Any downside to making a security deposit claim?

[Gina-And-Andy0]

We've run our Airbnb for ~2 years and have had little things break (glasses, etc.) and have never charged. Our most recent guest broke a piece of furniture in a way that is well beyond wear and tear. We think that a kid might have jumped on it...

The current renter has notified us that there is this problem and that they were not the ones that caused the damage.

Have you gone through the claim process? Concerns - we don't want our 5 star rating to take a hit, risk a bad review or other negatives...

Thanks much,

A

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

@Gina-And-Andy0

Is it an expensive piece of furniture, can it be repaired or replaced pretty cheaply?

I think you are absolutely right not to claim on the small items that can happen quite often, I am also of the view that from time to time something bigger will happen and it's probably not worth the hassle and stress of trying to claim for it, unless it is very sigfnificant. 

Remember, you will need to prove that your previous guest did this - unlikely you can as another guest has checked in and claimed it was broken. That's won't stand up to AirBnB's scrutiny if you try claim against a security deposit.

You could try and contact the guest and ask them if they noticed any damage - if they say yes and offer to pay, then great, but your chances of success in a claim are close to zero.