Join me in class action against AirBnb for fraudulent promotion of host guarantee

[Jeffrey119]

We recently had a guest trash our house. We sucked up the extra cleaning etc but they broke a piece of furniture. We made a modest claim, we provided AirBnb with all of the documentation but they continually stonewalled usand finally said they were stopping communications. I turned this over to legal. They have reviewd everything and feel AirBnb misreprents to potential hosts their guarantee. We are looking for others with similar experiences. We are willing to pursue this alone but if we show this is a pattern we can not only get damages but prevent AirBnb from making claims to potential users that they have no intention of honoring.

[Zappa0]

@Rene-and-Zac0 how long ago was this?

[Tony134]

this was changed less than a year ago.

[James_JIM_0]

We have had similar issues included us please 

[David126]

@James_JIM_0

Class Action gets mentioned once a month or so on here, I assume they are just venting.

[Fred13]

This is a 'Catch 22' situation, IF (I repeat IF) Airbnb ever looses a 'Host Guarantee' case (outside of paying here and there to lessen bad publicity) is the day either of three things will happen:

1.  The 'Guarantee' is dropped and every host will have to get their own insurance, or risk go without. 

2.  If continue with it, the host fees will go up dramatically to cover the 'cost' of settlements now shared among all hosts (whether filed claims or not), in essence Airbnb takes the added role of an insurance company, the new  'premium' ALL hosts must pay to be even listed. They won't hit the guests since their 12%-15% guest fee is below their competitors, an edge they will, in all likelihood, not want to relinguish.

3.  Airbnb will allow true deposits to be collected by hosts (or administered by them) and then the 'Battle of Deposits' will commence. If handled by the host, then competition among hosts with or without may happen; if handled by Airbnb, we are right back to square one since Airbnb will again be the champion of the guest foremost.

Which door I am most afraid of? Door #2.

[David126]

Certainly would be possible to design something that was logical and honest in marketing but it would not have the good marketing feel of the current Host Guarantee.

[Lilly28]

David, what does it mean - ABB booking service?

Rebeca, what is Commercial insurance and what is the difference with Residential one?

I think that the Airbnb Guarantee is not something replacing Insurance. It is ment for emergency cases when your whole property is damaged and all furniture and design objects - stolen. In that case for the Garantee to be used you must have done your Insurance before.

But I have yet another question. I recently was payed the amount asked for a damage from the deposit I am asking from my guests. My great THANKS for the help provided from Airbnb! But I still cannot understand their rules - that is you can ask money to be paid from the deposit for a damage in the next 72 hours or untill the arrival of your next guest, whichever is earlier. And then - you have 90 days to make a claim for a damage when no deposit is involved. It turns out that you are allowed more time to make your claims when you are not having a deposit in your listing? Is that right?

[Rebecca181]

@Lilly0 Most residential property insurance will not cover short term rentals, which are seen as a commercial business. Some insurers may offer a 'rider', but most of these have strict limitiations (won't cover a lot of things, can't serve alcohol, won't cover damages guests do on neighbor's property, won't cover accidents if you provide bicycles, etc). It can be hard to find coverage for a short term rental, especially if it is your personal residence you are sharing. Proper Insure and C-Biz are two of the companies that will provide commercial coverage that also covers your residence.

Another thing to consider: If you took a residential mortgage out on your home and if this mortgage is also tied to your short term rental, the home may not be covered by your residential insurance if a guest causes the damage, which is a big problem for the mortgage lender who holds your loan. So it is important to have insurance that covers both the residence and the commercial aspects of the residence (e.g., the Airbnb portion of the home). In the UK, lenders were actually pulling their mortgages from people running short term rentals. In the U.S., there are insurance companies who dropped coverage when they found out the home-owner had a short term rental - Usually this happened when the owner called the insurer to ask about coverage. They were instantly dropped and had no coverage at all. Fortunately, residential insurers are offering more riders to home-owners, but for me, they did not provide enough coverage. This is why I went with Proper Insure. They had the best coverage, and this helps me to sleep well at night and to have TRUE 'Peace of Mind' - The Peace of Mind we are supposed to be getting with the 'Host Protection Guarantee' - But aren't.

[Tony134]

A guest could bring pests, infest your entire house with fleas or bed bugs, and Airbnb at most would offer you $100.  It's insane how dishonest the guarantee is.

This actually happened to me.  I've hosted over 1,000 guests with airbnb and never made a claim, and they do NOTHING.

[Lisa1015]

I have also had a similiar experience. There was damage and airbnb refused to take money from the guests deposit because the guest stated they did not cause the damage! And yes, I had photos, comments from the housekeeper about what she found etc. 

[David126]

It is unsusal for AirBnb to process a claim unless the Guest agrees. 

If the Guest does not agree then no doubt the first thing they will do is cancel the CC so nothing to process it against anyway.

[Fred13]

   The whole subject of the guest vs. host is a complex problem. For starters, there is the reality of the 'Terror of Social Media': an angry lunatic guest can cause a lot of good-will damage to a company, even about an issue with no merit, but just by getting on the podium of every social-media outlet; of course the media loves these cases, anything for sensationalism to separate themselves from the other hundred outlets also looking for a unique angle. The guest (Joe public) has zero to loose.

   Converserly, a host will never get into such a crusade, because they are still listed with Airbnb.

[Kerry85]

I like to ensure my Guests are aware that I will be there daily.

Although I value their privacy, I also like to know if something is going to go wrong.

I have a home with heated swimming pool and set up for 10 guests.

I always decline the request for 10 adults for one night stay, with no picture profile and limited or no reveiws. If they have some history and a couple of children in the mix, I would determine that they are a better risk.

AirBnb will probably penalise me for this, but I reckon an ounce of prevention is a pound of cure

[Fara6]

@Jeffrey119 I'd be very interested in joining.. I've been dealing with the Trust & Security dept for weeks now with a claim over $5k.  They have pretty much stopped communicating, exactly on queue from alot of what I have read.  I trusted that A) their Host Guarentee actually meant something and B) that when I talked to a Customer Service Rep, they told me that they would hold $3k on the Guests Credit Card as a base "Security Deposit" if needed and only charged after the fact.  I have tons of pics, documentation, emails, poice reports, etc..

Happy to chat about it.   Mike

[Baotran0]

Hallo Hosts,

I'm writing as traveller who has been using Airbnb for 2 years. I had no problem with this service until today i heard from a friend that Airbnb is really bad service. They took Security Deposit from my friend without solving problem. (Problem was my friend said some stuff in the Apartment was broken before they stay)

So when I read your discussion here, look like Airbnb took Security Deposit from Guest and not paying for the host, look like Airbnb took advandtage both sides...

My question is when I check in an Apartment, How can I prove or avoid the situation that something in the house does not working or already broken before I stay? Should I go around n check with host if all furnitures are ok? but what if when i checked out the host still say that I broke the Aparment but in deed it was broken before. What can i do to prevent this happended?

Best regards.