Hi,
I can totally relate to your situation.
Just this week, I rented out a beautiful flat in London just to do some work in a creative environment.
My fiance was with me but he stayed in the bedroom doing his own work and resting whilst I was working in the living room.
We made sure to follow all of the hosts rules. We took our shoes off upon entering the flat, we kept noise to a minimum and the whole flat was kept extremely clean. We basically left it the way we found it. We treat homes we rent the same way we would treat our own home : with respect.
We thoroughly enjoyed our time in the flat. Everything was fine. We rented it for 1 night, but didn't stay the night. We left around 8pm the same day we entered the flat as we really just wanted a place to work that day.
Late this evening, around 10pm, the host contacts me with photos of the tap in the kitchen completely pulled out and asking me how it happened? I told her that it wasn't like that when we were in the flat and that we most definitely DIDN'T cause that damage. Why on earth would someone just decide to pull a tap out like that? What would possess someone to do that?
I washed some dishes the night before, but nothing was broken even in the slightest!
My fiance and I pride ourselves in being honest people. If we did cause that damage even by accident, we would be the first to contact the host and inform them of what happened and that we would sort it out. So to receive that message really surprised me as the tap wasn't like that when we left the house. The house was completely clean and spotless.
She responded and told me that it's odd because I was the last person there and asked me if I had other people with me. The only other person was my fiance and he was in the bedroom the whole time resting and working in bed whilst I was in the living room working. I informed her that we didn't even stay the night and left around 8pm the night before. Why did it take her that long to see a fault since checkout anyway is noon, but she contacted me around 10pm?
Is this some sort of trend where by some (not all) hosts want to try and steal money off customers by accusing them of damage they didn't cause?
I've only ever used Airbnb once prior to this stay and the previous host in Barcelona left us an amazing review and would welcome us back to his house if we are ever in Barcelona again .I am really worried that she's going to leave a terrible review that is false and that will put off future hosts that I might want to rent from .