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Hello everyone. I am a newbie here and would like to share my first hosting experiences with the company - with proofs.
Right after registration as a host and posting my listing, I was offered three ways to get paid: 1. Wire transfer (which would take 7-10 business days), 2. Payoneer Prepaid Debit Card, and 3. Western Union.
With the first two it said it “may include fees”, whereas with the Western Union it said it was $10 fee, but would be transferred in one day. I opted for the longer (and presumably cheaper) option - the wire transfer. That is where things started to get fishy.
I had two guests over New Year season, and the total payout was supposed to be $271. I waited for the money in my bank account. When it arrived, it was $185, which means that $86 just vanished. I went to my bank and they confirmed they never deduct any fees for wire transfers, and I believe them since I had had wire transfers before. Then I contacted Airbnb support team - and listen to this: They said they transferred the correct amount, although they refused to send me a receipt or a SWIFT ID numbers of the transactions due to “security reasons”!
Basically I have to believe the company’s words that the intermediary banks deducted $43 per transaction, but there is no proof of it.
I am trying to put another itinerary and my bank statement (with some blurred details) to show them as a proof but this website won’t let me. I don’t know why it let me to post the image above then.
New members of the forum are limited in what they are able to post.
I suggest you call Airbnb again until you are able to get an explanation for what happened. Some people occasionally have payout issues but it seems that everyone eventually gets their correct amount.
If the wire transfer is country to country, usually there are fees attached - have you asked your bank what the fees are for this specific transfer? Sometimes a bit of research can prevent ‘surprises’ like you are experiencing.
The recipient bank never sees any intermediary bank or “in between” fees. Only the sender can be aware of that from SWIFT transaction ID. The recipient bank also never deducts any money for receiving a wire. I have had wire transfers received before. The problem is that the sender company (Airbnb) refuses to provide any details about any sender or intermediary banks due to “security concerns”! Thus, $43 per transfer just vanished!
I called them twice, and I had conversations through email. They are waiving all of the responsibility! They do not release wire information! here is one of their emails:
After further checking on our system, we don’t have the access for the Swift ID number for the transactions.
Airbnb can’t inform you on how much you’ll be charged to receive an international wire. In addition, Airbnb is not responsible for any fees deducted during the international wire, by your bank, or by the intermediary bank. Airbnb’s bank will take care of processing the international wire without the intermediary bank information.
If this is their policy then it seems that this would have happened to someone else. Maybe they will see the post. However, your post title isn’t very descriptive and lots of people might just scroll past.
I live in Tbilisi, Georgia. The bank account, yes - I put my IBAN there for wire transfer. That is exactly what I am saying. There were only three methods of payment as I already mentioned in my initial post.
I do have a twitter account but I don’t us it much. I am not sure whether it would help though, I directly contacted Airbnb through phone and email. I just wanted to warn people and make sure nobody else makes such mistake.
In my options for payout I couldve used various banks/ accounts… my bank, paypal etc. Ive never seen options for westernunion etc. Id suggest getting a Paypal account and attached debit card. I have never had any crazy fees taken like that. It may be a country thing but it does sound shady
Thank you for your reply. Paypal was also not an option, probably it is the country thing. Nevertheless, I will only believe that it was the intermediary bank that took $43 per transaction once I see the SWIFT transaction ID which they are not releasing!
Not related to Airbnb but I run an e-commerce site and I have oversea clients that sometime prefer to pay via wire transfer. I charge a $50 wire transfer fee because I have found that between currency conversions and intermediary banks taking fees, I sometimes lose money. The $50 about covers it and sometimes there are no intermediary fees so I make a little more. The $43 does sound reasonable for the wire transfer fees.
Why can’t you just have it transferred to a bank account? I have that done here and no fees occur and it shows up in my account in a few days. Never had an issue.
Thank you for your reply. First of all, there was no need of conversion - I had my bank account in USD. Secondly, I don’t understand what you mean by “transfer to a bank account”, isn’t that a wire transfer? If you mean putting into US Bank account - well, I don’t have one, I live in a tiny country called Georgia in Caucasus, far far away from the USA.
It seems that many readers missed this in reading your OP. Here in the United States our options are different. Here is an Airbnb description of the payout methods
When Americans suggest transfer to a bank account they are referring to the first option listed here. As you see here it says if you use Western Union that fees apply. It seems you misunderstood the payout schemes. Maybe you should try one of the other options available in your country.
That is why I would love to see replies from hosts not from the US. I want to find out whether wire anyone in the world is using wire transfer as a payout option and gets paid $43 less per transaction.
