Host says my family and I left damages.. help me

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Kimberly135
Level 1
Bydgoszcz, Poland

Host says my family and I left damages.. help me

Hello all, 

 

I have a problem that perhaps someone in the community can assist with? Maybe I just need some insight.. My husband and I recently checked out of a location on Tuesday evening and we handed the keys off to the host. We never did a walk through with the host, which I thought was weird and I thought we were meeting him at that particular time so we could do a walk through together. The stay was a great one, we were there for about a month because we had just moved to the area, and we were looking for a place of our own. We had constant contact with the host-- we used the ABB messaging platform to communicate and I let him know if mail would come-- I would check it periodically. Although the last week we were there I neglected to check it-- we were in the throws of finding a new home and getting the paperwork done. We also had both our dogs with us -- which he said on the listing that it was okay, and they were mostly outside during the day-- they are house trained as well and very respectful. 

 

On Wednesday morning I left him a great review because I honestly had a great stay there-- I mean besides the drains that would clog ,the previous people left rotting dog food on the counter, the house did smell moldy, the rug in the bathroom was literally melted to the floor and the trash wasn't taken out. We were settling in to our new home and I got a message from the host at 6:00pm or so saying he needed to talk to us on the phone because there were damages to the floor-- scratches. So my husband called him (because we didn't know we were supposed to keep it strictly to the ABB messaging platform) and they hashed out any issues-- He accused us of being lazy with the mail. His insurance bill had come and he said his insurance may have lapsed because we neglected to tell him it arrived? He then said there were some deep scratches on the floor and that he may have to replace them-- and he just remodeled the floors? My husband was dumbfounded. We had been incredibly responsible with the house, cleaned and made sure everything was taken care of. He said he would let us know whats up and what we would owe him. 

 

I decided to contact ABB on Thursday to ask them what to do next-- tell them about the conversation on the phone, they got right back to me and told me to keep the conversation to ABB messaging platform. The woman told me to hang tight and just wait for any sort of word from him-- then we could go fourth with a claim-- if he initiated it. 

 

No contact from him on Thursday. Then tonight -- Friday- we get this message from him on ABB saying that the front door is also scratched. I thought he had 48 hours to initiate the claim? 

 

I have no idea how to respond back to this guy. I feel fishy about this and something doesn't sit right with me. I say this because he had mentioned he had people staying at the house the day before us and we actually picked up the keys from the maid. The house wasn't completely cleaned ( see second paragraph) but it was livable. We had just arrived from Warsaw and I just wanted a place to relax from the 13+ hours of traveling we did. I didn't know I had to take pictures of the place. He came over to drop off the wireless router and said he would get with us later in the week on trash pickup etc. He came back to let us know about the days they pick up the trash and what to do. We kept in constant contact on ABB. He also told us the people he hosted before us had dogs ( this came up because he said he helped them find a house) 

 

I am irritated because this puts a damper on our experience with moving to our new town in Poland. I know things aren't always easy, but this is something that no one should have to deal with-- especially because I cleaned that house from top to bottom-- I would have seen those scratches I would have told him upfront. I am always slightly paranoid and careful with other peoples property-- as is my husband. I don't want this to drain our bank account either. As far as the door goes, I don't recall seeing any scratches on the door. Could a previous guest done this? Is it an accumulation of damage?

 

Can someone assist with what the next steps might be? Will this ruin any trips I have scheduled on airbnb because of this whole dispute? I love using ABB, but we feel embarassed and almost like a bad people because of these accusations. This has never happened to us before! 

1 Best Answer
Karen-and-Brian0
Level 10
Bragg Creek, Canada

Hi @Kimberly135 I'm so sorry this has happened to you! It sounds to me as though the host didn't check or clean the house after the guests before you left and so really can't accuse you of the damage - if damage does exist, he has no way to prove it was you & not the previous guests. As you say, you would have noticed the scratches if they were there. In my opinion, collecting the mail really isn't your responsibility as a guest & I think it's up to the host to collect his own mail if he's expecting time sensitive bills etc. 

 

Next the host will/could ask you for payment through the Resolution Centre & when/if he does, you can contest it - it will then be escalated to Airbnb & they will decide what you need to pay him, if anything. Make sure everything is documented through Airbnb messaging - if there are conversations missing because they took place over the phone, you can recap them there by sending him a message saying "as my husband stated to you over the phone ..... " - summarize all the missing conversations & the agreements arrived at, if any. etc. Respond to his latest complaint about the door scratches stating just what you wrote here - "As far as the door goes, I don't recall seeing any scratches on the door". 

 

The good news for you is that Airbnb, more often than not, will decide in favour of the guests. If he writes a terrible review of you & you feel it's not truthful or accurate, you can ask to have it removed. Chances are, it will be. I hope that helps - best of luck! - Karen

 

 

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4 Replies 4
Karen-and-Brian0
Level 10
Bragg Creek, Canada

Hi @Kimberly135 I'm so sorry this has happened to you! It sounds to me as though the host didn't check or clean the house after the guests before you left and so really can't accuse you of the damage - if damage does exist, he has no way to prove it was you & not the previous guests. As you say, you would have noticed the scratches if they were there. In my opinion, collecting the mail really isn't your responsibility as a guest & I think it's up to the host to collect his own mail if he's expecting time sensitive bills etc. 

 

Next the host will/could ask you for payment through the Resolution Centre & when/if he does, you can contest it - it will then be escalated to Airbnb & they will decide what you need to pay him, if anything. Make sure everything is documented through Airbnb messaging - if there are conversations missing because they took place over the phone, you can recap them there by sending him a message saying "as my husband stated to you over the phone ..... " - summarize all the missing conversations & the agreements arrived at, if any. etc. Respond to his latest complaint about the door scratches stating just what you wrote here - "As far as the door goes, I don't recall seeing any scratches on the door". 

 

The good news for you is that Airbnb, more often than not, will decide in favour of the guests. If he writes a terrible review of you & you feel it's not truthful or accurate, you can ask to have it removed. Chances are, it will be. I hope that helps - best of luck! - Karen

 

 

The chances of getting a false review removed are very slim actually.

Elena87
Level 10
СПБ, Russia
Helen3
Level 10
Bristol, United Kingdom

Hello @Kimberly135

 

I am sorry you are having this experience.

 

1. Your landlord shouldn't be sending important documents to this property they should come to him directly. It isn't up to you as a guest to forward his mail

 

2. Don't talk to the host direct, keep everything on Airbnb messaging

 

3. If you say in an Airnbnb again report the state of the place immediately the state it was left in is unacceptable.

 

4. Not sure from your post. Are you saying there were no scratches on the floors and doors when you arrived and none when you left or that the property was scratched but you didn't raise the issue?

 

As others have said deal with it through Airbnb. No more direct communication with the host.