I am posting in regards to an issue that I was previously unaware of, but after reading a multitude of posts, can see that it is fairly common (and certainly illegal).
I received an Airbnb gift card last Christmas, and was having issues accessing my account because it was linked to an old email. My partner loaded the gift card into his account, and we proceeded to book and pay for an upcoming stay.
Yesterday, they requested his ID (as he had not used his account before), and after running a background check- decided to ban his account over a 15 year-old arrest that adjudication was withheld on.
While he appeals, I go online and see HUNDREDS of others in similar situations across all platforms, who have also lost their gift card funds due to this issue. Today, his appeal was denied, and just like so many others have stated, the gift card was “refunded” to his now banned account.
Most of the replies on these posts seem to get into the users background and appeal process, but I am not interested in that. They have a right to ban whoever they want, I am not arguing that at all, nor do I care. They do not have a right to take gift card funds indefinitely and “refund” them to an account that they deactivated with no way to access, refund, or transfer the money.
I have read the TOS, and this specific issue is not addressed. I cannot imagine how many millions of dollars Airbnb has pocketed through this loophole (I have found reports going back to 2020), and am aware that if hundreds have posted about this online, that it is only a tiny fraction of the actual amount of users that have experienced this. I simply want my money back, and to compile the experiences of others who have gone through the same situation. The fact that Airbnb has done nothing to remedy this issue in the past 5 years leads me to believe that they are aware of the issue and do not intend to remedy the situation. Additionally, I have not seen a single account of a user getting their money back in any form. This is a form of theft.
TL/DR: $500 gift card added to account, account was banned for background check, funds are now inaccessible. Realized that hundreds of other users have had the same experience, and Airbnb has seemingly done nothing about the situation.
