AirBNB Refund Failed - Who to Contact?

[Joseph2160]

Going to keep things short and simple

Nov 1st : I cancelled a 100% refundable reservation (Paid via bank ACH). Refund e-mail was sent from AirBNB. The refund never hit my account.

Nov 30th: Contacted Airbnb about this. They said the first refund attempt failed and they'll try again They blamed it on my bank. The rep says that they guarantee it will go through. Nothing hits my account. Contacted my bank (Chase) several times, they said nothing was even attempted from Airbnb. Nothing wrong with my Chase account. It's in perfect standing.

Dec 11th: Contacted Airbnb again. They said the Nov 30th attempt failed. I tried to explain that them clicking 'refund' isn't working. They insist on attempting to refund again and end up doing so after my pushback. Afterward, Airbnb's system tells them 'failed' within 24 hours of attempting the refund again. They state that they're forwarding to the appropriate team. No response afterwards.

Who am I to contact about this? I've constantly read horror stories regarding a similiar issue where it takes months for somebody to receive a refund from a 'cancelled' bank account. However, AirBnB's attempts aren't working to my completely valid bank account. Everything is 100% fine on my end and Chase has confirmed this. Chase has suggested that I file a complaint with the BBB. However, this won't get my refund back to my account. What's the issue? What should I do and who should I contact?

I did remember deleting my Chase ACH as a payment method a few months ago as a security precaution. Would that have something to do with it? However, the refund receipt states that it's sent to my bank account with the correct last 4 digits with the ACH payment method not on my account, but AirBnB's system continues to tell the reps that it failed and that I need to contact Chase... and Chase tells me that a refund wasn't even attempted. Completely lost on what to do.

[Zheng49]

Maybe try adding a paypal to the payment method, and ask for them to refund to your paypal account instead.

[Joseph2160]

Asked them several times over the phone to do so and all the options I could accept a refund through, which included Paypal. No reponse. Messaged on twitter, same thing

[Joseph2160]

Update:

I called again to follow up and the 4th refund attempt failed. The same messaging language was given saying that they would forward to the correct team.  The same message that was sent by every other rep... I asked for an escalation. While on hold during the escalation, I was suddenly messaged by a Payment Support Ambassador who came to save the day. Stephanie quickly solved the issue and it seems as this may be the solution so far. 

Not sure what caused the prompt escalation to the payments team as the previous escalation attempts did not resolve anything. I did scrape a ton of e-mails from LinkedIn AirBNB employees of people most likely to help resolve the issue, then proceeded to e-mail them regarding the issue. This was done about 26 hours  ago. Did that prompt something? Not sure. I just know that we have some major progress now

[Serene36]

Hi Joseph! 

I’m going through the exact same problem right now! I’ve also added in a new payout method, in the hope they’ll transfer the funds to my payout method instead of just refunding to my failing bank account.

Had a couple of questions:

1) Please could you share the emails/ names of helpful people who you emailed with regards to this matter? If you have Stephanie’s contact details that’d be great.

2) I’ve got this problem that every time I call the Airbnb helpline, Airbnb system (not the support staff) automatically attempts to refund me through my failed bank account, before I can explain the situation to anyone - wondering if this is a problem you faced and if so how you got around it? It means that by the time I get round to speaking to anyone they tell me the same thing “Your refund was attempted successfully today!” when we all know how that’s going to end …. Failure 😞 getting desperate now !!! Thanks 

[Joseph2160]

1. I'll share the names if you're able to privately message me. I don't want their information on public forum and to be spammed. Stephanie messaged me out of the blue. I didn't email anybody named Stephanie. 

2.  I skipped the help line and pressed zero and demanded to speak to an agent, so I never went through the automated system. However, the human reps seemed to repeat the same process that caused the failed refund error. You're going to have to continue to call them every day and follow up. Be patient. Took me about 20 days from November 30th. Not sure if sending the mass-email worked, but I did get a result the day after sending the email (which is today that I got the result). I just don't have a confirmation. Make sure they write in their notes everything that was done the previous attempts and that you contacted your bank so you don't get stuck in the loop how I did where the same refund attempt process was made to lead to the same error.

[Joan2709]

@Joseph2160 

So did they refund via PayPal or to your bank account?

[Joseph2160]

I had added a bank account to my payouts, but I also added my Paypal and told them to send the payout to there just in case. My Paypal is currently in the verification process and is scheduled to be sent there. I will update when/if it hits my account. 

It seems that they're refunding me through a payout like as a host payout rather than a refund attempt as being a guest.

[Lorna271]

Hi Joseph I'm having a similar issue. In July I made a reservation and paid through two means.. A gift voucher company and a smaller amount through my debit card. 

Subsequently had to cancel the booking and as per their terms was refunded the bulk of the payment to the gift card.. original method.. And the smaller amount to my debit card. However when I paid the debit card was in date but now isn't and so I entered the new expiry date.

4 times now I've spoken to my bank who reject the payment as its the wrong expiry date.. But also the bank notification says the payment is TO airbnb not FROM!

Airbnb continue to insist that if I have put in the correct details then it's not their fault. I have.. But the advisor I'm talking to although polite keeps telling me the same story over and over and he can't access what expiry date the payment is being used, so it may be the wrong one. 

I'm sick of the whole thing and thank goodness it wasn't the large amount but obviously I still need the refund. 

Also I don't know why the advisor told me I needed to enter bank details as if a host so that I could get my refund.... 

Anyone any ideas what to do now? 

[Joseph2160]

If the advisor is telling you to enter bank details so that you can get a refund, then you should probably enter your bank details on your payout page so they can give you a refund : https://www.airbnb.com/account-settings/payments/payout-methods