Security Deposits

[Carl59]

Hi All,

The wording for the security deposit is 'If you submit a damage claim within 14 days of checkout, guests will be responsible for damages up to this amount.'  What happens if the guest trashes my cottage which far exceeds the security deposit.  Do I or my insurance company have any right of recovery to pursue the guest for the full damages?  Most of the security damages I have looked at wouldn't even cover the cost of replacing a television let alone anything else.....any comments or help would be appreciated.

many thanks 

[Ann66]

When I used VRBO there was a written in security deposit which was refunded to the guest after they left. It worked great! Why can't Air BnB do something like this?  I just had a guest with 3 year old scratch the TV; since I am not in town it was not reported for several days when the housekeeper discovered it. The guest denied they did it, and when I sent in all the documentation to Air BnB they said it was "normal wear and tear." Not a huge big deal but got me wondering what if it had been something major? Why can't they just write in the security deposit as insurance which then gets refunded if all goes well? Also when we had damage this encouraged the guest to tell me about it and replace, say, a broken cup.

[Lisa722]

In the five plus years I've been with Airbnb, I've had no problems with guests. A couple may have not cleaned up the kitchen super well, but, other than that, nothing bad. Until yesterday. I had a couple check out after 3 nights and the bed looked like a freaking crime scene! The bedspread, the sheets, the pillowcases and pillow protectors had blood spatter and blood pooling in various areas and there was pink gum stuffed into one of the pillows that glued the pillowcase to the pillow protector. The blood was pretty much all over, not like menstrual blood or a bloody nose. In addition, there was muddy dirt all over part of it, too. Since it hasn't rained and I don't have mud on my property, it's a mystery where it came from. I don't think it's my responsibility to have to deal with biohazards, so I put on mask and gloves and took tons of photos of the wreckage, then put it all in garbage bags and into the dumpster. 

And this is where the big irritation began. I immediately called Airbnb. I got put through to a lovely woman that started the proceedings through the Resolution Center, then said she couldn't help me further and transferred me to someone else I couldn't understand. It took awhile to get this other person to get that I couldn't make out what they were saying and could he/she transfer me to a U.S. help center? Then we got disconnected. Went through the whole phone b.s. again only to get to yet another person I was having trouble understanding so I asked for a transfer. Disconnected again. As I call back yet again, I also try to text Airbnb and got not response. Then I got someone to respond and said they were sending me a link to access to prove I was the host. I click on the link and it comes up as "Expired" before I did anything. All of this ridiculousness went on for quite awhile and I kept getting someone in India, I think, and all the people I got, I wasn't able to understand. One lady I think said "Do you fear for your safety?" and I'm like "Why are you even asking me that since I never said anything remotely like that?" and then she started speaking rapidly and lost me. I kept asking for someone in the U.S. or Canada or Ireland or the U.K. or anywhere in Scandinavia, etc. I got a message that someone would call me. She never did. 

In the meantime, I sent a message to the guest explaining how alarmed I was at what they had left behind and, frankly, asked if she was okay. Never heard back from her, either. Many phone calls today got me to another lady in India that I COULD understand and she was obviously working from home with a demanding toddler. Hey, sorry, but this is a serious problem and it pisses me off when you cut me off to go deal with your screaming kid. Eventually she said she had to talk to someone else about it and would call me back in a half hour or maybe an hour. 3 hours later she calls. Apparently she also decided to take her lunch break. I told her perhaps she should have let me know so that I wasn't sitting there by the phone waiting for her call. I'm beyond pissed at this point and just trying to get the **bleep** claim in an download all the photos and the screen captures of the items and their costs for replacement. What I was getting confused by is that she started telling me I had to try and get reimbursed from the guest. I asked why since the damage deposit I have had on my account since I started is $1,000 so the $347.68 should be taken out of that when their inquiry is completed. She proceeds to tell me Airbnb has never allowed a host to get a security deposit. Bull___t! I told her it's how I set up my listing and, like the nightly price I charge, has never changed. I don't charge a cleaning fee because of the security deposit. She tells me I'm wrong. So we're looking online (sharing a screen at this point) at my account info and there isn't even any place that shows "security deposit"!!! What the hell?!!! I have ALWAYS had a $1,000 security deposit listed in case there is damage to my cottage (and, frankly, $1,000 might not even be enough to cover some of the stuff I've read other hosts have had to deal with!) and I have NEVER made any changes to my account listing details. What's going on? She tells me we have to try and get paid from the guests who did the damage! And what about Airbnb's host protections? And I have read plenty of comments from tons of you other hosts about your security deposits, as well. So, I have submitted the claim with photos and costs and I'm told I have to wait for the guest to pay me. I haven't heard "boo" from her from either message I've sent, so who wants to bet I don't hear anything about this from her? The lady today told me if she doesn't, to contact Airbnb. Well, considering the ridiculous time-consuming merry-go-round trying to contact Airbnb has been these last two days wasting hours of my life I'll never get back, I'm loathe to do just that. But SOMEONE at Airbnb HQ needs to tell me how I suddenly don't have a security deposit anymore. Our personal insurance shouldn't be responsible for someone else's damage to our property, especially since we have had security deposits to cover it! Until now? Anyone else gone through this stupidity with guest damage? (Hope I'm including just a couple photos as an example).