Unable to buy gift card due to false CC declines

Reece23
Level 1
Seattle, WA

Unable to buy gift card due to false CC declines

I've tried 5 times to by a gift card through Airbnb and my card is declined every time. My bank says the problem is all on Airbnb's side. Has anyone else come across this? And how the heck to do you contact customer service for gift cards???

15 Replies 15
Emiel1
Level 10
Leeuwarden, The Netherlands

@Reece23 

You can contact Airbnb like this:

https://www.airbnb.com/help/contact-us

 

Choose "I don't need help with a reservation".

then topic "payments, refunds",

then "payments"

then "It’s something else"

the "i still need help"

and you will end up in a live chat-session

 

Other options:

Contact Airbnb - Community Guide [Updated]

Sarah4356
Level 1
New York, NY

I tried the above suggestion, and it was not helpful. The agent told me they can only assist with REDEEMING cards, not purchasing them. It looks like launchgiftcards sends an auto email regarding this issue. You can reply to the initial email asking for help purchasing the card. Fingers crossed launchgiftcards reply to my query!

Emailing the AirBnB reps at Launch Gift Cards (airbnb@launchgiftcards.com) was not helpful. They just repeated the auto-reply text (yes, I called my bank to confirm they didn’t block charge; yes, I checked that my info was entered correctly). See pic below for their reply. 

Only custom text was basically, sorry, we don’t know why purchase didn’t work and there’s nothing we can do! I have given up  and won’t be buying a $500 card from AirBnb. Looking for a gift somewhere else.

 

 

BF2E9C60-DEF1-4F31-B893-A78C4FCD471C.jpeg

I'm having this same problem. ABB keeps saying it's on my end but my banks have said that ABB is declining the transaction. 

Lynette175
Level 1
Vancouver, WA

I’ve also had this problem. Has anyone found a resolution?

Emilie
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Hi @Lynette175

 

Sorry to hear you're having a similar issue! Have you tried checking in with the Support teams to see if they can help you identify what's going on? 

 

Thanks, 

 

Emilie 

-----

 

Merci de jeter un oeil aux Principes du Community Center/ Please follow the Community Guidelines

They said it was a problem with my credit card. The bank said it’s not a problem with the card and I tried it with multiple cards.

Margie137
Level 1
Westford, MA

I am also having this problem.  My credit card company also says it is on AirBNB's side, that they authorize the transaction, and then AirBNB rejects the authorization.  I have tried many times, with no success.  I even tried a different credit card (my husband's), though same email address and same account (but different cc number), and had the same result.

 

I give up.  I guess I won't be buying any more AirBNB gift cards

I am now having this exact same issue, except I'm having it while trying to pay for a booking up front.

I'm trying to book a 31-day stay, paid up front. My bank says the money is available. AirBnB is telling me that my payment is being declined, and specifically declined by my bank.

The issue is clearly on AirBnB's end. Not only are they saying that my bank is the one declining while my bank says the funds are available, but after the decline they sent me an official notification stating (redacted for privacy, emphasis mine):

"Action required. Your payment failed. Please pay [amount] by Jan 2 to keep your [location] reservation."

It's currently May. I'm trying to book for May through June. Yet they want me to pay "by Jan 2." It's clear that something on their end is borked, yet they refuse to admit it. They keep saying that the issue is on my bank's end, and whenever I ask about the incorrect dates they're sending me in notifications they ignore the query. (Notably, they don't claim it's a nonissue or that it's not indicative of broader problems. They just don't acknowledge it at all.)

It should be noted that the host has been as helpful as humanly possible, and has even agreed to take the listing down for a few days so it doesn't get sniped while I try to address this issue. That's above and beyond, as far as I'm concerned - so massive respect for the host. It's just that AirBnB themselves are not being helpful about this.

Alex11051
Level 1
Vancouver, Canada

Same issue here. Repeatedly tried with various forms of payment but every time it has been declined. No help from the "Contact Us" chat or via the airbnbca@launchgiftcards.com email address. Is there any solution?

Same problem here.  Tried multiple times, a couple of different cards.  CC company says it's not their problem.  I ama now giving up and just sending a check to the people I want to send the gift card to.

 

AirBnB is no help.  "Refresh your page and try again," they tell me.  Then sometimes I get a message saying on the screen, "Something's wrong...try again in a little while."

@Michael-Chestley0,

 

Sorry to hear about your experience! When tech works it’s great and when it doesn’t it is really frustrating. 

@Bhumika @Paula @Rebecca can you send this to the right team? It appears from the thread that this has been an issue here and there. I would think Airbnb would want to fix this ASAP as they are losing potential revenue and guests.

Paula
Community Manager
Community Manager
Port Moody, Canada

Thanks for looping us in, @Lorina14. I am forwarding Michael's case to the team for review.

 

Since our Community Center is not a formal branch of the support team, they should contact you directly, @Michael-Chestley0.

-----

 

Please follow the Community Guidelines // Por favor consulta las Normas de la comunidad

Thanks, but I finally gave up and send the recipient a check.  Neither of the two credit card companies had a problem.  They said it was at Airbnb's end.  Frustrating.