I've just had an incident showing that the Airbnb host guarantee and security deposit is utterly pointless and is definitely not there if you need it. I had guests who decided they would only leave when they felt like it and when they did I discovered my sofabed frame was bent and broken and I had to leave the new guests waiting on the doorstep while I prepared the flat because the problem guests were so late checking out. There were messages between myself and the problem guests showing that there was an issue with the sofa bed and I took photos as soon as I discovered the damage. The metadata details within the photo clearly shows the date/time and location where they were taken and therefore pinning the damage to the problem guest.
Airbnbs response: We're not paying because it needs to be reported before a new guest checks in because otherwise theres "confusion" over which guest has caused the damage!
Even though there was no time between guests to report it because of the guest not checking out on time, even though I reported it promptly afterwards, even though the messages within airbnb between myself and the guest indicated there was an issue with the sofabed and the photos and photo metadata prove it, airbnb just said NO!
I have to say I've really no faith in airbnb after 3-4 years of hosting, all they care about is keeping the guest happy and washing their hands of any problems and not taking any responsibility for issues caused to their hosts. I've even just discovered they don't even take a damage deposit from the guest even if you set it in the listing, it's actually just a scare tactic used to scare guests into not damaging things but in reality doesn't exist! What are the options for hosts? Take a deposit directly from guests refunded at your own discretion? Quit airbnb in favor of long term tenants? Duplicate your listing on rival platforms? For me I've had enough of it now so I'm going to take long-term tenants for 6-9 months of the year and only do airbnb during the high season when you can charge a rate that makes you able to swallow the losses incurred by airbnbs failings and lack of responsibility. I'm also going to insist that guests send me an additional deposit through the airbnb platform send/request money feature and then ask them to request it back through the resolution center afterwards because airbnbs process cannot be trusted. Does anyone know of any good alternatives to airbnb in the UK? I want to set up listings on some other sites too.