@Theresa556
Wow, I would like a dollar for every time I have read this sort of complaint over the years. It seems like every year new promises spring out of the ether in the guise of Host questionnaires and representative panels and more recently the Host Advisory Board. I am sure the members of the Host Advisory Board put their heart and soul into what they do.....but they can only advise, they can't make decisions.
Most recently we are told that Airbnb have listened to us, they understood our concerns about the Resolution Centre and the Host Protection Scheme, its impractical reporting guidelines and outcome shortcomings and they are taking action and turning over a new leaf with .... Aircover. Out with the old, in with the new!
As you have found out Theresa, it seems like this is just another exercise in shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic! Despite statements from above, we keep on seeing these same problems over and over and over again!
What Airbnb do not seem to realise, a host making a guest complaint is a serious issue, we don't take it lightly and it is generally a last resort when personal attempts at resolution have failed.
A guest has nothing to lose by lodging a complaint......a host has heaps to lose!
We know as soon we lodge a complaint we get the guest offside and guarantee ourselves a bad review at the very least. We then have to go through the hassle of supplying supporting evidence to back up our claim. Why would we do that if the basis wasn't genuine and the complaint didn't at least require investigation? Why is it that the guest who is new to Airbnb, has used them 3-5 times is to be believed before that Superhost host that has supported Airbnb for 7 years and has 500+ 5 star reviews?
There is just no logic to the way Airbnb resolutions work. Airbnb will lose an 8 listing, hundreds+ review Superhost and have to deal with dozens of subsequent reservation cancellations simply because they chose to side with one bogus guest complaint!
From a hosts point of view, it's better not to be told something with such fanfare in the first place.....than to find out the hard way and be disappointed then when the outcome doesn't match the rhetoric!
When we started hosting with Airbnb I was told my property insurance was my first priority in the event of a claim and Airbnb were simply there as a backup if there was a problem. At least it was partially honest in those days. Now we are told that Airbnb has us covered and many hosts believe that and end up in the situation that @Neeraj20 and other hosts on similar threads have found out. The guest says jump and Airbnb jumps........on the host!
Ade and I have a great relationship with Airbnb, 500+ hosting stays and a dozen or so stays as a guest. We have that great relationship because I have never lodged a damage claim with Airbnb against a guest.....I have never given them the opportunity to let me down. We have ourselves insured for damage above a certain policy excess and I am prepared to wear damage below that amount by building it into my listing price. We play the law of averages.........It's a necessary cost of doing business.
I expect nothing from Airbnb except to keep sending us guests and keep paying us....and to this point over 6 years, it has worked well.
So sorry @Theresa556 you are having such a dreadful time just trying to get some action on this claim of yours. Hopefully, if you keep at it long enough you will have some sort of success, but, learn from this and try to put together a strategy that does not involve Airbnb to protect you from having to go through this again.
Cheers.........Rob
