Property Damage But No Payout

[Alison745]

TLDR: I have damage in my house but I don't know which guest did it, so AirBNB won't cover it. 

I had 4 different sets of guests in my home over a 1-month period. When I moved back in afterwards, I noticed that a curtain was ripped and torn in a handful of spots, and it'll cost $70 to replace it. I reached out to all of the guests, and all responded but none of them claim responsibility. It looks like a dog probably did it, but a few of them had a dog with them at some point. So I tried to submit a claim to AirBNB, but they refuse to help me since their policy involves me first filing a resolutions case to the specific guest who caused the damage. ...Which I can't do, since I don't know who did the damage! I think I've done my due diligence in reaching out to each guest. The curtain can be pulled up and folded in such a way as to hide the damage, which is likely how it went unnoticed in between stays. 

Has anyone dealt with this problem before? And also, do you think this is fair? AirBNB touts its "up to $1mil" in insurance, but this caveat seems unfair. With renters/homeowners' insurance, they don't require you know who the perpetrator was before paying out a claim. And this specifically seems like a red tape type of issue that the AirBNB rep doesn't know how to handle since they don't have a claim from me to move up the ladder. 

[Emiel1]

@Alison745 

The procedure for claiming damages is very clear:

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/264/what-do-i-do-if-my-guest-breaks-something-in-my-place

Also the "Host Guarantee" is not an insurrance, so you can not compare it with useal home insurrance policies.

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/279/what-is-the-airbnb-host-guarantee

IMO The Airbnb rep is right refusing the claim: the claim was not made first towards the guest AND the claim is not filed within the time limit (within 14 days or before next guest arrives, whichever is earlier)

[Alison745]

I get that the rules are clear - I'm saying that I don't think the rules are fair in this case and that Airbnb reps should have more leeway in examining issues on a case-by-case basis. I think that the damaged item was hidden from view from me purposefully, and while I think I know that the last guest did it, I don't want to submit a claim against them without being absolutely sure. So I'm screwed because I don't want to screw someone else over. I think the Airbnb safeguards should be more like renters/homeowners insurance and that my claim should be at least considered. 

[Anonymous]

@Alison745  Have you read the text of the  Host Guarantee ?  It explicitly does not cover damage caused by pets.  Additionally, if you intend to file a claim for damage, you are required to initiate it before the next guest checks in.

Is that fair? Well, I'd turn that around - would it be fair for Airbnb to charge a guest on your behalf for damage that was actually caused by another guest, just because you didn't happen to notice it in time?

I do recommend giving that so-called "Guarantee" a close read - you'll find that it is in no way a substitute for having your own STR insurance, nor does it let hosts off the hook for failing to mitigate their risks.

[Alison745]

I don't expect AirBnb to charge a guest - I think AirBnb should pay for it themselves, since none of the guests will own up to doing it, but it definitely occurred while one of them was here.  I think it's a fair way of handling something like this, where an item of somewhat low cost was damaged, and the damage was hidden, so that the host didn't notice it until close inspection. 

And although I suspect it was the last guest, because I can't be absolutely certain (I probably would've noticed the ripped curtain in between stays, but I can't be sure that I checked it), I don't want to file a claim against them specifically. 

I understand what the damages rules are and what the Guarantee says, but I think there should be more protection for instances like this where multiple guests stay over a short period of time and none own up to doing the damage. 

[Heidi588]

"I understand what the damages rules are and what the Guarantee says, but I think there should be more protection for instances like this where multiple guests stay over a short period of time and none own up to doing the damage."

I would say that it's the responsibility of the host or their representative to thoroughly check over the property after each guest leaves, rather than relying on a guest to own up to what they made efforts to hide, or Airbnb taking responsibility to cover the damages that were overlooked by the host. 

You have my empathy that someone damaged your property and didn't take responsbility for it, and now the financial responsibility is yours. That sucks. 

[Alison745]

Thanks, I hear ya. Ultimately I think I’m frustrated because I expected AirBNB, as a courtesy, to provide something. I made them a decent amount of money over 4 weeks and then did what they asked of me to figure out definitively when the damage was done. So when I couldn’t for sure blame one guest over another,  I expected them to throw me a bone. It’s not a big enough cost to get insurance involved, so I figured I was covered with AirBNB. Oh well. 

[Alison745]

Oh, and I know that about pet damage -- I wanted to fully disclose that there were sometimes dogs here, but I don't know all the days that there was a dog here, and, again, I don't know if a dog actually did it or not. 

[Anonymous]

@Alison745  No, it does not make the slightest sense in the world to me that Airbnb should owe you money for what you believe to be guest damage when you don't even know when it occurred or who was responsible.

I'm sorry for your loss, but that is a maintenance failure. Listing on a website doesn't automatically grant you the right to transfer indemnity for your home's upkeep. 

[Alison745]

Gotcha. I understand your point of view, but it was my impression that Airbnb touting “up to $1mil” in protection to hosts actually meant that they’d protect/take care of hosts if there was damage done to their homes. But they won’t. I think that’s lame. I appreciate your input. 

[Ann72]

@Alison745  Sometimes they do, and sometimes they don't.  And I'd like to say they do when the right bureaucratic steps are taken and forms filed, but even then, they might or they might not.  I had sheets ruined this summer by a guest.  I put in a claim, the guest refused it, and Airbnb paid it.  Other hosts have taken the exact same steps and have not been compensated.  So, to me, that's the part that's lame and unfair.  Why agree to one claim and not another?  I'll never know.

[Alison745]

That definitely sounds unfair! And odd for AirBNB not to be more transparent about why and how they reject claims. I should just file a claim for the last guests, as I suspect it was them and they can reject it, but it makes me a little nervous to do that. 🤷‍♀️

[Sarah977]

Airbnb isn't transparent about anything, so you need to understand that is the reality of dealing with their platform. 

But I find your attitude "I should just file a claim against the last guests, as I suspect it was them" to be really odd and entirely unprofessional. You can't charge people simply on the basis of suspicion. If you don't bother to inspect the unit between guest bookings or have someone employed to do that for you, that's on you, not the guests. It's part of your job as a host. You can't decide to put the blame on one set of guests simply because that's convenient for you.

And why would you pursue something you yourself say is "something of low cost" when you don't even know which guest was responsible for the damage? You apparently rented out your home to 4 separate bookings for a month, amounting to how much income? $70 isn't anything to sneeze at, but really, how much time is it worth to try to get compensated? If this is all the damage that was done in a month with 4 separate parties of guests and you not paying attention to the state of the place between bookings, I can't imagine why you are wasting your time and energy with this.

And if I were a guest, a host trying to charge me for something the host only suspected I was guilty of, when it could have been any of the previous guests, would really infuriate me.

[Alison745]

No, that’s exactly my point that I DON’T want to do that, but Airbnb is pushing me to pin it on those guests, since I’m wavering on who did it. I’m saying, if they can refuse to pay it, though, and that’s the only way to get AirBNB to cough up the $ then maybe I should go that route (but again, as I said, that prospect makes me nervous). And I thought it was also clear that the curtain was pulled up in such a way as to hide the hole and rips. So it looked neat and nice between stays. 

Also, the $70 is a small amount TO AIRBNB, but not to ME, which is why I’m trying to recoup it. The only reason I rented my house out is because I lost my job in June and still haven’t received a dime from unemployment because of Covid backup issues. I’m a single income single parent. I put my mortgage in forbearance, just got on Medicaid and food stamps, and I moved out for a month with my toddler, crashing at 2 different homes, coming back to clean and turnover the house 3 times, and during that process missed 1 curtain that was ripped up. It’s like if someone ripped a couch cushion and flipped it over, or folded up a towel they got bleach on and put it back on the shelf  - something that hours of meticulous checking would reveal, but not normal maintenance during a cleanup and restock turnover day. So I contacted Airbnb to say, Hey one of my guests damaged my property, will you cover it? and they told me to file a claim on a guest. I think that’s crappy and wanted them to cover it. But apparently I’m crappy. At least I’ve gotten that cleared up. 

[Alison745]

One more note! I'm reasonably confident it was the last guest. I didn't see the hole and rips until after her stay, and I was home cleaning and setting up between each one. And there were other signs that they were the least responsible group (who brought in extra people and also a dog).  I'm just being brutally honest in saying that MAAAYBE I missed it in between another stay.  Airbnb has flat out asked me who I suspect, telling me they need a claim, just because that's the process they need to follow. So I feel that they're pushing me in that direction. But because that made me a little uncomfortable, I asked the guest instead of filing a claim first. And she says she didn't do it.  I asked all the others then, and they also say they didn't do it! Surprise surprise 😉 I feel powerless that I have no recourse now, since they all claim they didn't do it. (The first guest tells me it was in perfect condition when she arrived, so one of them definitely did it). So that's the point where I figured Airbnb would step in to help me. I made sure all of my communication stayed within the app, so they could read it, too.  I hoped I wouldn't have to eat the money for something that clearly happened when an Airbnb'er was here, so I tried.  
But I wanted to share more background info on why I said I should probably just file that claim, knowing they can refuse it if they truly cannot take responsibility for it.