We had a guest book for one night. Then they extended it for another three. Then we got an email from Airbnb saying the payment had failed and they wouldn’t be liable for the money. I called Airbnb and asked what to do: should I kick the guest out of the property? They said they were trying to sort it out and not to worry; I wouldn’t be out of pocket. This was verbal; I should have realised it was part of a scam.
It’s now six weeks later, I’ve had ten calls adding up to an hour and around ten emails. Everytime Airbnb just says someone will look into it. They have at least one night’s money and have never responded with any information other than saying they are looking into it. There’s no end in sight. I guess they’re just waiting for me to give up as they have already pocketed the cash. Airbnb are the scammers here as I could have kicked the tenant out or taken cash directly.
Did you reach out to the guest that didn’t pay you? If they guest didn’t pay, airbnb doesn’t have the money, how is that a scam?
Well, you accepted a guest to stay without confirmed payment. Have you ever tried to get a meal in a restaurant after you announced you’ve got no money in your pocket?
thats not the point, for first time incidents, this can be confusing to hosts. host will generally believe that Airbnb is some big company that will back its hosts, but thats really further from the truth. If airbnb said they will take care of it, usually a host would believe that, because you would think that airbnb would get that form of payment originally or have already held the deposit amount. but airbnb doesnt authorize deposit amounts. Deposits do nothing for hosts. Also Airbnb isnt able to collect forcefully from guests. The whole operation sucks. My advise is to collect deposit in via paypal and draw up an agreement that guest can read and sign , stating its refundable upon check out