Security Deposit Scam

[Kenta1]

Hi,

I recently had an awful stay by a negligent and fraudulent host that was cut short and forcefully refunded by Airbnb. Despite the troubles I was put through I never resorted to pettiness, and I left his listing in the exact same condition as I checked in at.

Few days after checking out, the host asks that I "return" his room key. I obviously didn't have it and wasn't sure why he assumed I had it. At this point the host had already lied repeatedly in his review to slander me, so I suspected this was a course to recover as much money from having to rightfully refund me. I provided all the documentation/screenshots of our chats in the recent case, and refused to pay for the room key.

Just today I received an email that Airbnb had sided with the host despite all the evidence of the host's repeated lies. While I am infuriated, I have a few questions:

What can I possibly do in future trips to avoid being scammed by hosts? Am I supposed to take timestamped pictures of every corner of the apartment when I check out?

What discourse do I have for recovering my charge, in or out of Airbnb platform?

This case has had me lose a lot of faith in my security as a regular guest of Airbnb, and the case manager only gives me scripted responses on how this is their policy and all decisions are final.

[Christian65 · Accepted solution]

I'm sorry you had this hassle. He does not sound like a good guy. Apparently you're not the only one being scammed seeing the review from another guest after yours.

What is the claim against you?

If I were you, I would call Airbnb again - even if they say that their decision is final and the case closed - because there's another guest after you saying that he's not behaving appropriately.

Maybe reach out via Twitter instead

Step 1: Log into Twitter

Step 2: Search for @Airbnbhelp and choose "Follow" them

Step 3: Send a Direct Message (DM) explaining your issue and wait for their response.  They may ask for information such as your listing but always provide it over DM so it is not public.

I genuinely hope the will reconsider. Mistakes do happen so let's hope this is fixable.

Best of luck!