@Helen3 @Rebecca872 @Linda108 @Emiel1
Thank you Helen for taking the time to respond.
By reaching out to me you show there is a community spirit alive and well in some individuals on the Airbnb platform despite the Airbnb project itself is failing and imploding (my humble opinion).
There are plenty of banks in Armenia and in fact my bank that is partially owned by VTB bank of Russia is already in the process of merging with one of the local banks.
I have team members from India and I also travel extensively and successfully opened a bank account in the Republic of Georgia in a bank that is not under any sanctions so the problem was not and continues not to be my initial payment method which in any case was deleted from my payment methods already in mid March.
Perhaps Airbnb transforming into an unworkable and highly risky (especially for hosts) affair is symbolic and serves as a microcosm that sheds light on a far larger and titanic shift we are witnessing on the global stage.
The economies of ever increasing debt and deception where a tiny Western corporate elite gets an ever increasing share of a shrinking pie are unsustainable but they still limp on with empty promises and rosy predictions of future prosperity (at the same time distributing crumbs to their people).
I just learned my listing is suspended by Airbnb and it is almost 7 weeks since my guests checked in and I am still not paid a cent.
I was promised 100 USD by Western Union as emergency funds by Airbnb support already on Friday so let's see if that materialises tomorrow (Monday).
It is entirely Airbnb's fault I am not paid for almost 7 weeks (they claim a 'glitch'on their system which is a lame excuse).
They know I can't use funds in my bank account untill I physically return to Armenia and pay a visit the bank branch due to online banking getting blocked (a very Orwellian action imposed by governments reminiscent of censorship habits of Stalinist USSR but not a surprising one seeing they also confiscated the assets of people who have nothing to do with the conflict in Ukraine and ban tennis players unless they disown their country if they happen to be Russian (!)
The least I would expect is the 100 USD but at this stage I doubt even that will be sent to me because CS always reminds me the 'team' needs more time to 'look into it' (very cynical isn't it. They probably never read what the word 'emergency' means in the dictionary)...
I think Airbnb will continue for weeks, maybe months with the same lame excuse because what I express is not to their liking and because I threaten them with bad publicity on social media (specifically a YouTube video in which I will describe my ordeal and why I think Airbnb is failing hosts and is a politicised platform that veered away from its original stated goals.
I realise in the short term I will suffer a certain loss of revenue but the next 5 months are the high season in Armenia and villas with swimming pools are in high demand so by the end of the year I should have enough contacts and publicity to be even more profitable than had I stuck with Airbnb (their fees are not getting smaller as most of you noticed already...)
I will continue to keep you posted
