PARTY - Claim Ignored by Airbnb and no response to resolution escalation, Host Guarantee worthless

[Maria481]

Over a week ago '4 guests' booked my house. They proceeded to throw a party, disturbed the neighbors, and police had to come repeatedly. They exceeded occupancy (maybe 14 people), disregarded noise rules (brought their own DJ and stereo equipment) with disco lighting, rearranged the furniture, left a huge mess including extra trash and burnt logs from a fire they started in the backyard (cannot make this stuff up). I have video surveillance and photos of everything including police incident number for the eviction. As expected the guests are completely ignoring my claim, but what is most disturbing in all of this is that I have had absolutely no response from Airbnb. ZERO. After a week! 

On my way to the house to meet the police (they cannot evict unless owner is there) I called Airbnb to get the ball rolling. Firstly the only way they answered the phone, and it took an hour, is by me saying I was a guest. Prior to that my call was disconnected 3 times even though I verified my account. The CS listened to my case and took some notes. He said that since this was a serious issue he would pass it on to the specialist team and they would get back to me right away. A week later and crickets! 

Airbnb value proposition is to provide a marketing platform, secure payments, and provide accountability and support when things go wrong. As we all know, cancellation policy is now out the window and now I see Host Guarantee is also non-existent. 

[Anonymous]

@Maria481   Before the COVID-19 crisis  came along and overwhelmed the support staff beyond imagination, it was already taking several weeks for damage claims to be processed.  At a time like this, I wouldn't expect faster results.

I'm glad you were able to successfully evict the rule-breaking guests, and no doubt their antics required substantially more than the typical cleaning. But based on your description I can't identify any specific things that would invoke the Host Guarantee (which was always pretty flimsy anyway).  In addition to the problems you  mentioned, was there physical damage? Items of significant value that had to be replaced? 

[Maria481]

I have been hosting for over 3 years and host guarantee has covered me many times. There were plenty of hard costs like the cleaning crew, and the professional carpet cleaning, and the excess trash removal. Also they have in the past held guest responsible for exceeding occupancy and paying for extra guests as per my pricing rules. Like it's not enough that we're getting screwed with their insane cancellation policy, even valid claims they are ignoring. I just don't think it should go un-reported.

[Anonymous]

Given the rarity of payouts under the Host Guarantee (as opposed to settlements from the Resolutions Center), it's surprising to hear that you've had "many" in only 3 years. Actually, that's extraordinary. If you've been compensated every time you've needed in the past, and the only exception is a delay during an utterly unprecedented crisis, these really don't sound like the worst results.

I agree with @Helen3 , though; now that the internet has collectively decided that Airbnb houses are for parties, it's incumbent upon Entire Home hosts to actively prevent them. 

[Sarah977]

@Maria481  If you have had claims for the results of party-type scenarios "many times" over only 3 years, I'd say you are the one who has been needlessly screwing Airbnb and whatever funds they set aside for remuneration, due to a lack of attention and control on your part as to how you run your listing and how you vet your guests. 

[Mark116]

@Maria481  The  host guarantee was always 85% PR and 15% reality.  And, as many predicted their new party house protocol swat team is the same.

You should could yourself lucky that the police helped you get them out of the house, and I would guess given the current crisis, that you won't get any action on your claim for several weeks at best. 

[Maria481]

Yes I realize thank you. I just want to create awareness.

[Helen3]

Hi @Maria481 

How was the guest able to bring in extensive DJ equipment and guests that hadn't booked etc without you knowing about it?

Sounds like you need CCTV or similar so you stop parties before they start to minimise nuisance to your neighbours and damage to your place.