Help, our host is extorting us

[James3332]

Hello,

Our host has fabricated a 120€ invoice to replace a chopping board that has no original receipts (references a lamp instead) with 70€ setup cost. We believed that Airbnb claims would notice the fraudulent document but they have approved it and we are now stuck… Can the community please provide us with support? How can an expense with no original receipts be validated? This enables all sorts of fraud.

 

The link to the “chopping board” actually points to this lamp on Amazon (link text different to url it points to): https://www.amazon.fr/Jurassic-Light-Luminaire-vintage-Duffy/dp/B00NMLT9ZQ/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2ZOU1S6PX...

[Bryony22]

That’s so bad!! How could the fraud team accept this with no original receipt? Terrible!

[Simon3451]

That is plain swindling, how could Airbnb accept such behaviour? It is easy to see throught it

[Ed350]

this is ridiculous ! not only have they given no real item receipt (the one they gave is clearly wrong), but the other charges are way over-the-top (why do you need to pay so much to “install” a chopping board??) - you would expect AirBnB to have ways to verify receipts like this

[Huma0]

@James3332 

By chopping board, you mean a portable board, not the worktop or something that is incorporated into the work top? And what happened to it? Did you actually break/damage it and, if so, what kind of board was it, i.e. do you have a rough idea what the value might be? Can you find a link to a similar one that you could send to CS? Or, did the host totally make up the damage? It seems like a very random thing to claim for!

[James3332]

@Huma0 it’s a table top chopping board costing no more than £20. A candle left a burn mark and we notified the host that we were happy to pay for the replacement. It was on the last night so we couldn’t replace ourselves…

We notified AirBnB Claims about the discrepancy with a link to actual pricing and photo evidence of the board. Unfortunately they have ignored all of that and are going by this invoice which seems completely baffling.

[Huma0]

@James3332 

Well, that is completely weird then. I don't know what the host is up to, but surely any sensible person knows that you do not need to spend 70 Euros to put a chopping board on a table/counter top...

As others have said, simply refuse to pay and keep reiterating your reasons.

I saw that there was a different link on the invoice above than the one you linked (of the lamp), but as it was cut off, couldn't see what product the host was claiming this was other than it was a wooden board.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@James3332 if you didn't damage the item then don't pay

[James3332]

@Mike-And-Jane0 Thanks for your support, unfortunately it doesn’t seem like we have that power? Based on my understanding Airbnb Claims have the final say and can direct debit us or ban our account if we attempt to block payment say (not that I think we can actually do that)

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@James3332 many hosts find that if a guest refuses to pay then there is nothing Airbnb can do. If they charge your card(and you didn't damage the item) then just ask your bank for a chargeback.

[James3332]

Airbnb claims are now forcing us to pay this invoice within 14 days! Our evidence is being completely ignored, we are just talking to a wall. We are really disappointed in Airbnb… we have been receiving email templates all along that never address our case, see example below.

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[Mike-And-Jane0]

@James3332 Just refuse to pay. If Airbnb take the money then claim against Airbnb in the small claims court. It might be worth offering to pay a reasonable amount for the chopping board.

[Yahia14]

Have you paid them or not yet ? It's obviously a fraud !! I'm very suprised Airbnb didn't take the side of the customer. Their is a huge gap between Amazon's customer policy and their obviously. You can oppose on you credit card or ask your bank to refuse the payment ! Some credit cards provide legal assistance, you should check it !

[Pierre2325]

Very surprised that Airbnb doesn't check this type of document. This case is obviously a fraud.