Guests ruined house Airbnb still hasn’t responded

Michaela274
Level 2
Philadelphia, PA

Guests ruined house Airbnb still hasn’t responded

Hey guys wanted to get your opinion on what to do. Guests that had hosted a party ( I have a very strict no party policy) decided to ruin my place. Burn marks in hardwood floors and furniture, ruined pillows, furniture, had the entire house smelling like smoke that was embedded in walls you name it. The night they stayed I have a ring camera I was able to see numerous people coming and going on top of the new Noiseaware device I have in the house alerting me to loud music being played. I had contacted Airbnb that night and unfortunately nothing was done. Fast forward when they checked out I took photos etc and put in for a Host Guarantee through Airbnb this was on October 30th. Until today November 21st almost a whole month I still HAVE NOT heard back about my claim despite numerous calls, texts you name it trying to get somebody who can help me get an answer, since they keep telling me that somebody will contact me. That’s nice but when? Since I need to repair and replace the items damaged. Anybody else have any luck with airbnb host guarantee and how long did it take for them to respond? I would hope in the near future they make it easier for hosts to be paid immediately from this host guarantee thing 

7 Replies 7

@Michaela274  Ever since Airbnb laid off about a quarter of its staff, people in this community have been reporting wait times of 6-8 weeks to get any action on damage claims, even when they've been following the instructions down to the letter.  I definitely don't recommend waiting any further to complete your repairs, and replace the necessary items as affordably as you can. If you do ultimately get compensation, it's almost certain to be for a lower amount than you hope for, but receipts for completed repairs are much more effective than back-of-the-envelope estimates.

 

I hope you're able to get your claim resolved soon, but realistically I doubt that we're going to see Airbnb dedicating more resources in the near future to operations that don't increase their revenue. The Host Guarantee was an effective strategy for recruiting new hosts who were reluctant to hand their homes over to strangers off the internet, but it's turned out to be a disaster. Case in point:  knowing that you have every right to remove guests from your home the minute you catch them breaking your rules, would you have let these awful people complete their booking until checkout if you hadn't been convinced that Airbnb would accept liability for the inevitable damage? 

@Anonymous  oh WOW! that’s so unfortunate and such a huge issue that I think Airbnb should look into fixing. They recently switched and said they would be focused on hosts more instead of guests. So it’s really unfortunate that Airbnb doesn’t try and do something to fix the process. I really hope it doesn’t take that long but from how long it has already taken I wouldn’t be surprised! I have already started to fix some of the items but some items are just too costly (fixing hardwood floors etc). I thank you for sharing your insight into the matter because I honestly would have never guessed other hosts were experiencing the same lengthy response. @Airbnb  really should do a better job at discouraging parties. Thanks for your advice! 

@Michaela274  I think most hosts would prefer to be able to hold a real security deposit (currently, Airbnb allows you to specify one in the listing but it doesn't actually do anything with it). In the meantime, unfortunately it's up to hosts to take every measure possible to prevent parties, and when that fails, to put a stop to them before they can escalate to damage and disruption. 

 

Airbnb's efforts to prevent parties (such as blocking short Entire Home rentals for local guests under 25 and capping guest counts at 16) have not landed particularly well with some hosts, who have complained that they've thwarted legit bookings. It doesn't go down well when Airbnb as the listing service takes the heavy-handed approach - so it's all the more important that hosts wield the heavy hand to keep control of their own properties.

@Anonymous  I AGREE completely! on top of the fact that, previously some guests have broken or ruined various items in my place. When I approached them about it and put in for a resolution they tend to leave horrible or very negative reviews. In which I think Airbnb should also have a plan to eliminate that happening. of course  guests are going to leave a horrible review when your approaching them with the damages. Trust me if I lived near the place I rent through airbnb I would most definitely approach the guests. But unfortunately I don’t live near by and the one time I did show up to stop a party after driving 2 hours since airbnb did nothing ended in a very LONG encounter in the middle of the night with police. So not something I signed up for. In my opinion, local guests are usually the ones to throw parties 😒

@Michaela274 This is where having a local co-host on call would come in handy. But also, having a longer minimum stay cuts down much of the party risk. 

Katrina79
Level 10
Saskatchewan, Canada

@Michaela274 I’ve had excellent customer service from Alicia T two times in a row with having a solution within minutes of submission. Did you click on the involve Airbnb button after the 72 hours passed from requesting cash from the guest in the resolution Center? You would have got an email confirmation that the claim was submitted. In the meantime have you been getting quotes from repairmen? Find the exact same items online to replace your damaged ones and copy the links, take screen shots etc. Sometimes you can go back and add more documents to your submission. 
***most important is to involve Airbnb, I think you only get 30 days to do so (not 100% sure though, that time frame is just popping into my mind).***

Hi @Katrina79 thanks so much for writing me! yes I submitted and involved Airbnb right after I gathered all the documents  did it before another guest checked in since airbnb gives you a strict deadline (similar items, quotes from contractor etc) and submitted photos with everything, and still haven’t received a response have tried contacting them numerous times they keep telling me it’s still being reviewed by a case manager but WOW they keep giving me the runaround!