Hello, I had three guests, including a child, who stayed at my Airbnb apartment in Graz in November. Following the departure of the guests, I found that the windows had not been opened and the heating was turned up to maximum, which had caused mould to grow extensively around the bedroom walls and windows, as well as the kitchen windows. A (new) spare mattress that I had laid out was also covered with mould. The extent of the damp was clear from the fact that all of the lights but one had burned out, which the guests themselves pointed out while they were still there. Moreover, I even have written confirmation from previous guests that there was no mould in the flat previously. I investigated the causes of mould, which I had not appreciated could grew so quickly. I received written confirmation from a mould cleaning company that mould can indeed develop at such a rate. I also have confirmation from a professional electrician that extensive damp can cause lights to burn out. Moreover, the guests even admitted that they had tried to wipe away with the mould with WATER - which to my mind is like trying to put out a fire by throwing gasoline on it. The guests refused to compensate me for the damage so I had no choice but to file a complaint with Airbnb. However, the employee who handled my complaint said that "common sense" dictated that mould could not grow so quickly. It was at this point that I received the aforementioned professional confirmations. I contacted Airbnb and was told my a sympathetic employee that I should refile my complaint for someone else to handle. However, the complaint kept ending up with the original employee who handled my case - and she simply dug in and continued to dismiss my case, despite the overwhelming evidence that the guests had caused significant damage to the property. I've tried four times now to appeal AIrbnb"s decision and each time speak to a sympathetic employee, who forwards the complaint onwards only for it to end up with the original employee who was so stubbornly dismissive. This completely undermines the point of an appeal, which by definition requires a second opinion from an alternative, independent authority. That Airbnb permits its employees to be so unprofessional and dismissive, essentially issuing flippant and speculative "common sense" judgements from their desks, is absurd to me. Why should people sign on as hosts with Airbnb if they’re not going to be protected from irresponsible guests?
Can anyone offer any advice on what I should do next? Thanks, Helena
