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]

Correct!

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Wes428 then I fear your host is ripping you off. He will have been paid for 3 reservations and you only got two stays.

Unless you cancelled the 2nd stay but even then, depending on the hosts cancellation policy you may not get anything back.

What should have happened is that your second booking should have been transferred to the original place OR when you cancelled this stay the host should have overridden their cancellation policy and refunded you.

[Wes428]

Exactly, transferred..and that is what did not happen as AIRBNB took the money the minutge the paperwork was filed before the owner had a chance to square it up...it should never have been charged.

[Huma0]

@Wes428 

No, that is not how it works. As others have said, there is no paperwork to file. If the booking was made via the Airbnb system, you hit book (if host uses instant booking) and the reservation is made. No paperwork to file. If the host doesn't use instant booking, you send them a booking request for the dates, they accept it and the reservation is made. No paperwork to file.

Who told you there was paperwork? The host?

As for transferring the booking, I think you misunderstand. What others are saying is that the host should have sent you an alteration request, changing the booking from one listing to another. The guest then just has to accept it and it's a done deal. No paperwork to file. There would also be no additional payment, unless the listing you are transferring to is more expensive, in which case, the alteration request would show you what the additional cost is BEFORE you accept/decline it.

Instead, it seems like you made separate bookings for the two listings and got charged twice. That was all totally unavoidable if the host had simply sent you an alteration request as outlined above.

The people who are responding to you here are experienced hosts who have managed their Airbnb bookings day in and day out for years. I don't know why you insist on tell them they don't know what they are talking about.

And this forum has nothing to do with customer support. It is a community forum for hosts and guests to discuss topics and reach out for advice. Your experiences with CS have nothing to do with the people responding to you, so stop blaming them.

[Wes428]

what planet you from....the minute you "book" and hit enter PAPERWORK is generated and you receive a copy...same with all of their transactions, it is all there to be reproduced via PAPER copy...

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Wes428I could similarly ask what century you are from. There isn't an elf printing off paper copies of bookings to file them in Airbnb HQ. It is all electronic unless an individual decides to print out their itinerary so No paperwork is not generated when you book.

Anyway I think we have established your issue is with the host who has all the money from your 3 bookings. Have you asked him to refund you?

[Wes428]

He was the first contact, see too much info in all this, I believe that was in the first salvo...he claims he received no money, hence MY questions that never get answered, like who gets the money? Question 2, why a foreign bank?

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Wes428Airbnb will use banks in whatever country give them a cost/tax advantage. I think the nationality of the bank is a red herring.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Wes428 you keep talking about filing the paperwork. The trouble I have is there is no paperwork to file when you go through Airbnb.

[Gillian166]

@Mike-And-Jane0  I'm not tagging Wes, he confuses things.

But, Wes only left 2 reviews, which suggests he only had 2 actual bookings? these booking were for different properties. 

IF he had an abb booking to return to the original place, why isn't there another review posted for that stay? 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Gillian166 I was wondering the same thing!

[Gillian166]

@Lorna170  i use paypal, it's the same. it's charged as soon as you book. It's valid. 

the thing is, according to the reviews, he stayed in both properties and had a great time.