Per AirBnB: "If and when a host makes a request to collect on their security deposit, it will be handled according to the Host Guarantee Terms and Conditions. Airbnb’s Host Guarantee is a program that provides property damage protection of up to $1,000,000 USD for hosts of homes. Under the program, hosts are required to provide documentation of the damaged or missing items, and request reimbursement from the guest through our secure Resolution Center within 14 days of checkout or before the next guest checks in (whichever is earlier). If the guest is unwilling or unable to reimburse them, the host can then involve Airbnb."
This is what I did.
I contacted AirBnB the same day I learned of the damages and I asked for direction on how to proceed. I followed EVERY direction given to me during that initial call. At no time did the support rep tell me to contact the guest. To be clear, I require a $500 security deposit for all reservations. Always.
My next guest came only four days after this damaged occurred. At no time during those four days did AirBnB assist me or direct me in the process to proceed…. Why? Because AirBnB is woefully understaffed.
One day after reporting the damage to AirBnB, on the same damage claim thread in my AirBnB inbox, I sent a follow message to AirBnB asking for help because my next guest was coming in three days and I was still finding damage. This has never occurred before, so I looked to AirBnB support to guide me on how to proceed.
AirBnB never responded until 12 days later. Well past the date of my next guest arrival.
Well, after 28 days I finally get the following email ....
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First of all, that is NOT how a security deposit works. In the real world, a security deposit is set aside to be paid to the property management company if the renter / guest damages that property. In this scenario, there is no middleman and the owner / property manager directly informs the guest that the security deposit will not be returned.
However, AirBnB has this "other" policy that tells all of us not to conduct ANY transactions or business outside of AirBnB. If you go outside of AirBnB and they find out about it, they will suspend your account, perhaps permanently.
But AirBnB also says that for damage claims, ignore all that and contact the individual directly.
Yeah, that one sentence within a policy that contains about 10,000 words ... it would have been VERY helpful for your team to point out the key requirements such as contacting the guest for payment.
But if I have to contact the guest for damages, rather than AirBnB (who actually holds the security deposit), then I should be able to obtain and access that security deposit directly in my account WITHOUT interference from AirBnB. If I am spending the time playing collections agent with the guest who damaged the house, and am unsuccessful, it should NOT be up to AirBnB to then decide whether it will release the security deposit! And not respond until after 14 days ... the time period after the security deposit expires! It is THEN that Airbnb's Host Guarantee policy overrides the security deposit .. and because that policy requires you to contact the guest to obtain payment and you did not, then you are then not covered by the Host Guarantee.
At the minimum, on day one the AirBnB representative should have told me to contact the guest for payment before my next guest arrived. I would have contacted the guest through the AirBnB inbox while I was on the phone with the AirBnB rep. I followed every other instruction within minutes of speaking with the rep.
AirBnB ... this is on you … and it is really a very poor reflection to offer such a lame and impersonal response when it knows very well that it failed to assist and coach and direct a valued Superhost and Traveller.
It is disgraceful that you have the nerve not to accept your responsibility for poor customer service and support. That is unjust and it is dishonest. AirBnB support was understaffed, inadequate and failed me. ... and I am not talking about the Call Center staff ... who are just contractors reading scripts from a computer screen and taking notes ... I am talking about the people who actually work for AirBnB and to whom I pay that AirBnB fee every rental.
It is my hope that by sharing this experience with other Superhosts will make them aware of this and hopefully they will have success in being reimbursed for the damages by a guest.
**[Private conversation removed in line with Community Center Guidelines]