We've been hosting with Airbnb since 2011, and mostly have had only small issues that were remedied quickly and efficicently by Airbnb. This year, it's been maddening. I had a guest stay with us for a week in mid-January, and Airbnb withheld the payout without any warning or communication. One week's worth of payout is significant to me when I expect to receive it and budget accordingly (especially in the Winter, when frequent road plowing, increased caretaker support and high fuel and electricity costs cut pretty significantly into any money we may make on the rental).
I started writing to customer support two days after check-in to find out what was going on; but all I received was a bunch of form messages (along the lines of 'we appreciate the contribution you make as a superhost' blah blah blah). No actual comment on my queries. I then started calling them regularly - twice a day since last week (by now I have spent way more then 5 hours on the phone to them), only to be told every time that I had a specialist case manager who was supposed to contact me (no contact since I first raised the issue from the specialist, though some of the 'basic' team members, to their credit, have tried to follow up but there is little they can do since they are not, alas, 'specialists'). A second guest payout, for a weekend booking, has since also been withheld, though a third has been issued but only a partial amount has been paid.
No one seems to know what the issue is. When I call, people seem to attribute the problem to
1) supposedly outstanding resolution adjustments (two from another property we have in the UK; all of the three in total were adjustments I agreed to because guests had to cancel or leave prematurely, so no fault of ours). But I can show that a) these adjustments reach back to December 2016 (we've had around 40 bookings since then, so any outstanding adjustments should have been deducted from those), b) I have evidence that we paid for them (screenshots from the resolution center and bank data). So it makes NO sense that they would be called in now (especially since I have also had two succesful payouts this year already).
2) issues with the tax being withheld (they seem to suggest that we need to pay more). Given the fact that they have been withholding 30% automatically from every single booking made at our house in the US (well documented) for the past few years that is just as ludicrous.
Honestly, if I didn't feel bad for the guests who have booked already I'd cancel all upcoming bookings until this is resolved as I am at this point just incurring expenses.
The problem is complete lack of accountability and transparency. I have repeatedly been asking for a copy of my file to be sent to me, for *someone* to put into writing what the actual issue is, for the specialist case manager to please identify himself (even if it's just in a one-liner stating a full name and department as well as contact details), and so on, and so forth. All without any effect. There is no one you can turn to, no recourse, no action you can take, even as a 'superhost'.
At a minimum, I think as hosts we deserve to receive a proper, accurate explanation if there are any problems, such as why there may be an issue with a payout; and timely contact with an actual, named, case manager (not just some 'Justin' and 'Jon'), including a direct number or email address. It's inconceivable to me that there is just so much obscurity and lack of communication and simply no possibility to file a complaint. After all, we do give up a percentage to airbnb for the 'privilege' of listing our house with them. Not a huge, but still significant, amount that should cover procedures when there are disputes such as this one...
Is Airbnb just too big to function? Do other hosts have any advice as to what we could do? Any help from the community would be so much appreciated as we're now looking into getting legal help (though we wouldn't even know whom to send our attourney's letter to!!!!!).
N.B. I posted a version of this message in response to an earlier thread by another host from the UK.
