Does anyone at Airbnb care???

[Brett3]

Like so many of my other host friends here on the Gold Coast, I just had guests stay that trashed my property and there is no one at Airbnb to help.

I thought it best to follow Airbnb guidelines and report the damage right right away. I listen to the message "...thanks for hanging in there! Someone will be with you in a about 45 minutes". So it turns out what everyone has been saying is true. 

I will keep anyone that is interested updated with the outcome of my claim with Airbnb. (assuming there is someone there to process it)

Brett

[Rich-and-Yan0]

@Brett3 Sorry to hear that this has happened to you. We haven't experienced anything yet that we've needed to report, but our house managers in Portugal, who also have two properties of their own listed on Airbnb, have gone through this a couple of times, and I know that they managed to get the matter resolved by contacting Airbnb support. 

That being said, you may have to brace yourself for possible retaliation from the guest who trashed your place. In our house managers' most recent incident, they contacted Airbnb support as well as the guest, who had actually destroyed their coffee table among other things, and they said that they would be satisfied with partial compensation for the damage. The guest instead replied to Airbnb directly and said that he would pay full price to reimburse them in return for being allowed to write a bad review--which he did. Fortunately, they have so many good reviews that they didn't lose their Superhost status (we've stayed at both of their places ourselves, and they're great), but they were quite upset about the whole thing. 

Anyway, just wanted to warn you, because this could happen. We hope that it doesn't, but some guests, as we know, are just not nice people deep down. 

[Sarah977]

@Rich-and-Yan0  The guest told Airbnb that they would pay for the damages but in exchange write a bad review?   Nothing would surprise me with Airbnb right now, but that sounds like a twisted story.

[Rich-and-Yan0]

@Sarah977 I just went back to read exactly what the wife of this team told me. She said that the guests left a hole in one of her new bedsheets and tomato stains on the couch cover, and that the coffee table was broken. She contacted Airbnb when the table was broken, acknowledged that it could have been an accident and said that she wanted to know what the procedure was. Airbnb then contacted the guest who wrote to her and said, "Fine, I will reimburse you for the table, but I'm going to leave you a bad review." 

And he lived up to his promise. We actually went on there and read his review today. He has two small children and she doesn't charge for cleaning (with the idea that the guests clean themselves), and he said that it was stressful for him and his wife to clean on the day they have to leave. So he basically blamed them for not having a cleaning fee, if you can believe that. He also said that they had noticed that the table was "wobbly," but that it was supposedly still standing when they left--which is NOT the story she was telling us. And he blamed them for buying cheap furniture.

Anyway, we've stayed at both of their properties, as I said above. That's how we met and befriended them. And we found the places to be fine, and them to be great hosts. But you know how it is with some guests. So far, we've only had one set of guests who were similar. They also had small kids and also left the place a total mess, but we chose not to pursue the matter with Airbnb for that very reason: fear of retaliation. It's a shame that guests can have that kind of leverage on hosts, but that is the system, isn't it?

[Sarah977]

@Rich-and-Yan0  Okay, so the guest didn't tell Airbnb that they would leave a bad review if they were paid for the damage, as first stated, they told the host this in a written message. Do you know why the hosts didn't report this extortion to Airbnb, or did they report it and Airbnb didn't care?

[Rich-and-Yan0]

@Sarah977 Yeah, sorry if I mis-conveyed what I was first told. After you asked about it, I went back to read specifically what the hosts had told me, and then I checked the actual review as well as the hosts' response to it.

I know that the hosts were in touch with Airbnb after they went to the apartment and saw the table broken, but whether they reported what the guest told them or not and Airbnb then did nothing--I have no idea. I do know that the guest was openly boasting about being able to trash them as hosts in his review, but he was smart enough not to say, in print, that he was doing so in retaliation for them having contacted Airbnb on him. Fortunately for them, all of their other reviews have been 5-star ones, and so this shouldn't cause them to lose their Superhost status. But not a nice experience. 

[Paul60]

Airbnb do not care in the slightest.  FACT.

[Helen3]

Have you stopped using Airbnb @Paul60 ?

[Paul60]

@Helen3  I had 60 properties on Airbnb prior to Covid however now they're all gone mid term rental until March or beyond.  I just hate putting them back on Airbnb though given the company is not a trustworthy partner.

[Bernd140]

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[Fred13]

@Brett3 Cool place you got. In reality, I never expect Airbnb to 'care' per se about me or my personal welfare, especially now that they are a bit busy with other 'issues'. Besides we come from two different planets.

    The way I see it is this: The STR model is a very risky affair as is and hosts better do everything in their power not to have a problem arise with a guest - by keeping a sharp, preventive eye on them.  You have had  700+ guests and one lousy ogre made it through the screen, but you are already back to hosting -  lucky you. 

[Helen427]

Hello @Brett3 from across the ocean in Auckland, New Zealand.

Have you ensured you reported said Guests to your local Police so it's on there official records?

 It's a wise idea to as they can share it with colleagues across the way and you may be helping to resolve other crimes, past, present or future.

Chances are if they have damaged your property they will have or may do it to some other person.

Prevention is better than cure.

All the Best

[Nyree3]

Can Airbnb black-list a guest, who is new to the platform, has no previous reviews, and then steals and damaged things at your property? Surely guests like this should be prevented from using Airbnb again.