AirBnB and currencies

Snot

I booked a stay with AirBnB in an EU country, all the documentation shows billing in £ .  I paid in 2 instalments and the first one is all OK, but for the 2nd one my card shows a Euro payment, hence I'm worse off after the currency conversion. The invoice for the 2nd payment clearly shows £.
I contacted AirBnB and they say as my account is set for Euro this is correct (not sure why is it set for Euro).  BUT then why was the first payment in £ and why does the invoice for the 2nd payment also show £.  Nowhere are Euro's mentioned on my booking.

I did use a different card for the 2nd payment but both are UK cards.

I've spent over 30 mins talking to AirBnB but they just say all is OK it's the Banks fault, and that I can't make a complaint as there is nothing wrong. The Bank are clear it's a Euro charge.

The amount involved isn't huge but it just bugs me. Am I missing something about how AirBnB charges work ?

CKhalvashi

Airbnb are (or at least were, I've only ever used them once and won't again as I don't like their business model) known to markup currencies that aren't the currency of the property by as much as 6%, so if you're staying in the Eurozone, you're probably 3-4% better off depending on your card.

If you're not, you can raise a formal complaint whether they say you can or not.

TELLIT01

If the bank is saying the additional cost is the currency charge for a Euro transaction, it's nothing to do with Airbnb.  You said you used different cards so it's likely they have different charges for foreign transactions. 

CKhalvashi

TELLIT01 said:

If the bank is saying the additional cost is the currency charge for a Euro transaction, it's nothing to do with Airbnb.  You said you used different cards so it's likely they have different charges for foreign transactions. 

Surely it would be though if OP has been invoiced in Sterling and has opted to pay in it.

Many companies don't always make that clear. I've actually found that Booking.com is the only similar company that both makes it clear and charges in the currency of the property being stayed in after clearly saying they'll do this.

An example of a similar issue for me personally was wanting to pay in a local currency for flights, then the website automatically changing to Euro when I put my card number in (with associated 12% markup), despite never selecting this. It took several tries to get this to go back to the local currency. Ryanair are known to do the same (again not making it overly clear, but clearer than SkyUp for the getout), so Airbnb (another travel company) doing this isn't surprising.

I'd argue that the charge is unauthorised if it's not the correct amount in the correct currency, and AirBnb are in the wrong.

Snot

TELLIT01  The first charge was in £,  then for some reason Airbnb changed to € for the 2nd payment,  this has nothing to do with the card used. Plus both invoices show £,  there is no mention of € anywhere.
Since posting I’ve spoken to them again and they said I can’t make a complaint as they are right !

anyhow my bank has told me to raise a charge back, maybe that’s the way forward.

CKhalvashi

Snot said:

TELLIT01  The first charge was in £,  then for some reason Airbnb changed to € for the 2nd payment,  this has nothing to do with the card used. Plus both invoices show £,  there is no mention of € anywhere.
Since posting I’ve spoken to them again and they said I can’t make a complaint as they are right !

anyhow my bank has told me to raise a charge back, maybe that’s the way forward.

You won't get any accommodation if you do though, and if this is a non-refundable booking may be on the hook for payment anyway.

Put your complaint in writing to support@airbnb.com before going down this route, stating that you have been charged in Euro with no indication of Euro on any invoices and therefore would like your bank charges repaid. This will be the best you'll get, but in this case I agree it's owed.

Snot

Quick update.
Airbnb eventually agreed to refund the billing difference, no explanation as to what really happened other than still blaming my bank.

To be fair to them this is the first issue in 15 bookings, so hopefully just a one off.