@Maria12494
The issue of lost/delayed/withheld payouts is a massive problem on this platform, and one which has been going on for years (as has the forever-unfixed "technical issue" your missing funds has been blamed on). We're not hearing quite so much about it at the moment because reports are getting drowned out by the whole furore over the COVID/EC refund debacle, but it's still every bit as prevalent as it always was. (This post also applies to any host who finds themselves in the same position)
You've already been messed about for months, so there's no point in playing nice anymore, because that gets you absolutely nowhere with this company (as you've already discovered, to your cost)
If at all possible, contact your guest and clarify with them exactly how much they paid, and when they paid it. More often than not, the guest has indeed paid in full at the time, and will be shocked/disgusted to hear that you haven't received the money they thought they'd paid you, several months after they'd enjoyed your home and your hospitality. In those instances, the quickest and easiest way to have your money released, is for the guest to phone Airbnb and ask why their money hasn't been forwarded to you yet. That usually works a treat.
Another situation where host payouts are regularly withheld is where there was an alteration/amendment to the booking of any type, and (according to Airbnb, anyway), the funds somehow get "frozen" in their accounts. Once again, this is yet another "glitch" in the systems of a multi-billion dollar global tech company, that has somehow remained unfixed for years. They don't appear to have any alert system in place to notify them to any of these "frozen" payouts either, and they only ever come to light when the host discovers it themselves (which many won't, of course, because they unwisely trust that their Airbnb payouts are arriving in their accounts, on time, every time, so don't keep a running check on them.
Top tip to every host reading this - go have a look in your "Upcoming Payouts" tab in your Transaction History, and scroll right back to the beginning of your hosting endeavours, to make sure none of your own payouts have mysteriously been trapped in Airbnb's coffers either. You may be in for a nice little surprise windfall. If there are any "stuck" payouts, that's where they'll show up and while Airbnb may drag their heels a little on forwarding your own money to you, they will - and must - release it to you eventually.
Occasionally, there may genuinely have been an issue with the guest's payment method at some point during the course of the booking process, particularly if there was an amendment (card may have expired unknown to guest etc). In this situation, Airbnb will typically hold on to the payment amount already received from the guest (even though the adjustment amount may only be a tiny percentage of the entire payout), and fob the host off for months, with the excuse that they're having problems recouping the last part few dollars/euro/pounds from the guest, and will only release the payout to you as a whole, if/when they can retrieve the final part payment from the guest - which of course is ludicrous. For reasons known only to Airbnb though, they tend to be very intransigent in these particular instances, and you may have to fight like a demon to finally extract your payout from them.
So this is what you do - you sit down and write a strongly worded but polite email to Airbnb, advising them that you're fully aware that missing/delayed/withheld payouts is a known, longterm issue with this company, and include the links I'm going to post below as evidence of that. Advise them that if your money is not released with immediate effect, you're going to take your grievances to the Ombudsman, your national regulator, the Cyprus Tourist Board, the European Commission ODR (online dispute resolution platform), and the media. You should find that gets their attention pretty sharpish as the very last thing Airbnb needs right now is either the media or financial authorities digging about in their affairs. Then once your complaint has been received by them, just phone them up - every day if necessary - until you get what's rightfully and lawfully yours. Shouldn't take too long though, once you've made your intentions crystal clear to them.
Best of luck!
