Broken stove top

Shelly67
Level 2
Carolina Beach, NC

Broken stove top

Hi! I just had a guest drop a bottle and crack the glass stovetop. Would this expense be something I should take out of their deposit?

6 Replies 6
Mike-And-Jane0
Level 10
England, United Kingdom

@Shelly67 Yes......but there is no deposit. Airbnb do not take a deposit - they just make it sound like they do.

You will need to claim from the guest and if they don't pay then escalate to Airbnb. Also it might be worth claiming from Airbnb's insurance (if that really exists) but you have to claim within 24 hrs (I think) or BEFORE the next guest checks in

Shelly67
Level 2
Carolina Beach, NC

Thx so much for this information! I have also always wondered about the deposit so you have cleared that up as well!

Ian-And-Anne-Marie0
Level 10
Kendal, United Kingdom

@Shelly67 

If you held the guest deposit in cash like other platforms do you could research the cost of the hob top and deduct that value from the deposit before returning the balance.

 

However, you don't hold the deposit and Airbnb don't hold the deposit, so your claim for damages will be a fight to recover. Airbnb will insist that the hob top is depreciated from the time it was purchased and you will end up with something in the region of 13% ( IIRC) of the replacement value . And then the guest has got to accept liability. And you are obviously pressed and in need a new hob top for your next guests arriving.

 

This is a recurring farce.

 

Check this thread: https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/1-500-in-damages-but-the-host-guarantee-won-t-cover-it/t... which has a similar theme.

 

The guest damage deposit and the Airbnb $1,000,000 Host Guarantee are nothing but hollow promises.

You'll find hollow promises are a regular occurance here.

 

@Catherine-Powell needs to add these to her list of 'transparency' issues, since the description of both the guest deposit and the Host Guarantee do not live up to their PR and Marketing value.

 

 

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0 

 

Yes, this seems to be a recurring farce according to a lot of posts here on the CC. However, I only once filed a claim when a guest broke an expensive front door lock. I only had to provide the quote from the locksmith to replace like for like and photos of the broken lock (the message thread with the guest also showed that this incidence had occurred, even though he still didn't want to pay for it). Depreciation was not taken into account at all. It was the cost of a new replacement + labour.

 

I was refunded the whole amount and the process was quick and simple. So, I'm not saying that is the case all of the time, but it is certainly worth a go if the damage is something significant.

@Huma0 

 

Why would this be the case? Why is there one rule for one asset and a different rule for another? It doesn't make sense.

 

Cynically, in the case of the broken hob top, in order to receive the full replacement value would quoting an exorbitant labour rate for hob fitting compensate for the unclaimed portion of depreciation for the asset? i.e. "Attest" the value of the hob and fitting as 500% ? (Since on another thread @Shelly67 has said she received only 20% of value for the broken hob top. 500x0.20= 100% payout).

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0 

 

I have no idea, but depreciation was never mentioned to me and I wasn't asked how old the lock was. The reimbursement was for the full cost of replacing it with a new one. RE the labour, I don't even know what that percentage was, as the locksmith didn't break it down and Airbnb never asked.

 

I think, as in most cases, it depends on the case rep you get. Perhaps the rep is also influenced by how many previous claims a host has made. That was the first for me after hundreds of guests.