Hi Airbnb Community,
I had a guest rent my home on Airbnb from June 3rd to June 7th, 2021. Unfortunately, when I got to my home on June 7th after the guest checked out, I found the place had been destroyed by the Airbnb Guest who had a massive party at my home during their stay.
They left a hole in my wall; my carpet had huge red stains all over it that could not be fully removed, my granite countertop was also damaged, as were my dining room table, and several other things throughout the house. The guest left bags upon bags of garbage in the back with tons of red solo cups, bags of empty liquor bottles and beer cases, and party supplies. They used my home to throw a massive party, leaving my family home ruined.
I contacted Airbnb immediately, and they told me to take pictures of everything and clean and fix everything and submit invoices and estimates of the repairs to my Airbnb Guest before my next guest would arrive or within 14 days.
I did all this. The damage was massive, over twenty thousand dollars to repair and fix everything back to what it was before this Airbnb Guest came to my family home.
When I was submitting my request to the Airbnb Guest, it asked me if I wanted to send this directly to Airbnb or the guest. I spoke with an Airbnb Ambassador before submitting it, who said that I could send it directly to Airbnb since the amount was so high. So I submitted all the repairs and estimated repairs I had done so far with a list of additional things on June 11th as a request for reimbursement with a detailed letter to the guest under the Airbnb's Host Guarantee.
I, like many, had read over the Host Guarantee and its million-dollar policy, thinking that under these circumstances, I would be taken care of by Airbnb. But, instead, what followed has been shocking to experience.
Aside from an initial email from Kamille at Airbnb telling me she is reviewing the case on June 12th, I have never heard back from anyone at Airbnb on this matter.
I have called several times, talking to Airbnb Ambassadors about this matter, only to have them tell me that this is a different department, and they could only message them to get back to me. I ask them to please have someone reach out, with no one ever getting back to me. I have asked to have a direct phone number to speak to someone and was told that is not possible. I have responded several times to the email Kamille sent over to me with no response back ever. As I have pressed Airbnb Ambassadors, I was told those departments only operate online, and it is up to them to get back to me. I even asked to speak to their supervisors on the matter, with no one able to help me.
It is July 14th, and it is over 1 month since I sent in my reimbursement request to Airbnb's Host Guarantee Department, and I have heard nothing from Airbnb on this matter past that first email response from Kamille on June 12th.
My house was destroyed, and I have since canceled two reservations as I could not put my house back together properly. I felt unsafe to rent my home on Airbnb moving forward, so I have blocked my calendar for the remainder of the year until this situation can be resolved.
It has been a traumatic event having this Airbnb Guest come into my family home and destroy it, and Airbnb has been nowhere to help me through this situation has been deeply troubling. I'm simply in shock that this is how a publicly-traded company like Airbnb operates.
Is there any advice out there on what I can do next?
Ron
