Resolution centre ticket **

[David4680]

In July I was a guest of Roberto in his Airbnb Mendoza.  Unfortunately I left my treasured leather Jacket in the wardrobe when I checked out.  I contacted Roberto almost straight away regarding the jacket.  He said he had found it and after various discussions regarding how best to  get the jacket back to New Zealand we decided on using DHL.  Whilst not the cheapest option it is by by far the safest.  Argentinian post is unreliable and often parcels get stolen.   The cost to courier the jacket back was USD130.   Through the Airbnb app I tried to send the Equivalent amount in NZD205 through the resolution centre payment process.   I kept on getting a message saying that the payment had failed please  try again.   After many attempts I contacted the help centre and they said to log onto my account using the Chrome a browser and try sending the money that way.  Success NZD205 was debited from my credit card and sent through to Roberto.  NZD205 at todays exchange rate converts too approximately ARS 7500 Argentinian pesos, which is approximately USD 130.  I have a screenahot of the payment that Roberto received which was ARS 5853 Argentinian pesos which at todays exchange rate is equivalent of USD100.  Understandably Roberto won't send the Jacket as he will he out if pocket, I have tried countless times through the help centre to find out why There is this $30 discrepancy.  Sometimes  the enquiry just gets closed without a response however I have, at least on one occasion, been assured that the issue will be rectified but it still has not.   Has anyone else experienced this problem how to resolution payments ever get settled  if something gets mucked up in the conversion.   Finally how can I resolve this and get my Jacket back!

**[Private conversation removed in line with Community Center Guidelines]

Debit from. My cc

Roberto receiot

[Cormac0]

@David4680 

Airbnb may have taken a fee on the transaction ?

[David4680]

I thought if that but there is no mention of fees anywhere associated with payments made through the resolution centre.  Also too if that is the case how does anyone ever manage to transfer the correct amount from host to guest or vice versa through the resolution centre.  

[Sarah977]

@David4680  Airbnb would have applied a currency conversion charge- that is likely the discrepancy. I guess you should contact Airbnb to determine exactly how much more $ you'd have to transfer to the host, including the conversion charge, in order for him to have enough to pay the courier charge. 

I believe that on booking reservations which have a conversion charge, that is listed separately, but perhaps on "Send Money" option it's not mentioned. Lousy situation, to be sure.

[David4680]

Thank you for taking the time to respond. Really wow.  I have been in contact with Airbnb more than a dozen times and not once have they mentioned a currency conversion charge.  And the conversion charge is huge 30%.  Which is outrageous.  How the heck does anyone ever manage to receive the correct money through the resolution centre.  No wonder they say do not transfer money outside of the Airbnb website if they are clipping the ticket by that much.  There inability to respond has been incredibly frustrating.  

[Sarah977]

@David4680  The currency conversion charge is usually more like 3%, not 30%. Sounds like something's wrong here and all I can suggest is that you be persistent with Airbnb in getting to the bottom of it.

Also, and you may already be totally aware of this, when you look at currency conversions for the day online, what you see is the mid-market rate, which is not the rate your currency would be converted at, as the entity that converts the funds, whether it is a bank, Airbnb, or whatever, will always add their cut- what you have to look at are the buy/sell rates for that day. This is just the rate at which the funds will be converted, and is separate from a fee for converting. If one of my work clients wires funds to my Mexican bank account in US dollars, that money is converted at the buy/sell rate for US dollars that the bank is using that day, and additionally they charge a $20US "conversion fee". If the client first converts the money online through a currency conversion site (with the client subject to the buy/sell rates, not me) and sends it through them, the money arrives in Mexican pesos and I avoid that $20 charge.

It probably would have been better financially to use one of those sites to wire or EFT $ directly to the host's bank account using one of those online services ( Transferwise and XE Trade are two examples) but also risky if the host wasn't honest and just kept the money without sending the jacket. Doing it through Airbnb means they have a record of the exchange.

[David4680]

Thank you once again for your time Sarah.  The actual amount I sent was more than requested to cover for the conversion discrepancies.  Perhaps there has been a service charge somewhere however it is not at My hosts end and it is not at my end of the transaction so if so then it must be linked to Airbnb system.  I would persist with messaging Airbnb help centre however they just close the call on me everytime so it seems pointless.  Do you have any other suggestions as to how I Might communicate with a senior manager directly? 

[Sarah977]

@David4680  You can't connect with a senior manager or supervisor directly, but you could try contacting Airbnb through Twitter or Facebook, as that is said to garner better responses. And ask that your issue be escalated to a supervisor.

 It's often just a matter of luck as to whether you get an informed, helpful CS rep or not. Frustrating for sure to have to keep contacting, but as they say, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Persistance, firmness, politeness (even if you're incredibly frustrated with them) and explaining the issue in the simplest terms possible seem to be key in getting them to respond appropriately. Still it can be difficult.

Best of luck.

[David4680]

Thank you I did lose my rag with them yesterday.   I'll try the polite approach appreciate Yr advice x 

[David4680]

Hi Sarah thanks so much for your advice re posting on AirBnb  Facebook page at least I got a response from someone senior. THey have asked me to submit another message which they assure me they wil look INTO. Of course they asked me to take down the post but I said I would consider their request once the matter was resolved.   I so appreciate your help. Thank you. 

[Sarah977]

@David4680  Glad to hear you may be getting somewhere. That's rich, they asked you to take down the post. Like, we'll just ignore your ongoing calls, but when you finally get so frustrated that you post on social media, no one is supposed to know about that. Your response was perfect, that you'll take it down when it gets resolved.