Broken antique cane..

[Penelope4]

Hey, I've been renting out my quaint 500 y/o cottage in France for a couple of years and my very first guest through airbnb stayed last weekend. The cottage is very stylish with a mix of old and new. I have a small collection of antique walking canes that were in an umbrella stand for decoration. They are hand carved and some dated from the WW1. Someone has used one as a golf club (my guess) last weekend and snaped it. To add insult to injury it was just thrown outside next to the bin! The guest is not answering my emails. She also is a host so I guess she is holding out to get her deposit back. ANy thoughts what to do from here? If she had responded I would probably have let it slide but now I'm really ticked off... thanks 🙂

[Donna15]

@Penelope4, what an unfortunate occurrence. You're right about adding insult to injury. Sounds like the guest is trying to avoid you. 

Because you required no Security Deposit, you won't be able to claim for the damage. However, I would suggest that you contact AirBnB right away and tell them what happened.

In fact, she has already broken one of your House Rules (which I assume were in place when she booked).

Perhaps you can be compensated via the Resolution Center. 

Here's a useful thread/link.

https://community.airbnb.com/t5/General-Hosting/The-Resolution-Center-A-Community-Help-Guide-Request...

For the future, I strongly recommend you set a Security Deposit amount. I also advise having a more comprehensive and firm set of House Rules. You could mention, for instance, that the antique canes are for a decorative purpose only, and are not to be removed from the umbrella stand.