Payout "glitch" incorrectly deducts THOUSANDS of dollars as "Adjustment" citing a 2-year-old, CANCELLED reservation which we were never paid out in the first place! Please advise!

Scott125
Level 3
Florida, United States

Payout "glitch" incorrectly deducts THOUSANDS of dollars as "Adjustment" citing a 2-year-old, CANCELLED reservation which we were never paid out in the first place! Please advise!

FACTS

  1. We hosted a non-refundable, 7-night reservation back in July 7, 2019 -July 14, 2019 (on a property we no longer manage)
  2. Guest Canceled the​ ​reservation after just 1 night in the home​,​​ and ​Support immediately refunded ​the ​guest $1,880.00​ of the $2,042.50 payout, prior to paying anything out to the host. ​(​​without legitimate reason and ​without consulting host)

  3. Host received a Payout of ONLY $218.50 for the 1 night stay. - NO other payouts were made to host on this reservation.

  4. On 6-24-2021 (2 years later):  $2,042.50 was deducted as an "Adjustment" from our payout on a completely different property, owned by a different homeowner!


 We contacted Airbnb support via phone and they said; "...there was a glitch on the system with your payout granting you those $2042.50 and the system recognized that error so it took it back.".  I ​explained to support that we never received those funds, and we then reviewed the "Transaction History" together on the phone, confirming that I was ​never paid. Support said he needed to get with his supervisor to correct the issue and promised to call me back that same afternoon with a resolution. I asked him to please document our call via support message so I could reach him again, which he did before ending our call.

A week later, still no response from support... Despite ​sending ​daily follow-up messages, including requests to speak with a supervisor, and having clear evidence, we are still out thousands of dollars with no answers.

Wh​o can we call and / or what can we do???

 
 
3 Replies 3
Lisa723
Level 10
Quilcene, WA

@Scott125 something similar happened to me a couple of years ago and I retrieved my funds, plus court costs and a judgment penalty, via small claims court. Your other option is arbitration, see section 23:

 

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2908/terms-of-service

 

 

Thanks for the info but I think going to court is not an option for the vast majority of hosts whose properties and domicile are outside the US and Canada.

 

As for arbitration that is almost certainly guaranteed to go Airbnb's way for people outside the US and Canada because they have so many requirements and 'proofs' needed that IMO are not easily accessible or not accessible at all in most countries.

 

I haven't been paid for almost six weeks for a 28 night stay that was completed successfully despite uploading four different payout methods from three different countries and in three people's names and getting all of them verified by the Airbnb system.

 

These glitches and technical issues seem to be deliberate and anyone can fall a victim to this online piracy which reduces greatly the trust (if anyone still has any) in the Airbnb brand...

 

 

Scott125
Level 3
Florida, United States

So sad that Airbnb won't invest anything in developing support. Great market name recognition has caused them to far outgrow their ability to provide a quality service @Lisa723