Hi Diana and all, I agree - it's a disgrace that there is no way to file a formal complaint. I am currently exploring legal options against the company.
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 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, caretaker support and high fuel and electricity costs cut deeply 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 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 for the past few years that is just as ludicrous.
The problem is complete lack of accountability and transparency. I have been asking for my file to be sent to me, for *someone* to put into writing what the actual issue is, for the case manager to please identify himself, and so on, and so forth. There is simply no recourse, no action you can take, even as a 'superhost'.
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.
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...
I'll be posting this as a separate thread and see if I can generate an Airbnb response somehow. Best to you all, Anna