AirBnB "Specialist" demanding we pay for damages we didn't cause!

[Ryan520]

Hi, 

We recently stayed at a beautiful villa. While there, there was an accident and a plant pot around the pool (super heavy one) was knocked over and went into the pool. This caused the plant pot to crack, and soil to come out and float all round the pool. We all felt awful and spent the penultimate day of the holiday trying to clean the pool, and scrubbing the entire villa clean. However despite various nets etc. we tried using, we couldn't get the soil out because it was too small and went through the nets; it was like dust. 

While also there, the host had left bleach on the ground by the poolside. This cause multiple of the towels (provided), bedding (provided) and the girls bikinis to become bleached when they feel off the railing onto the bleach (we didnt know it was bleach until things landed it in, and became ruined). 

We left the villa at 8am, and new guests moved in at 12 noon that day. Upon checkout we immediately notified the host's keyholder about the pool and damages. The following day, the host requested we paid 686€. (500€ cracked tile, 50€ IKEA towel + bedding, 50€ clean the pool + pool water lost, 84€ plant pot). As stated by the hosts the costs were all "estimates" and "it may be lower". 

This was the first we had seen of the damaged and cracked tile. With 8 of us looking for damage, and spending the entire penultimate day scrubbing the poolside, walls (dirty, not by us, but we wanted to make things look nicer as a sorry), cleaning villa etc. I think someone would have very clearly and easily seen this crack. I think the more likely story, is that it was caused when they tried to replace the plant pot (it was heavy and took 3 of us to lift it out the pool) 

Not only did we feel like that kind of damage should be covered by insurance anyway, but we'd already paid a £237.49 cleaning fee upfront, so didnt see why we should pay a further 50€ cleaning fee for the pool. The bedding + towels (of which its the hosts fault is damaged in our eyes - along with our swimwear) cost £4.84 from IKEA -> not 50€. The 500€ was an "estimate". We of course decline this payment with a very polite message to the host. 

The host immediately responded the following day stating her husband received an email about the damaged tile, stating "it will probably cost around 250€ as opposed to 500€". It literally halved the minute we refused to pay without receipts. 

56 days after the booking ended, the host opened the resolution centre and we got an email from a specialist called Melania. She stated she would gather information from both parties and make a decision on the case. She stated shed gather information from the host first and get back to us. 

In the meantime, we did some research about security deposits, and discovered via the support centre that the reservation had no security deposit. 

Anyway, yesterday (while still waiting to be contacted for our side of the story), we received an email back from the specialist. The email stated, in summary;

"Hi, 

You will have to pay X,Y,Z = 484€. Until you pay, your airBnB account has been deactivated. 

Regards,

Melania"

We were all a bit shocked. We were still waiting for the specialist to get in contact. I should also mention here that we were impatient and tried calling the support centre multiple times over the few weeks before receiving this email trying to get ahold of Melania. Support were useless and said they could not pass us through to the speciliast and that we would have to wait for a call!

So, that leads us to today. We have been demanded to pay 484€ on damages we do not think are fair, and the account the booking was made from has been deactivated until we pay the sum. 

So, I would like to know: 

1) Where do I go from here? We can't dispute if the account is deactivated? 

2) Can we be forced to pay for these damages? There is no security deposit, and the host is trying to rip us off. the £4.84 link for towel on the 50€ charge and extra cleaning fee + pool water fee of 50€ is proof enough of that

Thanks for all your help, 

Ryan 

[Sarah977]

What kind of people lay in wet towels on the bed? You sound like a bunch of children.

[Catherine232]

The original post gives me so much insight into the cavalier way some of our guests behave. There is zero perspective here on how the hosts must have felt seeing damaged bedding, damaged towels, broken decorative items, and a contaminated pool with new guests arriving. We repeatedly have guests causing damage to brand new bedding, brand new towels, brand new kitchen ware and even furniture. Second guests we ever had in our place, broke our brand new fridge! The vast majority take no responsibility. Even if you accepted some responsibility here, you very clearly don't want to take full responsibility for what happened during *your* stay. Even the title of your post! All of what you described happened as a consequence of your actions, it didn't magically happen on its own, so in fact, you are being asked to pay for damages you caused. You. There wasn't anybody else staying at the villa!

[Ryan520]

Hi, 

As a host, I accept it is distressing. However, I also accept that **bleep** happens, accidents happen and its the risk I take when letting out. I would never leave bleach around the poolside; imagine if a baby crawled through it and got it in their eyes or mouth? It was extremely fortunate (for the host!) that it was only towel damage and she should be apologising for causing £160 of damage to our swimwear. It was careless and irresponsible, and could have had serious consequences! I do not expect to then have the host over charging me on a matter like this. 

We are entirely accepting of responsibility for cracking the plantpot. It was an accident; someone slipped fell on the tree, the plant pot tipped up and ended up in the pool. So we are completely happy to pay for the plant pot. 

However, if we can carefully get the plant pot out of the pool (which by the way, the steps were on the opposite side of the pool, so we had to manouvre the plant pot across the pool between us and get it out the steps, then carefully carry it to the opposite side where it was) - if we can do that carefully and cause no damage (we know we didnt, we checked very comprehensibly for it), then the host can replace it carefully, and if she damages something, then that is her fault. 

Btw, the tile was a plastic coated concrete block (I say tile, because Im not sure what to call it) - not an easily cracked ceramic tile. The pool was cleaned quickly and effectively via the pool vacuum the host had in the basement (we couldnt use it; it was chained up, but the poolguy came and used it). We trid to contact the hosts; they were unreachable. It happened on the Wednesday at 11:30 at night, we left 8:55am friday morning. We couldnt reach the host (in belgium) or the keyholder (in spain, where villa is) on the thursday; we didnt have contact for keyholder and the host didnt respond on the Thursday. 

[Cormac0]

@Ryan520

"Methinks thou dost protest too much".

Any bleach I've encountered stink to high heaven, did you give a thought to how much damage, soil in the pool would do the pools filtration system?

Put on your big boy pants and pay for the damages you and your party have done and stop trying to defend the indefensible.

[Ryan520]

As I said, it was a bleaching agent / cleaning product of some kind, we dont know what it was, but it ruined £160 worth of our swimwear. 

There is 0 chance of us paying the demands, they are not fair nor reasonable. We would like to pay for the damages we caused; the cracked plant pot. 

If you're going to be insulting as opposed to respond to my two questions, then don't bother posting. 

[Cormac0]

@Ryan520

Says who, as far as I can gather this is the first post on this forum you've made, while I on the other hand have spent over two years almost every day dispensing my wisdom as I see fit.

In your case I see a self-centred and entitled guest who feels they can play lose and free with other people’s property and then decide what they should pay for the damages.

[Sandra126]

@Ryan520, tried to look up your profile since you are a host but it is just the falling ice cream page. Does that mean you are suspended for now until you have sorted this? I am not sure what responses you were looking for on the forum. From the beginning there seemed to be missing information, some of which you have addressed. Such as why was the bedding outside. Now you say because you went to bed in wet towels, thereby wetting the beds. Thank you for explaining.

[John1080]

Accidents happen, and the tripping and breaking the pot, which ended up in the pool is an accident - one the guest should be expected to pay for. This would include not only the cost of the pot but the cleaning of the pool and the cleaning/fixing of the filtration system.

The host seems reasonable in this case and I would just pay up in order to continue on AirBnb as both a guest and a host.  Between 8 adults, that amount seems a very small price to pay to make this go away. 

[Ryan520]

I agree, and I'm happy to pay for that. 

What we're not happy about is the cracked tile/slab thing - because that wasnt us. I'm working now, but the other 7 are final year university students, shedding out £60 for something that is completely unjust, is a lot of money, and extremely unfair and hence we'd rather just make a new AirBnB account / book through others than pay €484. 

[Ana1136]

@Ryan520 yes that is the problem with Airbnb, guests just make a new profile and never take responcibility.

[Mark116]

How can you be sure that you didn't crack the tile?  In all the chaos of breaking the pot and attempting to clean up?  It seems very likely you did crack it but didn't notice, and if it's a pool tile it will have to be replaced by a pool specialist.

Why and how did the bedding get so wet it had to be taken outside to dry?  And then I guess you are saying you threw it on the ground to dry where it soaked up the cleaning agent?

I see zero reason why you shouldn't pay.  If you think you shouldn't be liable for damages you cause unless there is a damage deposit, you really do not belong on the platform and should stick to hotels.

[Ryan520]

I can be sure because I am also a host, and I know how to check for damage. In addition, 7 other pairs of eyes were cleaning and checking for the damage; we can be sure it was not us. The tile was not in the pool, it was a slab as part of the poolside. There were spares in the basement. 

Have you ever had a girlfriend on a summer holiday? They shower, they did on the bed in their towel and dry their hair. The towel is we, the bed becomes wet. They might wear a bikini and think its mostly, dry, they sit on the bet, the bed gets damp. Common sense? 

There was some bedding hanging around the pool to dry, but the worst one that fell into it was actually from the balcony above that blew off the balcony of the bedroom (wind). We didnt just "throw it on the floor". I'd appreciate you not assume im some kind of moron, thanks. 

[Sarah977]

@Ryan520   No, women don't normally sit on the bed to dry their hair, getting the bedding wet, nor do they leave a wet towel lying on the bed, nor do they sit on the bed in a wet bikini. 

[Ryan520]

Well, my girlfriend does, as did some of the other girls, so this is a silly argument to have. 

[Sarah977]

@Ryan520  It's not an arguement- responsible adults don't do this, especially in someone else's home, on someone else's bedding.