Last night, due to extenuating circumstances, my home became inhabitable and I needed to relocate my two guests ASAP.
When I got on the line with Airbnb, I was asked to verify my name, phone number, and email address. No problem.
Then, I was asked for digits of my bank account.
I refused to provide that, and the agent and I went back and forth for probably 30 minutes; the agent assuring me that she was indeed Airbnb, and that she could not provide any support without those numbers; I kept telling her that she didn't need my bank account information, and that's a gross breach in security - asking users for that information.
I tried as hard as I could to find some way for her to prove to me that she was in fact Airbnb. To elevate me to another support rep. To transfer me to someone else. Nothing worked. I threatened to leave Airbnb altogether, and she was ready to assist.
I said -- "I'll give you the last 4 digits of my bank account if you'll give me the first four digits", hoping to verify that she had my acount information pulled up and clarify which bank account she was referring to. She said she couldn't do that.
Eventually, I gave up. Gave her the numbers of all my bank accounts until we got to the one she needed. Why? Because I had been in the same room as my guest the entire call, on speakerphone. (He didn't blame me at all - he thought that it was a poor practice as well.) But I needed to get him somewhere else to stay, and the ONLY way to do that was to cancel the booking. And the only way to cancel was to call support and give my bank digits over the phone to a complete stranger.
I would like to FORMALLY request and IMPLORE Airbnb to find another way to verify user's identity. Set up security questions or get background-check type questions. Something other than asking for financially vulnerable information over an insecure 800 number.
I'll have another post regarding the poor experience with the cancellation process.