Plaid is terrible-- it's forced me off AirBNB as a guest

[Lou3675]

I spend hours searching for the right resort property-- only to find Plaid force me to change passwords on 2 bank accounts, logging in both times through this company that has settled a $58 million dollar class action lawsuit for misusing private banking data, only to be told that it 1. could verify my bank, and 2. could verify me, but 3. can not verify my data-- at Chase?   And another big, legit banking institution.  

I suffered a giant time suck over $150 for security purposes.     Plaid's "partnerships" are like a virus designed to take down companies like AirBNB relying on it for "security"....   And let's not even unpack the Help menu for phone support...  It could not be more comically terrible.  Wait, let me send you a link on your phone to read before I tell you.  I'll wait while your do your homework in "your happy place"... seated on the toilet, enraged.

**[Content removed in line with the Community Center Guidelines]

[Bhumika]

Hi @Lou3675,

I am sorry to hear about the issues you faced.

Did you manage to get in touch with Plaid's Customer Service to get more information about the issues you were facing? Or did you hear back from them?

[Peter3754]

Nope AirBnb and Plaid support total **bleep**ing joke, told by AirBnb that they opened a 3-5 day case and they will contact me which is total bull**bleep** and waste of my time.  Plaid has no customer contact # that is easily found.  

Guess Vrbo gets my money from now on. 

[Claudio989]

I diidn't book because of that. What a scam!!!

[Christopher1648]

Plaid is terrible!!!! What is the point of that function? Every single other place on the planet can just take your card information and be done with it. AirBB need to terminate that relationship with extreme prejudice. 

[Sarah1307]

This is not a helpful response. I have used Airbnb for years and years and don't know how many bookings I have made. I will not contact airbnb or Plaid about this. Why should I spend my time? There is no chance that I will connect my account or enter my bank credentials. It would be more helpful to say, I'm sorry this new policy has caused trouble, or is making you never want to touch airbnb again. 

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[Doug1047]

It's so much worse than that. Plaid settled a lawsuit in 2021 because they "obtained and used bank account credentials and financial information without consent."

https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/fintech-firm-plaid-agrees-58-mln-deal-end-privacy-case-2021...

Linking your payment method with Plaid gives them completely unfettered access to *all* your personal account and transaction information. Why on earth has Airbnb partnered with such a privacy-invasive company with a horrendous track record of respecting consumers?

[Joanne828]

This is what I want to know as well! I've been an enthusiastic user of Airbnb for years now, and felt issues I had were handled well.  But this is bizarre and feels financially like the worst idea ever for customers to have to use a company already settling lawsuits for "obtaining & using bank account creditials and financial information without consent".  

As soon as it asked me to log into my bank account to "connect" accounts that I never wanted connected in the first place, I was out.  

I'm so disappointed, I truly have enjoyed using Airbnb and this will absolutely end my bookings if there is no legit workaround developed.  And for me, PayPal is not legit.  If you've never had a problem with my cards and I've been a customer as long as I have, requiring me to book through a crooked company that will "connect my accounts" when I don't want anyone else connecting anything is invasive, puts my financial data at risk, and there is no way this is going to happen.  I hope you find another solution Airbnb, because this is awful!

[Barbara2985]

This is the 3rd time being kicked off because of Plaid. However it gets worse when you talk to someone at Airbnb reading a script and telling you that it’s your fault, because their unable to talk or communicate properly. Customer service has gone out the window, as the old saying says, don’t try to fix what isn’t broken. Sometimes free advice is the best advice, Airbnb needs to go old school, throw your computers away, and learn to communicate again. 
customer service makes your profit, not Plaid, especially a company that disregards laws, procedures and your customers. It’s sad that between two large companies like yourselves, and there still isn’t any customer service.

[Bhumika]

Hi @Barbara2985 , @Lynn1706 has made some suggestions about creating a paypal account above. It is worth giving it a try. Do let us know if you are going to try it out!

[Lynn1706 · Accepted solution]

I almost left, too. There is no way on God's green Earth that I would share my bank login and password with anyone.

I called AirBnB customer support, and after a bit of the usual well-this-is-how-we-do-it-now, finally the support person told me Plaid is not triggered if the customer uses PayPal.  I opened a PayPal account with the very same cr card I formerly used to book, and found that this works to bypass Plaid at AirBnB.

In the mean time, I will be keeping my eye on other booking agencies, as I'm now distrustful of AirBnB decision making,

[Joanne828]

@Lynn1706 It's good to know that PayPal helps people bypass Plaid when trying to book through Airbnb.  But I resist using PayPal too, so for me that isn't a solution.  Right now the only solution is to use VRBO or look for other ways to find decent housing when I travel.  But I will absolutely NOT use Plaid, it's got "inappropriate use of data" and "scam" written all over it.

[David11444]

Just ran into this today.  I had booked a couple other properties in recent days and all of a sudden it wanted me to give my credit card login info to book another property today.  Not happening.  I was glad to see your reply - I did the same thing with PayPal and it worked.  If I am forced to do Plaid or not use AirBnb I think I will stop using AirBnb.  There is no way to convince me that giving my credit card account login to another company is in any way good for me.

[Grace1260]

No, today is Oct 27th, 2024, I tried to use PayPal today, but it won't allow me to do so. 
they are so tricky
I have to use Plaid and let them log in to my Chase account, I feel so uncomfortable doing it. but I have no way to pay for the room. I dislike this company they are so greed and tricky!!!!

[Vanessa1905]

I was able to book using Google Pay. I was immediately alarmed by this Plaid service.