Non Payment!

[Christiaan24]

We are struggling with payments from AIRBNB, and it seems like other properties in South Africa experiences the same. They keep pushing the payment dates forward, is anyone else experiencing the same? Speaking to support  does not help. 

[Shelley159]

Hi @Christiaan24 

As far as I can see in the community center, there doesn't seem to be an issue for hosts who host as individuals and who get paid into their personal bank accounts.

It looks like there are a handful of people struggling to get money paid into company bank accounts, and quite a few who have serious issues getting money paid into South African trust accounts (probably more so due to the grey listing).

I'm not sure which category you fall into, but the know-your-client issues with trusts can be difficult. It would be less complicated (and easier for vetting by Airbnb) to host in a real person's name and have the money paid into the South African bank account of the individual, who signs a lease with the trust and then pays the money over to the trust.

If you're already hosting as an individual (I can't see a listing on your profile?) then delayed payments can be because of an investigation into your listing (for example, if a guest made a privacy complaint). I think this is a less likely - if you're hosting as a non-natural person, know-your-client is most likely the problem. Sorry that I don't have a quick fix for you to get the money paid right away!

[Christiaan24]

Dear Shelley,

Thank you for your correspondence.

The issue has been resolved by myself. 

It is essential for Airbnb to notify clients that a mandate must be signed annually for funds to be released. Without this signed mandate, funds cannot be processed. It is concerning that customer support advises clients to contact their banks for account verification, rather than referring them to Bidvest for this matter or any third party involved with releasing international payments locally. 

Upon reviewing previous complaints and searching for answers, I found several instances where clients mentioned not receiving notifications to sign the mandate, resulting in the funds not being released.

If companies encounter difficulty in having payments released, they must contact Bidvest directly to sign the mandate at mandates@bidvestbank.co.za.

I was able to resolve the issue within a few minutes, and the payments were released promptly. Airbnb should reconsider the support it provides, as it is not the responsibility of clients to resolve these issues independently. If the correct information was given when support was contacted, my query would have been resolved 4 months ago but instead they merely do verification after verification, send payment after payment with no funds being paid, and this frustrates clients, as it does not resolve the issue.   Its been like talking to a wall. 

[Rebecca]

Hello @Christiaan24 👋

It's great to hear that your issue has been resolved. 

I'm tagging @Shelley159 here so they receive a notification of your message too!

Quick tip: if you type "@" and then the username, this will tag the member that you're replying to.