Damage by guests

[Rodica0]

I had holes in the wall, vomit in the sink, initials scratched in the furniture. Called Airbnb and explained that I had a guest coming in in three hours. I asked for their advice. They told me to do the best I can and I did. I cleaned the place luckily I had in the storage the joint compound to fix the holes in the wall, since the place was newly remodeled and updated. I am heartbroken that I am opening my place to people thinking that somehow there is a security deposit to cover this things, and here I am with my place vandalized and the guest is getting their security deposit. I sent pictures to prove all this and their response is that I should have not let anyone stay in the home until they made a decision. So I should have inconvenienced the next guest and cancel their vacation. Was not enough that this hooligans hurt me they would have hurt this other family and ruin their vacation by me having to cancel their vacation over the New Year Holiday. I respect my guest and I let them stay. This is ridiculous. What would you do, any suggestions.

[Kirstie]

Hi @Rodica0,

I'm sorry to hear about  your experience with these guests, I imagine it was upsetting. Have you tried requesting money from the guests through the Resolution Center? This Help Guide explains how it works.

I have moved your post here to a new thread, as it was getting lost in another discussion about another topic. It will be easier for other hosts to find it here and hopefully give you advice. I have also given it a title, please let me know if you want to change it!

I hope you can get this resolved, let us know how you get on.

Kirstie

[Andrea9]

@Rodica0

It's sad that some guests feel they are entitled to damaging something simply because they paid for it and because they can.

If a host doesn't have a security deposit in place it's very attractive to anybody who isn't interested in treating a property with due respect. The security deposit is not deducted from the guest account and in case of damage the host has to keep their fingers crossed that Airbnb actually doesn't take the guest's side  😞

It is however a signal to guests that they will be held responsible.

Having Instant Book turned on is something pushed way too hard imo by Airbnb as a positive. But as in politics it's always good to be wary if something is overly touted and to look behind the issue. The issue with IB is that you lose control of being able to vet guests. And don't believe they actually all read the house rules they automatically confirm upon booking! I ran a test this fall for a week, and the first booking I got was a blatant example of that. So end of experiment for me at that.

This means that depending on your settings for who is able to book, you will even have 18+ guests book your property to have a party, and if you don't live on the property you'll have no way of controlling or proving it. And your description of the damage certainly sounds like a party gone bad, just saying...

Important is always to take time-stamped photos of the damage as proof. I do hope that Airbnb will take your side, though I don't know if there is any damage restitution they can do since you do not have any security deposit in place.

[Parag0]

i 100% agree about that "instant confirmation" feature, it is NOTHING but an open endorsement to the ne'er-do-wells, they push it too hard, and it helped begrief me as well ... as i was afraid it would.  the way the promote it tricked me into activating it after i had to decline one request.  this instantantly booked a guest waiting, and at the penalty of shooting my listing, i accepted his request based on his review history.  well, the rest is history.  

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