Please HELP! The Guest Flooded My House and Left. The Airbnb Doesn't Reply Back to Me.

Please HELP! The Guest Flooded My House and Left. The Airbnb Doesn't Reply Back to Me.

Please help me out if anyone knows how to solve this situation.

 

The guests had flooded my house and they had checked out. But they left a huge mess to me. My entire ceiling on the ground level is having water stains, cracks, and peeled painting. The walls were so wet in multiple locations. The carpet was very wet as well. There were at least 5 gallons of water sitting in the first level - living room floor when I got there. 

 

I don't know how and what they did, they flooded my entire house from the upstair bathroom, but the plumber didn't find any broken or leaking pipes in the house when they did the inspection. 

 

I filed a claim through Airbnb Resolution Center on last Thursday, but I haven't heard anything back from them for a week.  I don't know if I should trust about the Airbnb Host Guarantee program that much, because there was a claim I filed, the Support Ambassador told me I was eligible to get reimbursement. Then the claim was showing as "Reviewing in Airbnb" for a long time, I followed up many times during that time period, til they finally replied back to me by saying "it lasted too long, so it is not eligible. "

 

I do believe Airbnb is trying to delay my claim as long as they can, so once it exceeds certain time period, I will no longer able to file a law suit against them.  Have any of you had similar experience? What should I do now? Should I file a police report and hire an attorney to back up myself, since the Airbnb doesn't reliable at all? 

 

 This is very stressful to me for not receiving any feedbacks from Airbnb, because the cost to repair these damage is very expensive. I have the water damage control company is working in my house now for mold control and dry-out service. And then, the ceiling needs to be repair. The estimate cost is more than $6000. The house is fairly new, it is only 6 years old. It will decrease its value because of this flood. 

 

I have became Super Host for 3 years. I am going to quit once this claim has get resolved, either through Airbnb or through the court, but I am not going to let Airbnb step away from this just by delaying my claim .

 

This is a warning for other hosts too. Just want to let other hosts know this is how Airbnb handles this type of situation in case your guests flooded your house or burned your house. Airbnb doesn't do a thing for you. And even you have homeowner insurance, the insurance won't cover the cost for you, because it doesn't relate to any plumbing failures, the flood was completely caused by  man-made. 

7 Replies 7
Lisa723
Level 10
Quilcene, WA

@Lola181 so sorry this happened to you. It sounds like you are familiar with the resolution center process, so I'm sure you have submitted all of the required photos, receipts, and professional estimates for repair. (If not, do that right away.) Your choices for dispute resolution with Airbnb are arbitration and small claims court; review the dispute resolution process under the terms of service.

 

I'm glad you have your own short-term rental damage insurance, though it sounds like it's not going to help you here. No host should rely solely on Airbnb's flimsy "guarantee."

 

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2908/terms-of-service

@Lisa723 Thank you for your response. Looks like I am not the only one who has complained about their customer service and Airbnb Host Guarantee. It wasn't like this before. I think if they continues acting this way, there will be a lot of people quitting to become an Airbnb host. 

Helen3
Level 10
Bristol, United Kingdom

Try them on their social media @Lola181 

Branka-and-Silvia0
Level 10
Zagreb, Croatia

Jesus !!! 😮 I know how it looks like, we have had a flooded apartment and 2 other apartments under it. 1 month of air drying and 2 months of drying with machines, ceilings, walls and hardwood floors repaired.... big big mess... I am sorry for you 😞 

Our insurance covered a part of the damage bc the boiler fall from the wall and caused the flood. Apartments were either empty or rented long term, not through ABB

I hope you will get some refund.  

Ephraim0
Level 10
New York, NY

So sorry! The situation does not sound good at all  The guest didn't even acknowledge it,meaning they will deny the damage.  and your best chance is to be assertive but respectful with Airbnb since in reality they hold all the cards (not much you can do to the guest without an attorney) and do not quit until you talk to someone in a call center that either cares (not likely) or until you reach someone in corporate. Help@airbnb on Twitter is a good start. Hope you took a ton of pictures, document.every conversation and names. Document everything its a good habit and it's helpful. 

 

 

The host insurance as many in here  noted  is mostly a sales gimic. Often the only time it's used is when a severe episode goes viral or makes the media. Then the folks in corporate finally wake up likely motivated  to fix the bad PR. 

There was a time that Airbnb was part of the host community, but the more billions the company is worth i suppose the less we are worth. Like Uber drivers we are now seen as replaceable. Most important is reaching someone that cares they exist at Airbnb, just not so much in the call centers. 

 

Good luck, let us know what happens 

 

 

Good luck,

E

Hey lola did air bnb ever resolve the issue?

Probably not... Her account doesn't seem to be active anymore.