Airbnb Stokes Hosts' Ire Over Paused Payments

25.08.2023 - 14:02 / skift.com / Dennis Schaal

Some Airbnb hosts have been complaining that the short-term rental giant abruptly stopped paying them for weeks and even months, often without explanation, and then they got the runaround from customer support agents when trying to resolve the issue.

“My payout was paused since September,” a host in the Philippines wrote in an Airbnb community forum last November 1. “I’ve been calling Airbnb super host support almost every week and they can’t give me an answer. They keep saying call back, or we will contact you.”

The host said she uploaded the ID Airbnb was looking for. “I’m losing patience and hope to get my previous payouts. Please help, what should I do?”

Skift communicated with six Airbnb hosts in the Philippines, Botswana, Pakistan, Singapore, and Indonesia about similar payout issues, most involving verifying their identity, and some with $20,000 to $30,000 in missed payments dangling in the balance. All complained about lack of notification or explanations, at least initially, from Airbnb, and getting shuffled from one support agent to another in a crescendo of frustration.

All six saw their problems eventually resolved either with Airbnb’s help, or some hosts claimed without the company’s assistance.

Hosts have sounded off about these sorts of payment issues for years, with some alleging that they are increasing and have become rampant.

Airbnb couldn’t be more emphatic in rejecting the notion that there is an increase in payout issues. “There has not been an increase at all,” Airbnb said in a statement provided to Skift. “The rate of delayed payouts has remained consistent year over year and, to reiterate, it has always been exceptionally rare.”

The company claimed that out of all host payouts — and Airbnb counts more than 4 million hosts — “only about 0.1 percent are delayed because of an Airbnb systems issue. Of those, 99 percent are resolved within one week.”

Of course, one can conjure myriad reasons beyond vaguely defined systems issues where Airbnb could potentially be at fault. Hosts sometimes screw up, as well, or may not understand what’s required.

Nevertheless, Airbnb said the vast majority of host payout issues revolve around hosts not having a valid payout method, they haven’t completed identity verification requirements, or they have a minimum payout amount set on their accounts up to $50,000, and that threshold hasn’t kicked in at the time in question.

“On the very rare occasions when this does occur, most of the time, it is because the host did not have a valid payout method to which we could deliver the payout,” Airbnb said. “This is most commonly seen with new hosts getting familiar with the platform. If any host has questions about their payout, they should contact Airbnb as