Bad guests damage to property and being penalised / losing Superhost for cancelling the reservation

[Daniel553]

I have just opened a resolution in order to claim for the damages caused by the last Airbnb guests 

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/resolutions/2121905

I thought i should follow this up and make you aware.

I also want to communicate with someone at Airbnb about how dreadful this experience was for me, and how it has affected us, and left us not wanting to use Airbnb again for hosting.   Not being able to contact the customer support person i last spoke with, is very frustrating.

As you are already aware, these guests broke the rules by having guests over every day of their stay. They have also caused £300 worth of damage and taken the spare keys with them.   Realistically i should probably have to change the locks but that will be costly and I’m more concerned with damage limitation at this stage.

Resolution aside, this experience has rocked my confidence in using your service.   I have turned down the last 3 reservation requests and I am thinking of pulling the whole advert down and ceasing to use your service.  The experience ruined my dream holiday and caused me untold stress and it’s not over yet!!

One of the things which is most upsetting is the fact that I was on course to gain Superhost status before this happened.  Now, because I cancelled the reservation whilst it was active, I am to be penalised by taking this away from me, through no fault of my own.

Like i said, all this has left me not wanting to use Airbnb again, so let’s see how this is resolved, and what Airbnb can do if they want to keep a customer like me.

Wish you all the best regardless of the outcome (and thank you once again for coming to the rescue when i was stuck on the other side of the world)

Daniel

[Karen-and-Brian0]

Hi @Daniel553 Sorry to hear about your trouble - as a fellow host, I know how terribly devastating this is. You've posted in the Community Forum, which is not staffed by Airbnb support, but is a forum for hosts & guests to ask questions, offer support and solutions to common (and not so common) problems. 

You will likely receive a response from someone at Airbnb support concerning your resolution claim and be able to communicate your concerns as posted here, but if you'd like to reach someone sooner, all ways to contact Airbnb support are HERE - I think Twitter gets the fastest repsonse these days. I hope that helps and best of luck in getting this sorted to your satisfaction. Karen

[Liz172]

@Daniel553Your post resonates with me deeply - I had the worst booking from 3 weeks ago by a guest who broke my shower panel and damaged my bathroom floor in due course. I suggested to the guest that while accidents happen, she was at least partially responsible. She denied and threatened to complain to Airbnb about the flat being in a state of 'disrepair' when the only other item that really was broken on her arrival was a door knob that was loose and was fixed within a day of her check in.

The guest proceeded to suggest to me one night as I was microwaving dinner that I was being too loud - as a result she made me feel quite uncomfortable and I requested that she move out and the days n ot spent were refunded - which is reasonable. I submitted a resolution request for the damages she caused, along with all documentation, eg photos, repair / replacement invoices, and estimate for the floor. All was provided to Airbnb and they denied the c£300 request by repeatedly saying that there is no 'official'documentation without explaining why - I supplied invoices/receipts as provided by merchants, I also went back to the bathroom repair person and requested that they include additional information and resubmitted it. These invoices are VAT receipts to an HMRC accepted standard. These have gone to Airbnb and again denied as they are not able to verify it when I know that they have not attemped to verify it as my repair person would have told me.

Saga not over - guest proceeds to leave a review 90% lies and fabricated info, she even accuses me of threatening her. Again airbnb is not able to do anything. Note that this guest had 0 reviews on my booking even though she had been a member for several years, I had 88 prior to her staying. I will be more wary of 0 reviews in the future and for someone who clearly was not using Airbnb for the first time.

At this point I am not sure what to do, I have suffered financial loss, nontrivial, but the time spent is already not worth it, though I continue as a matter of principle.I have tried email response@airbnb.com, facebook and twitter - they all say final decision has been rendered.

Second, no one should be able to make up false info about you and post it in a public forum. It is just wrong and Airbnb is not able to do anything about it as supposedly their content policy was not violated.

[Bruce43]

that bloody sucks,the guest from hell is a leach on all the hosts,sorry about your problem mate

@Daniel553

[Daniel553]

More upset with Airbnb's lack of response.  I thought they had us covered if this type of thing happened.  They proclaimed their host guarantee??

[Daniel553]

I dont think i posted the details of my  very carefully but i'll summarise the situation that i've found myself in

I've been attacked by an non-airbnber / 1st time service user.

They have caused me untold stress and i have incurred more costs that the sum of their stay.

Airbnb have been **bleep**ing **bleep** and have not acted in anyway caring or proactive or EVEN GIVEN A **bleep**.

I gold told i had to submit receipts which were estimated fairly and probably wouldnt have covered the full cost of repairing the things, because im not trying to score out of it.  I was **bleep**ing airbnb raped (apologies for the use of the word but its the nearer description i can find to how violated i was by these guests staying in my house.

I had to submit these paperworks within 72 hours - thanks airbnb, you want me to do it quicker than you ever respond.

Its a real shame but im off 

Thats not looking after your community

[Liz172]

@Daniel553 I've been exploring alternates, trying Widmu and Booking.com. Are you using alternatives to share your room?

[Emma94]

You got my sympathy but Airbnb will not be of much help in this case. You're better off seeking a legal action against this individual.

[Daniel553]

I love Vietnam btw.  Was able to stay there for a while last year whilst i airbnb'ed my place to pay for it.   Thats the bit of Airbnb im going to miss if they dont magically come and fix this **bleep** for me

[David126]

The AirBnB Host Guarantee has an Arbitration Clause for situations like this.

[Emma94]

How many people have successfully used that clause? There are plenty of cases where hosts were unable to get reimbursement for damages caused by unruly guests.

[David126]

@Emma94

I do not know, I have looked and have yet to find someone who has mentioned they have, a lot of unhappy people, threats to take it to their Lawyers so I assume it has happened.

[Daniel553]

Why havent they protected me?

[Daniel553]

Why havent they protected me?

[Emma94]

I'm predicting a class action suit coming real soon. Airbnb will not last if they keep this up. Just a matter of time before the law and other legal issues start to catch up to them. You can see it's already happening with them asking people to collect taxes. This model will not last long. It's no different than Groupon