Our payouts were frozen last year and after 3 months of too and fro were eventually released;  now they have done the same again this year.

We are a Trust but they are asking us to change the structure of the Trust to something which is illegal in SA. We have been escalated to the 'relevant team' but no one will contact us they just keep sending the same link over and over again. We are Superhosts and have been hosting with AirBnB for 10 years, nothing with regard to the business has changed, but we are now being asked to jump through hoops that we legally can't do.

This is peak season and we have a lot of upcoming bookings, what happens to our money if this cannot be resolved?

[Joan2709]

@Mike--Leonora-and-Samant0 

Yes...it appears there are 2 major issues with South Africa Hosts:

1. KYC issues with the normal (and legal) SA Trusts business structure
2. Payouts suspended for months due to problems with Bidvest/AZA Finance and Airbnb

@Magdel13 and other Hosts have done alot of work, but this issues remains.

Since this affects so many Hosts, perhaps one of the moderators can forward this to the appropriate Team at Airbnb?

@Rebecca , @Bhumika 

[Mike--Leonora-and-Samant0]

Thanks Joan, it is surprising that somebody in AirBnB is not onto this, seeing as it affects so many. I must say that I am pleased to know that we, as hosts, are not alone.

I am interested to know if this issue is not resolved what happens to all the money that we are owed? Do AirBnB just get to keep it, if that is the case, cynically, I would say they have very little interest to get this resolved.

[Magdel13]

I agree with you, I don't know why Airbnb isn't taking this more seriously as it affects so many. Eg sending out communication to SA hosts to acknowledge that there is an issue currently. 

It's in Airbnb's interest to have hosts continue to generate income /fees for them longer term.

Over the past few weeks I have figured out that the problem is like 20% on Airbnb's side (input data) and about 80% at Bidvest Bank/AZA Finance. It seems that all mandates need to be reviewed at the beginning of each year. I think they are overwhelmed by the volumes. One needs to email AZA Finance (they are not answering phones) and keep emailing until you get a response. 

[Joan2709]

@Magdel13 

Thanks for updating....

Yes...all these issues could have been prevented and/or mitigated and hence the understable frustration for many.

Bidvest/AZA Finance

Is Bidvest/AZA Finance the only organization that handles this for banks in SA? If not, are other similar organizations in SA having the same issue as Bidvest/AZA Finance?

If so, then this issue with the mandates and subsequent fallout should have been anticipated and planned for. The fact that they aren't answering phones tells me you are correct they didn't plan for this and are scrambling now.

Airbnb

As you say, Airbnb may actually be less at fault here, as they simply transmit the data. I agree it would be helpful (and reduced numerous CS calls) if they sent a notice to SA Host about the issue and what is being done to resolve it. Airbnb is still getting paid on every reservation, but the Hosts aren't...and that is bad for Hosts.

Since Airbnb does have a vested interest in promoting expansion in SA, I hope they work with Bidvest/AZA and make this a priority (especially if they are the major player in SA banking). They certainly want to remove barriers for new Hosts to join Airbnb. Right now, if you don't get paid as a Host, not much reason to do that?

Let us know how it goes and hang in there!

[Emilie]

Hi @Mike--Leonora-and-Samant0, 

I'm really sorry to hear you were having some issues with your payouts again this year; I can understand it's been a frustrating process. I wanted to check-in, has there been any progress on it since the beginning of this month?

Thank you for keeping us updated 🙂

Emilie

[Mike--Leonora-and-Samant0]

Hi Emile, we are sorted (fingers crossed, haven't seen the money yet!), as of today.  

AirBnB wanted more detailed information as to the set up of our trust, however the way the questions were asked was very poor and certainly not clear to me as a native English speaker.

What wasn't clear was that they wanted to know who is involved in the trust and allocate (hypothetically ... which is the bizarre thing), a percentage of the business to each stakeholder. Then confirm our banking details and again confirm the allocation of shareholders within our banking profile. Then upload identification details of everyone included in the trust. Then all documentation relating to the trust, ie. the deed, letter of authorisation.

Once that was all done then we start with the Bidvest Mandate (which we have submitted every year), what they wanted was a bank letter confirming the account number and the letter of authority confirming the trust number.

The thing that made this all soooooooo difficult is that initially nobody from the specialist team got in touch with us to clarify what they actually wanted and all we ever received was poorly written (and explained) cut and paste requests. At no stage did they read what we asked them in our replies.

It was only once we got in touch with the call centre, explained out frustrations, and their involvement, that we actually started to received request from the specialist team to provide information pertaining to our trust set up.

In hindsight 2 months later what they want is quite straight forward, but the way they go about it is so poorly done and only goes to exasperate the recipient / victim which is massively counterproductive. If someone took the time to think this through it would be quite easy.

If I can also say, the continual platitudes about how wonderful we are as superhosts and how important we are, over this whole protracted exercise really gets up my nose! Fix my issue is what I need done ... I know I'm wonderful already!

I hope that helps somebody through the needless pain of this whole exercise.

Cheers Mike

[Mike--Leonora-and-Samant0]

Sorry that should read Emilie, my apologies.

[Emilie]

Thanks so much for the breakdown of how things progressed, the feedback on the process, as well as the tips for future hosts who might be facing a similar problem in the future @Mike--Leonora-and-Samant0!

I'm really happy to read it's all resolved for you now. 🙂