Problem with Airbnb Host Guarantee: hosts beware!!

[Valentina32]

Dear Hosts,

I have been a host for many years and recently found myself in a situation where a group of guests caused considerable damage to my property.

I submitted my request to Airbnb on time and according to guidelines and after two weeks of back and forth where Airbnb asked me to provide a sizeable amount of documents to prove the damage, I was told that my Host Guarantee payment request had been declined as it was not possible to determine the guest's liability for the damages.

This is more than disappointing  as it means that unless you can prove your guest was directly responsible for the damage (by taking a picture of the damage while it is happening? by installing CCTVs in your property?) Airbnb will not cover you. When I raised this point I was told that they are sorry but Airbnb reserves the right to make the final determination with regard to these disputes.

What this tells me is that the Airbnb Host Guarantee is not exactly what they lead us to believe and the deposit they hold for you (which should be held on your behalf exactly for situations like this one) is little more than a joke.

I do not feel as safe leaving my house in the hands of strangers which could damage it without consequences.

Please be careful and assume that Airbnb will not cover for your damages and take extra precautions to protect your property.

If anyone else had similar experiences please share!

Valentina

[Andrew262]

 Sorry, this had to happen to you also Adam.Air BNB  top management won't be oblivious to the scam that is taking place especially because they endorse the false advertising  of a host Guarantee  and are reaping the scam money they save not honoring there promise to honor host guarantee   The complaints seem to go to some dept then they might end up in Singapore they will generally give you reply after reply just rhetoric scam language wasting your time. What you can do is take them to court in your country 

[Maria3388]

I am not on twitter, but am interested in joining the cause.  I have been a victim of guests violating house rules and causing over 10K in damages that I had to come out of pocket for in order to avoid cancelling bookings.  This has put my family in a financial hardship.   https://linkedin.com/m-copeland-mba

[Sasha95]

Valentina!! Thank you for sharing. I'm going through the exact same thing. 

I had a reservation for 4 guests, which ended up being 41 guests. I counted on my surveillance cameras the following day. 

This group trashed my house, had a party, smoked cigarettes and weed in my home, and I even found a meth pipe!!! 

In my rules, I state- "no parties ", "no smoking", and I charge $40 per person. I sent the request through for the reservation. The guest told me that she was sorry and didn't have any money. 

There were several things damaged, missing, etc (one including my stainless steel glass cook top stove.. the top was shattered) 

After more than 3 weeks I'm still getting the run around. I don't know what to do!? Every time I contact airbnb, they tell me, "a specialist will reach out very soon. We can't imagine your frustration and thank you so much for your patience" ..  then nothing until I call or message again. 

How did your issue resolve? It sounds like you were dealing with the same thing that I'm dealing with. 

[Mark1416]

I agree, I had a similar issue. AirBNB is awful. I am stopping renting my unit through them and moving over to VRBO. It is much safer to have a real security deposit. AirBNB has been the worst through this process. Very frustrating

[Kevin1056]

I dont like VRBO... Its too easy to scam people .

[Kevin1056]

Over the last several years I have been reimbursed thousands of dollars from the host Guarantee system... My reccomendation is this Take Updated pictures as often as possible. Updated pictures are key... 2nd Keep reciepts for prices that you paid for items. 3rd and the most important File Questions and repy to answers quickly. Speed is the most important thing. Also if major things are Broken Files a Police report and send it to AirBnb...

Where most people and including the CS representatives  give up is on time these things drag out and people just dont care anymore. AirBnb Customer service is gettting worse because their company is growing so many reps are "Green" and dont really care. Also we "Hosts" have jobs and lives and work that needs to be done and taking 50 Photos of every scratch and getting estimates of repairs takes tons of time.

I wont say that the Host guarantee is a Scam, but I will say to get reimbursed is very very challenging and requires speed, persistence and patience.

[Warren86]

IE - SCAM... Any host who has even attempted it will tell you. 

[Heather-and-Bruce0]

I was afraid I'd find many others in a similar boat.

On March 16, 2019 guests (in their sixties, mind you) checked out and mentioned that on March 12, 2019 a leak had started through the bathroom light fixture. They "didn't think it was a big deal" and "put a towel under it" for two days while we encountered a catastrophic wind, hail and rain storm. So for five days the leak went on and we had no knowledge. Our House Rules very clearly state that any maintenace issues are to be immediately reported to us.

I have gotten less than zero support from AirBnB. We have a $5,000US  interior repair bill because the guests simply didn't care enough to tell us. Had we been notified promptly, we wouldn't have to tear out two walls of our guest house to repair the drywall and insulation.

Today I received a generic email from the "Trust" department that basically said they won't do anything. And one of the AirBnB emails I received actually said, "Pray for the guest and let karma do the rest!" REALLY?????

So, as much as I appreciate the ease of the AirBnB platform and interface, we are sorely disappointed in this company. Karma is a bitch, AirBnB.

[Warren86]

Indeed, only need to experience the brain dead robots "assistance" once to really the scam!!! +15% commission, aka "booking fees". Security deposit is just a tick box. Avoid and leave, plenty of alternatives.

Yes karma is a bitch, hence the numbers of hosts leaving and updated clause of non liability to class actions suits. They know it and are panicking. Airbnb will collapse, like I said,only one damaged item and the scam is exposed!!

[Maria3388]

I have had a couple bad experiences where guests violated the no party policy and Airbnb made it impossible to recover damages by requesting unreasonable documentation like the receipt for wood flooring that was included in my builder upgrades when I built my home.  They requested receipts for towels that the guests destroyed when they ruined my yard and sprinkler system.  They requested receipts for my sprinkler system and also the sod that they spun up when they parked in the grass and dug into as a result of having their car stuck.  I feel betrayed.

[Laura--Laurici-0]

I rent out 2 rooms, in the apartment where I live. Guests have their own bedrooms, a toilet shared by the guests only,  and we all share the halway,  the shower and the kitchen.

I just had a damage in my bathroom, not a very big deal (broken shower holder brack), about 30 US dollars. 

The guy says he didn't, refuses to pay and  blamed it on the other guest that had already checked out... Airbnb says the Host Guarantee doesn't cover damages in the common areas, so the guest has not duty to refund me! 

Now I wonder, if a guest burns down or destroy my kitchen, my shower, my hallway, the guest balcony or any common space, what do I do?  The host Guarantee is inexixtent and won't cover anything. 

The guest pays for the damage if he wants to...not pressure from Airbnb...They should change the name and call it Guest Guarantee. The damage deposit is just a joke...we cannot get any refund from there. 

Don't blame people that dares to install CCTV!  

[Jason959]

I wanted to post on this b/c recently i actually had success w the guarantee...but i was wondering if others had similar.  I had HUGE damage to my property.  Long story short, a guest defecated in the bed/toilet and ultimately stopped up the toilet, left the property to go home and left the toilet running...all on the 2nd floor.  Poo water dripped into the ceiling on 1st floor and ruined the bathroom on 2nd floor.  After some back and forth and a TON of documentation...they actually paid me for the damages.  They do NOT cover missed rent opportunity if you have to major work like i did.  So it covered my costs but not my time or lost revenue.  Not a fun experience, but they did pay $12k which was about the amount of damage.

[Joe727]

AirBNB does not support hosts at all, I had the exact same experience recently. 

[Lisa1995]

They will not allow you to take a bond however they will not pay if the guest damages your property.

We are starting a class action in Melbourne, email me on lisathomasluca@icloud.com

[Jaime345]

Keep fighting them. Tell them their decision is unacceptable and you expect them to honor their host guarantee policy. I am in a similar situation. I had horrible damage done to my home where the damages are around $11,000. They paid for the repairs ($3700) and then decided to compensate us $500 for the rest. I've had to fight them for every penny. They origially told us there would be no compensation. I had to escalate it. I refuse to get my own insurance when they have a policy in place. They are choosing to ignore it. This cant go on. It will come around and bite them. People don't take **bleep** forever.