Broken Bed-Guest still at Residence

[Evette10]

Hi,

My guest broke the bed in the bedroom she is staying in and I had to have my daughter-in-law run out and get a bedframe, 9 o'clock at night. The guest said that she was watching TV and when she reached over to get a drink out of the mini refrigerator she heard a crack. I live in another state but I had my daughter-in-law go get a bed frame and take pictures. From the pictures one of the main boards on frame was snapped completely in half and the right side of the bed frame looks like she was standing on it or something and it's snapped in half as well. She has been staying at my home for about 40 days now and there has been no issues with the bed until now. She doesn't check out until 14 August.

My question is do I have to wait until she finish her stay to request that she pay for the damages? She has about twenty-two more days before she's schedule to leave. The final payment will come in on the 1st of the month and I'm afraid she is might leave early and leave a bad review. We have had great guest/host interaction so far...but I need to replace this bed. The bed is 3 years old so I plan to only request half of the price to replace it.

Any help is much appreciated.

[Jillian115]

@Evette10 Unless you can prove that she was to one who damaged the bed I wouldn't try to charge for it. I recently replaced the bed in my ABB because I noticed it was creaking whenever I made the bed. I kept thinking what if it collapsed while a guest was staying. 

[Evette10]

@Jillian115 she sent me a message through the AIRBNB app stating she heard the crack when she reached over to get some water. Would that be proof enough in your opinion?

I know for a fact nothing was wrong with it prior to her coming to stay because I purposely inspect everything the guest will be using to prevent things like this. 🙂 

[Jillian115]

@Evette10 Personally I don't think it will serve you well to try to collect on it. You have to do it before the review window is up and if she gives you 1 star your listing will be suspended. She could be telling the truth and you really have no way of telling for sure. I had a guest that recently destroyed the varnish on my bed side table because she sprayed a disinfectant that ate the wood varnish thinking she was protecting herself from covid.  I have also had guest put hot pots on my wood dining table leaving marks. One guest ironed her clothes on my wood chair and left a perfect iron mark on the seat, and the worst was a hole in the wall. He said he slipped. I look at it as things break, I expect it. There will be repairs most guests are great few are not. It's part of dining business. That's just what I think. 

[Evette10]

@Jillian115 Thank you...I appreciate your advice.

[Emiel1]

@Evette10 

"she heard the crack when she reached over to get some water."

Is the bed made of carton board ?  Is the guest an obese person ?

It simply is broken and you have to replace it.And no proof to submit a valid claim..

Costs of doing business.....sorry.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Evette10 

Guest saying she reached over and heard a crack isn't *evidence* that the guest is responsible for the bed frame breaking. IMO you should be relieved the guest wasn't injured and unless you have proof the guest purposely broke or damaged the frame it's ridiculous to expect the guest to pay.  

Bed frames (at least the ones I've ended up buying) typically don't snap in half and break even when people stand on it and jump on it - if this was a concern or possibility, I'd say you need to invest in a more sturdy bed frame. 

[Anonymous]

@Evette10  Nothing that you described is proof that the guest was at fault for the breakage, by any stretch of the imagination.  Also, I must admit I'm pretty skeptical about the claim that you "purposely inspect" the supporting beams beneath the mattress between each stay - this would set off BS alarm bells even if you didn't happen to live in a totally different state from the property.

You don't have a case here that would win a dispute over a damage claim. I strongly urge you to take @Jillian115 's sound advice here.

[Christine615]

I'm confused. Do you keep a mini-fridge by the bed? (she reached over to get a drink?). We don't allow eating and drinking in the bedrooms because of stains. But I'm trying to visualize where the fridge is that she didn't have to get out of bed to open it and get a drink.

[Evette10]

@Christine615Yes there’s a mini fridge in the bedroom beside the bed for convenience. Now I thinking it may not be such a good idea. I have decided to just purchase another bed and chart this one up to lessons learned. I just needed to know what others would do but some people on here are just rude and unprofessional. This is supposed to be a forum to help each yet some people use it as forum to take out their frustrations from their pathetic lives. 

[Christine615]

@Evette10 

You’re new to the boards so it’s probably hard to hear tone in a message but I didn’t think most of the responses above were rude. I know most of the hosts that responded and they all have a reputation for being helpful even when they are blunt. 

Hosting is tricky. Unless the guest was morbidly obese or did something unusual the bed should have held. There are a lot of hosts reporting broken slats here and on other forums and more often than not it’s the bed that is defective. For hosting commercially you need the strongest frame possible. We have metal frames except on the antique bed.  In that case I had the lumber yard cut 1x4 boards for me.

Even  if you don’t agree, try not to insult the hosts who spend a lot of their free time helping other hosts on this forum. They know a lot and they are right. If the guest had been injured you might have been sued. 

Count yourself lucky. Don’t put a mini fridge in the bedroom. (Or at least by the bed). It will help keep guests from eating or drinking and attracting mice or staining linens. And buy the strongest frame you can. 

[Evette10]

@Christine615 Yes I may be new to Airbnb boards but I am not new to community boards and other forums where advice is requested or given. My perception is my perception. If they feel insulted by what I said than they should do some self reflection and consider how their "help" will be perceived by the person they are responding to. When I do not agree, I do not usually respond because everyone has their own opinion and it's just that-their opinion. 

Feedback is  given with an open mind and after considering all points of view. It is great that you know them but I do not and that is what is important when you respond to someone. I am use to blunt responses (verbal and written) and it is not hard to hear but blunt and rude is two different things. I try to show respect to everyone but when I feel someone is rude I am going to say that. 

And again thank you for your feedback-this issue has been resolved.

[Ian611]

@Evette10 @Hi,I don’t normally go on the forums due to so many of the other hosts are no help at all,in fact I think some some of them work for the company and offer no constructive advice.,in fact this was the first one to show up and I am already feeling your pain.Your bed should never have broken while reaching over for a drink unless it was riddled with wood worm.

 I would claim for a new one .

Good luck with your claim, I needed it when a guest soiled a two year old deep filled mattress costing over £500 new.

[Christine615]

Sorry you feel that way. I simply noted that the other hosts have a reputation for being helpful (all rated level 10 and you are level 2) While we don’t always agree, the debates have been lively and I’ve learned quite a bit from them.

When you didn’t get the answer you wanted you lashed out and insulted them. Maybe this isn’t the right business for you. While it’s possible you guest did something wrong, more likely the bed you provided wasn’t high quality. It should easily accommodate a variety of weights and loads.

You asked if the guest should pay? Probably not unless you can prove they were responsible. Will Airbnb pay? Unlikely.  Buy better furniture.

[Laura2592]

@Evette10 we had some larger guests who broke our bed. Like your guest, they sent a strange email that did not claim they were responsible, yet reported the damage.  They were defensive about this incident though we were very gracious and did not charge them. Somewhere in the discussion the bed breakage was blamed on the low quality of the bed and "protected health status" mentioned which was a way to try and intimidate us from making a claim. They were obviously planning to say we were discriminating based on their health issue (obesity).

It was in no way in our interest to try and get damages from these guests so we bought a better bed, rated for heavier occupants and used the opportunity to update some of the furnishings in the room. It honestly wasn't the fanciest bed ever so there could be some truth to it not being well made enough to hold these guests. I would chalk this up to hosting experience and find an inexpensive, well made platform bed on Amazon. We got a solid wood one that I painted a bright color and an earthquake couldn't break that thing.

ETA-- wondering why you are doing long term stays? SO many issues with those. Best to start with shorter term....