Host Guarantee

[Joe327]

Hi guys, I was wondering has anyone had any difficulties with claiming money from Airbnb with the host guarantee?

[Jeff158]

@Joe327 on the forum we only tend to hear of the problems, not many people come along and say how good it is. Type "host guarantee" into the community search box(top right of this page) for lots of nightmare tales.

[Matthew285]

@Joe327 do you have something damaged that you need to make a claim on?

Or are you just getting ready... just in case? (Which is wise.)

Yes, as @Jeff158 notes, the stories here will mainly be of bad experiences. Hosts who had an easy time making claims tend not to come here and write messages ranting about how great the Trust and Security department was.

However, the complaints will provide valuable information about mistakes to avoid and important thing to do. I hope never to have to make a claim, but from reading the stories I know that documentation is key, and that receipts need to be very specific and official-looking.

[Joe327]

@Matthew285 @Jeff158 I wanted to share my story on dealing with Airbnb, I had someone stay at my place and they trashed my apartment and robbed me of many personal belongings! and Airbnb was not helpful at all! and the people who robbed me just got away with a crime was able to get on with life as normal.

[Matthew285]

@Joe327 I'm sorry this has happened!

Were you able to provide any documentation of the items that were stolen?

[Joe327]

@Matthew285 @Helen3 @Rene-and-Zac0Yeah, everything asked for was provided! I actually got an offer from Airbnb although it was very low compared to what was lost. I was told I had 48 hours to reply to the message to proceed with the payout, but I had questions I wanted to be answered before I agreed to the payment. So I replied to the person handling my case within 24 hours of the message, I also called up twice, to which I was told I would be contacted in a few hours, and didn't receive any phone call. The next time I got an email back from Airbnb it was closing my claim! So I'm just super confused as to what to do right now.

[Jeff158]

@Joe327 you need to contact them and get your payment, any payment, released. I've read a few posts that abb will only pay the secondhand value of goods, sorry to hear you are having these problems. Thankfully I've not had to claim yet.

[Helen3]

I am sorry to hear this happened, but it is rather difficult to commment @Joe327 based on the  rather scant information you have provided.

What do you mean by 'Airbnb was not helpful at all" ?

Is what you actually mean that they didn't pay out under the host guarantee? If not, why not?

There are of course exemptions to their 'guarantee' but these should be covered by your own specialist home insurance to cover short term lets.

How did your guests get away with robbing you and not being accountable. Surely this crime was reported to the police by yourself?

I do hope you left an honest review of these guests and that Airbnb remove their profiles from the system.

By the way your prices looks far too low for a one bed flat in that location. I would put your prices up.

What sort of personal belongings did they steal from you?

[Rene-and-Zac0]

@Joe327 Here’s a quick read on the challenge of collecting on the “guarantee”. 

It seems like the only way to get a “resolution” is to involve the media. 

I strongly feel that if this couple hadn’t contacted the media, they would have been blown off and summarily dismissed. 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5505351/Homeowner-claims-Airbnb-guest-caused-18K-damage.html

‘You know it’s hard out here for a Host’

[Nathan200]

The host guarantee is an absolute scam. I have a security deposit on my listing and had 2 guests steal food, beer, expensive whiskey, and broke the cork on a $200 bottle of wine that I've had for 18 years, effectively ruining it. After spending about 2 hours on the phone with people just reading scripts and apologizing for not being able to help or escalate, I received an email denying my claim because "consumables" aren't covered. So i guess we're just expected to keep all our food and alcohol in a safe when we're hosting. Makes sense. Also makes sense to put in a security deposit that you have no access to. I'm beyond frustrated with Airbnb at this point and am planning on switching to homeaway/vrbo. All the stories in the press are all true and I should've heeded them.

Hosts, just know that if you rent with this garbage company, they condone theft and will NOT compensate you one cent if you have thieves that you open your home to. 

[Mayu6]

Very disappointing, but it's true based on my own sad experience. AirBnB has failed to support the host by being a good mediator or protect the host property with the $1m guarantee advertisement.  I hope things will get better... just hoping.....