Host guarantee bull**bleep** when guests damage your property, be aware!

[Natasha0]

If you are curious about what happens when guests cause damage to your property read below:

1. we had a guest that dragged furniture while we were in the house (small chest of drawers, we could hear him dragging it) which we didn't do anything as it was quite late in the evening, we both felt very uncomfortable with what was happening and that is was very late in the evening.
2. Next day guests checks out, we are preparing the room just before the new guest arrives and paid attention to where the chest of drawers is and notice a very long couple of scratches on the floor with the trail where it was moved to from and to
3. We take pictures and talk to a flooring company next day while our new guest is out to get a quote to repair and communicate this to airbnb
4. Airbnb tell us they can't do anything about it because it was not reported on the same day. We are both busy individuals working full time and expecting a baby, we also at times have our relatives helping with checkin and checkout. This demand from airbnb is unreasonable to say the least!
5. we call airbnb and cannot speak to anyone besides people reading scripts, we try to get to speak to someone that can understand our situation but keep being promised a call back which never happens. This is not the first time we had to call airbnb for some sort of emergency and we are always let down. Airbnb is non existent on teh support side, you are on your own.

So, the host guarantee is just bull**bleep**,  we have hosted more than 300 people over 3 years and the ONLY time we asked about it when we had damage to our house, Airbnb first refuses to acknoledge and second treat us as we are amauteurs and don't know what we are doing. We could not yet speak to a supervisor or a decision maker at airbnb, we just speak to people reading scripts over the phone.

So the alternative now is to first make everyone aware of this, I'll spare no effort voicing this case on social media and other channels. We are based in London, so I'll make sure to make this reach out to all other hosts that believe they are safe. Time to reach out those tabloids.

Your property is not safe, you will eventually get damage to your nicely decorated house and Airbnb will tell you they won't do anything about it.

[Huma0]

@Christine615

I think this is a good point. I had a similar experience where a guest broke my quite expensive front door lock (cost to replace like for like with keys was over £400). I also did not report it to Airbnb before the next guest checked in because I had to get a locksmith round to assess the situation and get back to me with a quote. Even though I called the locksmith straight away, the whole process took a day or so and the guest was already gone.

However, I did IMMEDIATELY contact the guest via the Airbnb messaging system to inform him that he had broken the lock.

Although the guest did not want to pay anything towards the damages, Airbnb decided to refund me the money. I have no idea if they took the guest's deposit or not or if the whole amount came out of their insurance, as that information was not provided, but they did agree to pay me the exact amount quoted by the locksmith.

[Clint-and-Kendall0]

Great point, Christine. Messaging the guest about the damage as soon as you see it during clean up/turning the room around for your next guest is a great way to prove to Airbnb later which guests were responsible for the damage.

[John1080]

What's up with guests moving furniture? I've had guests move things around a few times and although I've not yet had any damage from it, it really gets on my nerves. I would never dream of going to someone's home, AirBnb or not and moving furniture! 

[Sarah977]

John- (can't tag you) I had some friends (not guests) over for a barbeque one night, and while we women were in the kitchen preparing the salad, the guys decided that it woud be a great idea to reposition my clay barbeque, complete with the fire going in it. The top part of the barbeque above the metal ring encomapassing it that they were trying to move it by, broke off , rendering it garbage. 

I was pretty upset and said "Guys, did it never occur to you that when someone has something that weighs a hundred pounds, that it's probably situated exactly where they want it? And that maybe you should ask before attempting to move it?"

[Helen3]

Oh dear with friends like that..... 🙂 😞

[Wendy425]

This behaviour infuriates me - I read it as a deliberate jab at my house decorating skills ie we know better, The damage that has been caused has been considerable over the decade of my hosting - walls floors, arms and legs. If only they would lift and not drag. And armchairs and  sofas later I could say thousands have been spent on this very disrespectful behaviour. No furniture is designed to be rearranged 3 times in a fortnight as has just happened to me.

[Sarah977]

@Wendy425  For those who find their guests drag furniture around and scratch up the floors, is it not possible to put non-scratch gliders under the furniture? I know you don't want guests re-arranging the furniture, nor should they, but it's protection in case they do. Of course if they bash the arms into things, there's not much that can be done to protect against that. 

[Ava30]

My husband has a theory about people rearranging the furniture, the dishes in the cabinets, etc. (Against our House Rules). He thinks they are trying to make the environment "Theirs" with no thought, of course, that it isn't "Theirs" in the first place and they should show more respect. I would never ever consider rearranging someone's home under any circumstances. Or their business for that matter (Happens on a regular basis at my business as well, a Family Entertainment Center and also against the rules<sigh>) it says something about the decay of common decency and good manners. I know it isn't gone altogether but it sure seems to hide well 😕 

[Pete69]

"Airbnb tell us they can't do anything about it because it was not reported on the same day. "

Interesting. I shoot video of the room before check in but I never knew about this fine print detail regarding after checkout. Duly noted.

[Ephraim0 · Accepted solution]

Hi @Pete69 @Natasha0 @Linda108 @John1080 @Huma0 So far I’ve received reasonable and fair treatment from Airbnb. Although thank goodness there’s really been nothing major that required me to seek Airbnb for support of a serious issue. Again personally so far I have no complaints mostly my experience with Airbnb has been positive.

what scares me are the many established  superhosts who have hosted for years who are posting similar complaints about Airbnb ruling against them in various and seemingly unfair ways. Or denying them insurance coverage or proper protections from guests. 

Normally I think there’s two sides to every story, and as I’ve had positive experiences with Airbnb support I’m truly confused by the many complaints and the many concerns Repeatedly voiced in these forums by superhosts-who have a long positive hosting history and are complaining about what seems to be unjust treatment from the company. Each time it appears at least according to their telling of events that their long positive and responsible history with the company is meaningless. Their concerns are disregarded, they are ruled against, the insurance coverage is denied or some random schmuck guest made an allegation that screwed them either

finiancially or their reputation.

I keep trying to tell myself maybe there’s something I’m missing - but again these are well established highly reviewed and clearly dedicated  superhosts often who have been hosting years without issue, who are repeatedly reaching out and sharing similar  stories. Something seems wrong. Am I missing something?

[Sarah977]

@Ephraim0  I don't know that you're missing something- it just seems by these type of reports we read, that the quality of guests that airbnb is now attracting seems to have gone down, and the level of customer service has gone down as the company has boomed. Whereas guests were formerly required to post an actual profile photo, now they can have a grey sillouette, a cartoon character, or their cat- they can make bookings without airbnb actually ensuring that their credit cards are valid and active, and support is farmed out to the Phillipines, with support staff being given inadequate training, or not being particularly fluent in English. It also seems like corporate attitude has changed- when they first started they were really big on promoting their concept of the "sharing economy" and how it can broaden everyone's experience, etc. etc. Now they only seem to be concerned with profits, and for some strange reason, which eludes me, don't appear to be at all concerned about all the "airbnb hell" stories circulating on the internet. I guess their finances are okay and growing, so why should they care? seems to be about it.

Also I think there's a lot of info going around on the internet about how guests can get a free stay- "Just complain about something and you'll get your money back". And a perception on the part of some that you can do whatever in an airbnb. A friend has a big airbnb vacation rental next to her with off-site host. It has lots of yahoo guests- yelling and screaming drunk in the pool until 3AM. She had asked the guests to tone it down one day- that it was a residencial neighborhood and they needed to be respectful. She's very soft spoken and polite and I happened to be standing there when she spoke to them. One guy's response was "It's an Airbnb rental !" as if that meant acting like animals was perfectly acceptable. His buddy looked embarrassed and said he'd talk to everyone and make sure it didn't happen again and apologized for the noise.

That said, like you, I've not had problem guests about whom I've had to involve airbnb ( I've actually had consistently lovely guests, but I host a room in my home, which is different than whole house listings) and the issues I have had, mostly tech issues, were resolved, albeit slower and more frustratingly ( "Yes, of course  I've checked that my text message Inbox isn't full, and no, it has nothing to do with my phone provider- Airbnb has just stopped sending me my notifications- it's a tech glitch, please report it to your tech dept. ") than I would have liked. But I also understand how many hosts and guests they have to deal with and try to be patient.

[Ephraim0]

Thanks @Sarah977 I think you provided a very logical and reasonable explanation. Fast growth, and the resulting impersonal bureaucracy seem like a valid explanation. Not an acceptable excuse but certainly an explanation. Thanks.

as for your soft spoken friend who is suffering because of an absentee host my advice - the minute someone infringes upon my quality of life because of their irresponsible management of an Airbnb next door I’d call the cops. Undoubtedly if she does that once or twice the incompetent insensitive absentee host will make certain to manage his rental property responsibly. If I walked out of my home to nicely tell unmananaged disrespectful vacationers to keep it down, and some idiots response to me “it’s an Airbnb rental” that would be the end of the conversation-  911 would be dialed so he would learn that I’m an actual resident. The nerve of some people - you’re friend sounds like a person that’s far too kind. Further if issues continued I’d continue calling the cops and lodging written complaints to Airbnb. I’m a host and certainly an advocate for hosts - but an idiot like that ruins hosting for all of us, guests, hosts, and the community. 

[Sarah977]

@Ephraim0 Good advice, except we're in Mexico, where the cops may or may not show up for such a complaint, and where noise is largely accepted by the Mexicans (so the cops might not consider it a big enough deal), and where there are really no enforced noise bylaws.

My friend, though soft-spoken, tactful and polite, is actually not a pushover, and her husband, who doesn't look like someone you'd want to mess with (but is in reality a super sweet guy) has yelled some very strong language over there at 3 in the morning sometimes. They are long.time hosts themselves, altho they use several platforms, and are adept at vetting their guests and run a tight ship.

Thye've had some success talking to the property manager, and emailing the owner, resulting in the present guests behaving themselves, but these animal groups still show up from time to time.

[Ephraim0]

@Sarah977 That awful... even from time to time- 

in Mexico I’d personally meet with the local police chief and provide the necessary gratuity to enforce my right to peace of mind. Further Mexico, America or China I’d start a very strong corporate communication with Airbnb and insist that these issues no longer happen and they take charge of the situation. But that’s me I would have little tolerance for people that make profit while ruining my home sanctuary. I hope she finds a way to end it permanently even if the host is forced to remain on site or hire someone to stay on site and provide the necessary oversight. 

[Mary996]

@Ephraim0 Totally agree. Wear down the perpetrators, not us. Can't stand anti-social behaviour. In UK Environmental Health can be added to the weaponry. Improvement needed there too though as hoops to jump through which need removing (someone has to sit in your house to witness the nuisance. Its quite a thing but could be worth it).