Referring new hosts- where is my bonus??!!

[Emma4208]

Has anybody referred a new host to Airbnb and successfully gotten the referral bonus? I did it twice successfully and now Airbnb does not want to give me the bonus anymore even though I have written messages from Airbnb support along the process that I was doing it correctly. It's around $800 per referral and I'm feeling stuck and frustrated. They are telling me I'm not doing it right, but I know that is not true because I have gotten the bonus before. I feel like I'm being scammed. Please share your experience around this. Thanks!

[Rebecca]

Hello @Emma4208 👋

I'm really sorry that you've had this experience. It's been a short while since you posted and I wondered if you had spoken any further customer support? 

It would be great to hear from you either way. 😊

[Emma4208]

I spoke to so many different people on the phone and was told something different each time. I had to start over each time I called. We finally came to a solution, but I feel that Airbnb staff needs better training because I got so many different answers, many of which were not accurate. Would also be helpful if you could be connected to the same person each time you call or if they could already be briefed on the matter to save everybody time. I'm still very confused about the whole process.

[Lorina14]

@Emma4208 

There are rules about the referral and it isn’t asbclear cut as it appears to be advertised. I read the community center boards about people not getting paid after they referred and once it was because the person who used their link accepted the “free” support from a chosen superhost ambassador which was offered when they were setting up their listing (which I used when I set up and totally recommend) but because they accepted the pair up, that superhost ambassador got the bonus and not the person who gave the link to a friend. They spoke to the superhost ambassador and said that they provided the initial referral and was coaching their friend through the process and the superhost ambassador basically refused to give up the referral fee even though they didn’t really help their friend much (maybe just took a look at the write up and pictures when they have been working with them for a couple of months).

If you give a person the link they need to have the listing live within 90 days of receiving the link. Another condition is that they need to host 3 stays successfully (please check if it needs to be in the 90 day period), and the total of the stay needs to be over a certain total dollar amount (I think it’s $100). Another condition is that you cannot get a referral for someone who already is a host and is opening a new hosting location. The referral must be for a completely new host to the Airbnb platform. 

I was supposed to get 20% over the base referral fee as I am a Superhost and when I contacted customer support they said I received the accurate payout. I told them and showed them a screen shot of the amount that was “promised” and they said the referral amount has changed since then. I have since noted after every review the referral amount and it has fluctuated from the high 600’s to just over one thousand but it depends on what they are offering when you fulfill their requirements. After three different calls to different customer service agents all who gave me different information, I just gave up and accepted the lower amount that was NOT what they promised and I had screenshotted. So the referral bonus has qualifications that one should be aware of so you can indeed get the referral with all their rules.