Guest Broke Dishwasher but I didn't take pics to prove it

[Milena173]

Hi community!

Wondering if anyone has been through a similar situation to mine -

Walked into the house yesterday to clean after guests had checked out and the kitchen was flooded due to suds and water leaking from the dishwasher. I tended to it right away and once it was cleaned up, it was evident that the dishwasher was broken. I then sent a message to the guest letting him know that the dishwasher was broken and that I'd be in touch with next steps. Obviously, the guest denied it. Said they ran it twice but that it was working fine when they left. hmmmm...

The house was left in such a bad condition too - but that's besides the point. I now know that I should take up the claim with Airbnb resolution center (note: I don't have security deposit enabled). The thing is - I didn't take pics! I only took them after the dishwasher water levels were controlled, where you can still see that the lights are flashing and that it won't turn on/off, but no flood.

I have to cover plumbing fees + a complete new device, not to mention the extra effort cleaning the mess they made. The guest won't pay, and on top of that, has also taken matters into his own hands to protect himself by reporting me as a bad host due to very dirty home (he's lying lol I'm literally a superhost with beaming reviews of a sparkling clean house). 

Advice? I have to file a report by 4 PM EST today, as per Airbnb regulations, because my next guest arrives then. Would super appreciate any help you can offer!

[Emiel1]

@Milena173 

You should file the claim, before it runs out of time to do so, even allowed when no security deposit is available. Make sure any "threads' from the guest to write a bad review are recorded in the message system. But without proper proof it can be a hard to get the money!

(But if you don't make a claim, for sure nothing will happen).

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/279/what-is-the-airbnb-host-guarantee

Best regards,

Emiel

[Mark116]

@Milena173   Might as well file the claim and see what happens, but be prepared to get nothing.  Airbnb will want a receipt from the dishwasher purchase and an estimate on fixing it, and if the guests deny they broke it, you will have no proof that they didn't....

One thing we do, is take a video walk thru of the apartment before each guest, then after the review period of 14 days has elapsed we delete it. 

You could try messaging the previous guests to see if they used the dishwasher and they can confirm it was working fine when they left.  But, I wouldn't hold out much hope that airbnb will provide coverage here.