In the last week of April 2017, I was prevented from making a reservation through Airbnb because it claimed that the credit card I added was new and it was necessary to verify that I was indeed the card holder. There is nothing new about my credit card. I have using the same card for more more than three years and Airbnb is among those which have debited my card, many times, twice in April 2017 alone. I had to send Airbnb a bank statement to prove this. As pointed out by another furious ex-user of Airbnb, not everyone possesses the necessary tools to scan a bank statement and send it to Airbnb. Moreover, few people in the world carry bank statements on them. Such documents are at home. If you are lucky, it may be possible to download them from the Internet, scan them, and send them to Airbnb. If you are at home, this is usually no problem, just a waste of time and energy. If you are abroad, especially in a country without easy access to a computer and scanning equipment, then forget it.
After going through this process, I was finally able to make my reservation. In the second week of the following May, I was again prevented from making a reservation for exactly the same reason. Airbnb had to verify if I was indeed the holder of my “new” credit card. However, unlike my first bad experience, this second one was far worse. I was told no fewer than four times that the problem had been solved and that I could proceed with the reservation. Four more times I tried to make the reservation, four more times I was asked for proof of ownership of my credit card, and four more times I had to get hold of a bank statement and send it to Airbnb as proof. I am still unable to make the reservation.
Airbnb has acknowledged that there is a problem with its site and I must wait a few days before I can make my reservation. I have already wasted three days trying to make this reservation. Time is money and loss of time is loss of money. Airbnb used to be user friendly. Its success has turned it into a site that leads you to waste a huge amount of time. Try finding a telephone number on its site; I tried and failed. I had to do a Google search to get hold of a telephone number to Airbnb’s customer’s service. The time wasted to respond to its unnecessary and obnoxious verification certainly does not justify the fact that it is cheaper than hotel accommodations.
Will I use Airbnb again? If and only if it is my very last option. There are far better sites with far better services and means of communication. Promises that customer service will get back to you before the end of the day or that the problem has been solved or will be solved within 24 hours, are simply not respected and no attempt is made to explain why or to say when the problem can be solved. I still cannot make my reservation.
Hi I literally just went through the SAME exact story last week & I wasted many hours on the phone wt Airbnb reps & no one clue help me. I made major complaints. Then, suddenly after six years as a super host who hosted the CEO in my home, I was notified that my account was removed & disabled. Actually in an email falsely accusing me of saying something I never said….to a rep on the phone. Brian Chesky was once my friend. This company has become a nightmare.
Planning to go back on vacation in the US, I tried my airbnb account I painfully managed to set up last year while in the US. I signed on OK but then airbnb asks me to verify my “identity” For that, they have to send a verification code to guess what, my US prepaid temporary mobile number I registered in the US. Now, this phone is not valid anymore and NO WAY to revalidate my account as there is no other way to do it ! I have NEVER seen such a crappy system. They ask you to accept 10 pages of stupid regulations, some related to rogue countries laws, treat you like a potential criminal despite I got good reviews from the Airbnb renters. Who do they think they are ? Fed up as it is obvious there are unreliable too when it comes to reservation handling !