Dama

[Jessica141]

A recent AirB&B guest damaged three things:

1)  Wore a very nice coat of mine and smeared Halloween makeup on the sleeve. It will need dry cleaned.

2)  Tore up a window screen femoving it and jamming it in sideways. It will need replaced.

3)  Ruined a portion of the laminate by leaving a garbage bag with leaking beer cans/bottles in the foyer where it leaked into the seams, bucking them up. Have a repairman coming this week to see if he can match the floor or if the whole floor will need replaced.

Do I submit multiple different damage claims or lump them all together into one request?  AirB&B info regarding this is unclear.

[Linda108]

I think you would submit a single claim because it is about a single reservation, right?  I am wondering how the guest got your coat, @Jessica141.  I think if you generously lent it to her and she damaged it, you would not be able to claim the cleaning.  Kind of a lender beware rule.  The other aspects of the damages are about the space that is your business.  However, have you contacted the guest about the damages allowing the guest to assume responsibility?  That is the first step and you might include the coat at that point in case the guest is a responsible one.

Good luck!

[Jessica141]

Thank you for your reply. I suppose I could have made the borrowing of the coat clearer in my original post. We AirB&B our apartment (half of a duplex) when we are out of town, as was the case here. I seldom even meet my guests, I was not present at the time this guest was here. Coat was left on a peg in the hallway coat rack. Not intended for guest use nor any explicit permission given nor intended, and I have never had an issue with people wearing my clothing before.

The couple in the other half of the duplex says this is the first time that a guest was "very loud," which annoys me but which damages little except my good faith with my duplx neighbors. This guest apparently also had three cars and multiple people at my apartment. There is evidence that many more people slept here than had been originally contracted and that a large amount of alcohol was consumed.

[Cormac0]

@Linda108

Do you not think that Airbnb should be doing this work considering the hefty fee there getting and the ZERO liabilities they seem to have?

[Linda108]

Doing what work, @Cormac0?  

[Cormac0]

@Linda

The work in dealing with Airbnb clients, unless its escaped your notice no contract exists between the Guest and Host the contracts are as follows.

Guest and Airbnb

Airbnb and Host

ergo Airbnb should seek redress from their client i.e. (Guest) for damages done to Airbnb service provides (Host) property.

It all smoke and mirrors with Airbnb...

Regards

Cormac

[David126]

I agree with @Linda108, go through the process with the Guest, escalate if needed, just be aware that claiming anything seems very difficult.

[Jessica141]

Indeed, the "fine print" seems intimidating. I've sent a message to the guest mentioning the damages and letting him know I'm gathering estimates but we have not heard back from him. Once we have bids, I'll put in a "Request Money" for "Damaged or missing items" directly with the Guest. As I understand it, the Guest has 72 hours to reply and "come to a resolution." If no resolution is reached, we submit a claim through the Resolution Center, at which point AirB&B becomes more directly involved. I'm trusting the system and assuming that if the Guest proves unhelpful then AirB&B will live up to its guarantees.

What's frustrating at this point is the large amount of time I'm having to spend trasking down things like screen repair/replacement shops and getting bids from floor repair people. There's also the time I've had to spend reading the 23 pages of guarantee fine print.  ***Did not sign up for any of that.***  But I'm equaly upset about not having any clear way to contact AirB&B customer service to ask for advice. I don't feel I should have to resort to asking "The Community" whether I need to file one or three claims in this instance. You would think the answer to this question should be someplace obvious; I can't be the first person to incur multiple damages due to an irresponsible Guest. I've even resorted to using the AirB&B "Post Feedback" link to ask this question but have not heard anything from that inquiry yet. So I'm following the procedures laid out in the 23 pages of intimidating fine print and we'll see...

[Fred13]

@Cormac0The 'hefty' fee you alluded to is a whopping 3% (flexible policy). The pragmatic initial approach @Linda suggested was a good one, and the host had nothing to loose by trying.

@Jessica, good luck with your quest; I suggest you keep your expectations at a minimum, for the damages are small and the possibility of frustration, which you are already experiencing, is very high. The 'Host Guarantee' sounds a bit more 'hopeful' than what, in reality, it turns out to really be.

[David126]

They take about 15% from my bookings, Moderate.

[Cormac0]

@Fred

Yes Fred, I think that's a large fee, considering it is my opinion that Airbnb should be paying Hosts a retainer fee for keeping our property available at their disposal to make money for them wheatear we get bookings or not.

In the last 10 months I have lost money with Airbnb as compared to long term rental, yet they've made money on every transaction.

[Linda108]

I am pretty sure that your business model does not include donating money to Air BNB, @Cormac0, 😄 so I am wondering why you continue with this platform.  I am as successful as I want to be, but if that were to cease, I would leave.  

[Cormac0]

@Linda

It's about timing Linda, I've already pulled one of my Airbnb five-star listing and my journey with Airbnb is ending shortly, I surely, can't be the only person losing money with Airbnb!

I can completely understand if your making money hand over fist, why wouldn't you be eulogising this smoke and mirror operation but alas experience has shown me it's more a mirage then real, and they keep on adding more Hosts because Airbnb have nothing to lose.

It would appear they want to drive standards up (not a bad thing) and drive prices down, this is not a mix that works if you're the property owner that is, but for Airbnb who have no skin in the game its ideal.

I got a fantastic review form my last Guest explaining that my place was one of the best AirBnb he's stayed in so far why wouldn't he say that, staying in a 55m2 two bedroom spotlessly clean apartment within walking distance of the main square for euros 27 night with all utilities included in the price. Yet Airbnb tell me to reduce the price further to increase my occupancy and lose even more money.

Yet every single booking Airbnb is making money on the backs of us suckers, and in my opinion the system is broken, no amount of investment will give you a decent return if the prices are being driven down and the market is being saturated with new players.

[David126]

I set my own prices, I get junk mail from lots of sources I use including AirBnB, delete. Problem solved.

Much of it is amusingly contradictory.

The next month or so is my dead period, so I am expecting lots of pricing suggestions. Wish I could turn them off.

[Edwin57]

Little thing don't make them big it will get worst you know what I mean just work it out with your self to see if is worth it if you feel is not worth it good luck it come with the job not personal