Ripped off by Airbnb

[Wes428]

So I booked an AIRBNB in Ft. Myers Beach for part of August and September 2022.  I booked directly from the owner for the month of August.  We came to this area to  purchase a home.  We decided t stay after the first 10 days and spoke with the owner.  He indicated he had another property in the same community a little cheaper and we negotiated a good deal.  After spending about 5 days in the new place my wfe was getting eaten at night by unknown creatures as she slept.  We tried everything to get rid of this problem.  The owner offered to let us move back to the original lodging for the same price.  We agreed, but when we re-did the paperwork AIRBNB popped in and took $3000.00 out of my Paypal account.  We tried to get it refunded and they just don't listen.  The owner was absolutely no help here either, he laughed about it and said it would take months.  Owner also claims he did ot get the money????  So AIRBNB not only took my money illegally, the took it and deposited it into a foreign bank!  So if the owner does NOT get the  rental fee who does????  And when??? AIRBNB call center was through a foreign entity that I could not understand half the time and would not provided a stateside contact for this.  I have exhausted their contacts with info they just do not see the problem...along with receipts showing the transactions.  So Caveat Emptor....avoid Ft. Myers Beach, the owner **, and AIRBNB entirely.

** [Name hidden due to privacy concerns - Community Center Guidelines]

[Wes428]

And, answer the questions...who/where does this money go???? Is the owner a liar?

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Wes428 until you answer the question as to how you paid for the stay we can't tell you where the money went!

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Wes428 How did you pay the money?

[Wes428]

I DID give you all the info....you just kept stonewalling.....person after person got sent all the paperwork...I just got bounced around and never did get to speak to anyone stateside....so don't play coy with me!

[Lorna170]

@Wes428   This is a forum for owners and is NOT AirBnB Customer Service.  So NO ONE HERE can see what you have on your profile as communication with this host, nor do we have access to the paperwork.  We are not stonewalling, bouncing you around or playing coy.  

We sympathize, we empathize, we offer advice, but there is nothing that anyone on this forum can do for you.

However, in answer to your question about payment, IF you paid the owner while logged into AirBnB, AirBnB processes your credit card, takes their service fee and the taxes, and pays the owner their amount several days after you have arrived and taken possession of the rental property.   Does your credit card record show that you paid AirBnB, or does it show payment to John Smith? 

You mentioned PayPal...I have never paid AirBnB this way when travelling, so I do not know if this is a valid AirBnB method of obtaining payment -- but it is a valid method used by many hosts who book guests directly from their own website or advertising medium.  Who does PayPal show you paid?

PayPal has a resolution center that processes claims.  Have you investigated this? 

[Wes428]

The invoices, all from Paypal have been distributed to the reps at AIRBNB, of which I do not know if you are one of them....if it took this posting in a forum to waken a issue not resolved through normal channels, then I applaud it.  All, and I mean ALL correspondence with AIRBNB and the owner was facilitaed through AIRBNB, so the record is there and obvious.  ALL reservations are documents and distributed through AIRBNB as well.  So it shows two payments for the same time frame, one for each of the units.  I would post these, but I do not think that is prudent for public record.

[Gillian166]

@Wes428  this is new information:

you've been charged for staying in 2 places at the same time? 

yes or no to this question is the best clarification. 

[Wes428]

YES

[Wes428]

Yes I tried to work through Paypal, but because this was an ijternational banking issue, good luck...Paypal drops it like a rock...smart thing for AIRBNB to do, use out of country banks to facilitate payment..think about it....

It is really quite simple...I had to redo paperwork to move from the already paid for lodging to the other lodging to assure that insurance, and all the necessary legal issues are documented properly, this kicked out a new invoice for the new lodging, but before the owner could intervene, AIRBNB snatched payment..then it went downhill.....it should have only been a paperwork issue, I blame the owner on this error.  

And yes, the reviews were based on the stay until the issue developed, in trying ot work it out guess what, the time to post a review had elapsed, it is a very small window...I tried to do this diplomatically to not harm business with the owner and AIRBNB, only to get the short stick...I AIRBNB, although sometimes getting through the initial paperwork seems daunting, but I understand the why....I had assumed that this would be resolved with no problems because to this point I had a wonderful relationship witht the owwner (or so I thought) and pleasant experience with and all my payments through Paypal show payment going to AIRBNB...and as I earlier indicated, so many people jumped on this as AIRBNB reps, it never got the attention needed..and this is happening again through this forum, I have had more than one supposed AIRBNB facilitator already start looking at this situation again.....

[Gillian166]

@Wes428  you keep saying "paperwork" which is not how anything is done. nor do they "kick out an invoice"

So we are trying to understand the situation, by translating your incorrect phrasing into what we think has happened, but it's really difficult.  

[Wes428]

The paperwork is behind the scenes between AIRBNB and owner (records, insurancec, etc.), you DO, however, receive the itinerary, which if you read, is essentilly a receipt.  And if you use Paypal, you get an invoice showing who/what entity (URL) your money went...in my case every one shows AIRBNB in the URL as the seller/payee.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Wes428 we have hosted many guests and never has there been paperwork behind the scenes with Airbnb. I strongly suspect your host is being economical with the truth. Sadly the fact you have left positive reviews for both your stays will confuse Airbnb customer support staff.

Oh and I think you are confusing the word invoice with the word receipt. The latter is what you get from Airbnb (and presumably Paypal)

[Wes428]

I suggest if you use AIRBNB you look at how you are invoiced...you know not of what you speak.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Wes428 You say an invoice was kicked out. That is not the way Airbnb works. Did you press 'reserve now' and 'pay now' on the Airbnb website or did you get an invoice from someone and used Paypal to pay it?

If the latter then the host is possibly deceiving you.

[Wes428]

Every invoice has the seller listed as AIRBNB, the latter being AIRBNB UK (United Kingdom)...

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Wes428 we can't help if you don't answer questions. Did you press reserve now and pay now on the Airbnb website?

[Wes428]

YES...how long is it going to take before you realize everything was done via AIRBNB website.....NO EXCEPTIONS....

[Gillian166]

@Wes428  because you keep describing the situation in a way that is NOT how an Airbnb reservation works. you don't "get an invoice to pay". 

How long is it going to take you to realise you aren't explain anything clearly? 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Wes428 next simple question.

How many stays did you book

presumably

Original stay

Stay at place with biting creatures

2nd stay at original place

Is this correct?

[Wes428]

Also, you expect me to answer, so how abou tyou, when/who gets the money AIRBNB takes out for the stay?  Does it not go to the owner, who then coud reimburse?

[Mark116]

@Wes428  Airbnb gets the money when you book.  The host is paid usually the first or second day of the stay.  There is no 'invoice' only the reservation itinerary which yes, will list the reservation number and the $$