Damage to our home

[Sue151]

I am a Superhost and this is not my first guest.  I also am a retired travel manager of 30 years so it makes my frustration with this so much worse.  This house was a corporate rental over 2000 sq ft that we decided to renovate 6 months ago and put it on Airbnb for awhile.  We have not had any major issues as we live close by and can check on the property. Last month while I got a call while out of town from my daughter that my guests had an accident in our house.  They were charging a Samsung Galaxy 5 phone and it exploded all over the carpet, walls and some furniture in my master bedroom.  We checked the outlet and it was fine so the charger was definatly the problem.  Since I was out of town I just was texting back and forth to the client.  It happened just before he was checking out.  When I got back in town I called Airbnb and they said that this was not to be sent into the resolution center but instead it needed to go to the Trust and Saftey Department and that they would expedite it.  One month later, I have been lied to and told I have a case manager when I never had one.  In fact as of today they just looked at my file for review and said that it would not be elevated to a case manager that I would just need to wait until they had a case manager available.  Are you kidding me.  Over a month and still no case manager?  Never a phone call, email, letter, or any other response?  My house could have been burnt down by a guest and this is the customer service that I am receiving.  My house is booked up so I had to hire workmen to do all the char and burnt clean up possible with the exception of the carpet.  I do not have another 2K to plunk out for that so I covered up with carpet over carpet right now.  This lask of response and telling me I need to wait when I have been waiting for over a month and still do not even have anyone assigned to my case is absoulutly crazy.  I was now told today that I may want to file through the resolution center.  Are you kidding me after I was told not to do that and to go directly to Trust & Saftey.  I went ahead and filed with the resolution Center even though now it will do no good as it is to late.  Really they should be better trained at Airbnb to handle these problems.  I am about to lawyer up and go public TV to expose this foul injustice!! 

[Alice-and-Jeff0]

@Sue151 - Don't wait, file a claim with your homeowners insurance.  They will work on your behalf to get Airbnb's insurance to pay for the damage.  That's why you pay those premiums! And I would definitely start a Resolution Center case - like the second person suggested.  The guests might pay you outright for the damages since they caused them and you can provide the receipts for the cost of repair.  You have up to 60 days to submit for damages.  And you won't need to wait on Trust and Security. 

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/767/what-is-the-resolution-center

No need to lawyer up because you've signed an agreement that says you won't sue Airbnb, you can only ask for arbitration.  It's in the Terms and Conditions.  Certainly if you want to go on TV and talk about your experience, you have every right to do so.  Not sure what it will change, but feel free to try.

Here is some information for you regarding the Host Guarantee, which is why they sent you to Trust and Security.  https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/938/what-s-the-difference-between-airbnb-s-host-guarantee-and-ho...

https://www.airbnb.com/guarantee

https://www.airbnb.com/terms/host_guarantee

No doubt that Airbnb doesn't always have their crap together, that's evident on many levels not only on their platform but on here in the community forums.  

[Christine1]

@Sue151 @Alice-and-Jeff0 

Sorry about this distressing event and the trail of complications that have followed. 

Alice and Jeff have covered much of this situation in their comments and excellent links.

If you can verify that the fault lies with devices brought to the property and activated by the guests then these actions are likely to be what  initiated the fire. 

If it can be demonstrated that the guests used the devices contrary to manufacturer's instructions or that the devices themselves were faulty then the fault and responsibility lies with either the device user or the device manufacturer. 

It becomes complicated to recoup $$ in the short term when there is a chain of parties involved. 

It may be possible for you to seek the required compensation by putting in a claim for compensation directly to your guest using the resolution centre tool. If they agree that they have some responsibility for the incident then hopefully they will agree to pay, when you supply-demonstrate damages and expenses directly related to the incident. In this case the fire. It would then be up to them to pay using private funds or travel insurance. If their insurance is involved and pays up, they are likely to pursue the phone company or charger company if the devices are faulty. If the user did not follow manufacturers instructions the insurance company is not likely to pay. There are likely to be guides which advise on the correct use of branded chargers and advise against the use of generic substitutes and immitation spare parts. And of course there has been international recalls on a number of Samsung products in previous years. As a general warning phones and devices should not be left unsupervised when recharging. This includes putting them on charge when we go out or go to sleep. Perhaps hosts might like to mention this to guests, in order to reduce the risk of a similar nasty and highly dangerous electrical fires. 

Terribly sorry to hear of this unexpected and shocking incident. Glad you are safe and no one was hurt.

Good luck. Keep us informed. 

Best regards Christine.