I am owed several thousand pounds by airbnb. Can I sue them in a local UK Court?

[James535]

I have several properties listed on Airbnb. I have not received payments for recent bookings. I am owed over £7,000 Gbp.

Can I sue Airbnb in a UK Court?

[Helen3]

What reason are they giving you for the money not being paid into your account @James535 ?

[James535]

Hi Helen

Initially they told me that there was no problem at their end and that it must be a problem with my bank. 

I contacted my bank and they assured me that there is no problem at their end. 

I then called Airbnb customer service and the representative hung up on me after 2 minutes. 

I called again .... only after several calls and emails did they confirm that there is a problem at their end. 

They have been very evasive and reluctant to give me any assurance that I will be paid for previous, current or future bookings. 

[Helen3]

How frustrating @James0

If they have already being paying into that account then it sounds like the problem is at their end.

Have you tried seeing if they can pay into a different account or use Paypal ?

I would say there is little point taking them to the Small Claims Court it will take too long.

Try them on social media (FB and Twitter)  including to the accounts of their CEO's  and keep posting publicly several times a day until you get a result.

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

@James535

Really hard to know as you give so little detail. You can use the Small Claims Court in the UK to settle an account like this. Once they receive the order to attend court, I am sure they will repay you.

However this has to be balanced against what the guest expected and what they received. Were any of these disputed transations?

[James535]

Hi Gerry and Rashid

Thank you!

There were no disputes at all.

The only explanation that I have  managed to get from Airbnb  is that there is a technical problem with the communication between Airbnb and my bank.

i have confirmation that there is no difficulty whatsoever with my bank.

I am very concerned, because I have several direct debits to pay and because of my loyalty to Airbnb, I have left myself in an unfortunate situation that I am reliant upon them. 

It seems that loyalty to Airbnb doesn’t pay. 

I am concerned that they may have an arbitration clause which could protect them from Civil Action. 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@James535

it seems that during last two weeks Airbnb has a glitch with cohosts. So if you have a cohost then contact him and check if the payment went on his account. Browse through the forum for new posts about it

[Cormac0]

@James535

Have you ever received a payment from Airbnb?

Has this only started to happen recently, have you changed anything in your bank that may have  created a problem, switch accounts, closed an account...