Australian payment problems - what airbnb should be worried about

Peter1260
Level 3
Victoria, Australia

Australian payment problems - what airbnb should be worried about

In regards to Australian payment problems this last week:

 

Airbnb rely on the ‘network effect’ to gain hosts (to build and create a platform), with the hosts being the ones that take the risk, have the capital investment and do all the heavy lifting. If 23,000 hosts shut down airbnb in Australia, airbnb will have no product, no value proposition, no ability to generate revenue and their brand equity will diminish.

 

So why has airbnb not valued their greatest asset (hosts with properties), having treated their hosts with no respect, patronised them and kept them in the dark for extended periods, without transparency about what has gone wrong, what is being done to work out the problem and when it will be rectified.

 

Airbnb’s competitors should be pleased at how poorly airbnb have behaved and new the opportunity created for themselves to achieve a greater 'network effect' in gaining a large number of hosts to their platform! What if this went viral and hosts across the global switched or even added new platforms to supplement their marketing strategy for their own venture of hosting out their asset.

4 Replies 4
Barb78
Level 1
Saint Kilda, Australia

Peter- my partner and I both superhosts have been on the phone to airbnb multiple times these past few days andliek you have found ourselves to be totally underwhelmed by their response. The lack of communication to hosts has been deafening.   I find it hard to fathom that its a 'glitch' affecting 23,000 hosts when the banking systems seems to be operating just fine done under. For a platform that has been built off TRUST,  and where trust is built off transparency, it feels like someone somewhere in airbnb is just out of ther depth on this issue.  I have low expectations for any compensation to hosts on the impact of  late payment whilst aitbnb continues to accrue the interest on what is now no longer their money. 

Leo200
Level 1
Mildura, Australia

Leo in Mildura. I have experienced very similar behaviour; call centre staff bluff and defend the actions of management. Have nor received payment for a guest that stayed 3-5 Nov; payment date keeps changing!

Disgraceful.

 

John2124
Level 2
Melbourne, Australia

Same situation for me here. I've been on the phone with AirBNB three times in the last fortnight, regarding having received no payments since November 4th.

I keep getting the same form reply from operators that obviously cannot help or escalate the matter.
I've asked for an offline payment only to be told that AirBNB can't do this.

I am simply gobsmacked that a major organisation can have payment portal issues for more than 24 hours, let alone 2 weeks. It's outrageous!

Clearly they have no issue with collecting money from guests. Seems that paying the hosts has now fallen into the "too hard" basket.

This has spurred me to now look at the alternatives. I've worked hard to achieve and retain superhost status for years, but clearly the loyalty only works one way.

Thanks AirBNB it's been fun, but the time has come for me to look at your competitors and take my money elsewhere.

NB - I have 13 apartments listed on AirBNB.

It's 17 January 2019 and I'm still having this problem too. I haven't been paid two Christmas booking totalling over $5k and have another over the long weekend. Airbnb have given me the complete run around and did not really confess to what is obviously a major problem in Australia. They do not seem to have a clear solution and seem utterly unfussed about repaying my money within an appropriate time framce. They have not been proactive at all about contacting affected hosts and getthing this sorted - I've had to do all the chasing. This is utterly disgraceful and approaching class action territory in my view. I used to trust Airbnb, no longer. Terrible.