My payment has been "frozen"

My payment has been "frozen"

My first experience as an Airbnb host, and the payment has been "frozen."  A guest booked my home and contacted me to find out when his 2nd payment was due.  I reached out to Airbnb and they explained they have a "new" way that people can opt to pay, in 2 payments.  They explained that my guest had already received several notifications that the 2nd payment attempts had failed and if he didn't resolve within 24 hours the reservation would be cancelled; I was told to tell the guest to contact Airbnb, which I immediately did.  Subsequently I received a cancellation notice for this guest's reservation.  I then made other plans for the home, and a day or two later the harrassment from Airbnb began.  I received multiple emails asking me to let the guest reserve again, or refund the payment (which I of course had not yet received).  I declined to do either as in speaking to 2 different Airbnb support people and emailing with at least 2 others plus emails from the guest, I got a number of different reasons why the cancellation occurred and it became evident that I some of these people were lying to me.  That just didn't sit right when I have entrusted my home to these folks.  I was told the guest didn't pay despite FOUR attempts over the course of several days to retrieve the final payment AND multiple emails and phone calls with the guest, and I was also told that Airbnb "made a mistake and cancelled the reservation in error" and I was also told that there was NO mistake by the Airbnb system...so I explained that if the guest didn't have the $ to stay at my home, he shouldn't have made a reservation and therefore I was not going to refund his money.  If it was truly an Airbnb system error, Airbnb can manage at his end howevery they feel is appropriate, however I still expect the money that is owed to me for the cancelled reservation.  I continued to be harrassed with email after email in the middle of the night trying to convince me otherwise.  I never changed my position and finally asked to not be contacted anymore about this.  Come payment day, no money deposited to my account.  None the next day either, so I called and was told the Airbnb support person had "frozen" my payment, but they would put in a ticket and I could be reached in 1-2 days.  Four days later nothing, so I called and was told "I'm going to put in another ticket for you" - I told them I don't want another ticket, and another 1-2 days, i want action on the OTHER ticket which was now 2 days overdue.  I get this long song and dance about how "I want to take care of you, I want to do things right," so 30 minutes later I apparently have a new ticket and I should hear from someone in a day or two.  Seriously?  Who can I call to report this?  Has anyone else had the same issue?  What in the world is going on?

 

5 Replies 5

On your next convo with Air, tell the rep that this violates your host right per the clause on payment in Air’s Terms & Conditions. Air CANNOT withhold payment, or freeze.... if they believe they can - ask to speak to their legal. tell them that you will sue them!!! Don’t fear. Fear is never a good advisor. In general, Air will always side with guests as they tend to go to social media and tell about their horrible experience, and the damage to Air is paramount. Air will placate guests at any cost. BTW, hosts can go on social media as much as they care to... but it will never go viral. Not much sympathy for businesses there. Just the reality.

Ro29
Level 2
San Diego, CA

I have something similar going on.  The guest paid, which at first they told me the guest did not pay, and I proved to them with pictures of my guests account that she did.  Still they admitted that theyre having a problem because they show as receiving the payment but its not posting to my account.  They instructed my guest to continue paying them.  Finally last night they informed me that the problem is that my payout method is frozen.....they cant tell me why.  I have been promised for the last almost week every day 3 times a day that someone will contact me within 24 hours because they escalated the issue as urgent.  nobody has contacted me thus far (6 days) and I am still waiting for my money and I am still paying for someone to live in my premises for free.  

How long did it take Airbnb to finally make this right with you? We are dealing with the same thing. 

Hi, could you please tell me how long it took for Airbnb to unfroze your account? I am facing the same problem for over a month now, and the Airbnb support is not helpful at all. Thanks in advance.

Elaine701
Level 10
Balearic Islands, Spain

Payment problems aren't unusual, and are often simply that the guest made a mistake. 

 

But multiple payment problems are a red flag to me. Even if they manage to sort it eventually, it suggests there's something amiss, and there's likely to be other things not entirely right with that guest. 

 

And yes, Airbnb will almost always side with the guest even if the guest is totally at fault, so both comments above are very good examples and advice. 

 

So, it's always better to find a benign way to decline the booking when the flags go up.

 

When a guest doesn't qualify for IB, I tend to ask a lot of questions before allowing them to book. It's not a guarantee, it's tedious, I don't like doing it, and it often scares them away. But just one bad guest can cost more than the next 10 good ones. Watch your back!