False guarantee promises

[Inge33]

On September 10, 2017 I returned from my vacation, in which I rented my house with airbnb. However, when I arrived at home, I found a ravage. Due to a clogging of the toilet there has been a flood and destroyed my wooden floor completely. I also couldn't use the toilet for more then a day, because I had to wait for a plumber. I called directly with airbnb and they advised to turn on a damage consultant to set up a damage report. In addition, I have submitted a complaint to the resolution center, including the damage report (the damage consultant has calculated my home's damage to over 2000 euros).
So far, it looked hopeful, also because you claim to give your hosts a guarantee of $ 1 million. However, plus minus 50 phone calls further (all recorded) I was:
- being shuttled from pillar to post;
– insured to be called or emailed back (not);
- put on hold (then the connection was disconnected after 10 minutes);
- or just hanged up...

This has no use, that´s why I need to try it another way.
If you claim the host is covered after damage, you also have to act like that! It's been almost 2 months ago and I still have 0.0 response from your side. It is said that my case is with the trust & safety team and that they will contact me. I therefore demand that I get my money this week so that I can replace my floor! Else I have to go to the media to warn all the airbnb-hosts about your crappy guarantee-procedures and false promises.

Cheers, Inge

[Joanna85]

Sorry that happened to you.

I know Airbnb has paid on claims but there are procedures in place and they require things.  I know when I put in a claim, they wanted receipts to prove the cost of when I fixed the damage as well as they wanted a recording showing the guest did the damage...or proof.  I never rely on Airbnb to fix any issues I have.  I treat Airbnb like a booking service--they connect me with guests and handle the payment processing, that's about all I can definately count on.

Anyone who is renting their space needs insurance from a company--like who you have your homeowners insurance with.  This will protect you. Many municipalities require added insurance when you apply for your license to operate a vacation rental, so you should look into getting the added coverage.   Airbnb has their own interests and it's, to me, ridiculous to rent your home out to strangers- or anyone for that matter- without buying insurance to protect your belonging and structrue from damage and theft.  You are ultimately running a business and need to treat it as such.  Airbnb is just a booking service and you shouldn't count of them to replace anything without going through a huge ton of firey hoops.

[Martina240]

Thank you for posting your experience. I'm sorry this happened to you, but it is a lesson for all hosts. There's a company called Slice that charges a nominal fee for daily coverage. I think it is worth the price.

[Suze6]

Hi, I am a new host. Thank you for the Insurance information. I just had 2 questions do you still ask for a damage deposit? And do you  include the Insurance fee in the nightly fee or is it charged separately?

[Helen3]

If you take out home insurance for short term lets (and I suggest you strongly consider ), it is a cost of you doing business. You don't charge your guests for it.

You just add it into your other costs such as utilities and factor it into the overall price you charge your guests.

[Ange2]

@Helen3   Few to no insurance agencies here will cover Airbnb rentals, many hosts have had their insurance pulled once they became hosts. Airbnb has the reputation of being extremely high risk.

The Host Guarantee is often the only recourse for many and from personal experience it's not worth the hours spent in gathering documents and making a claim. I received less than 25% on a claim for an expensive item that the guests admitted to ruining, and it doesn't even cover basic clean-up.  I was given 48 hours to accept the paltry amount or receive zero compensation.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Joanna85 I don't know how is it in your country but here very few agencies want to insure short term rentals and if they do it is up to max 300 € damages made by guest . It  barely covers the cost of one TV.  Theft done by guest is also never covered.

My experience with insurance agencies in Croatia is 3-6 months of paperwork . No, thank you, I'l rather continue to play russian rullet on Airbnb...

It is tragic that we can't even take security deposit and depend exclusively of Airbnb goodwill.

[Rose21]

ABB advertises their own "Host Guarantee".  You may think it's nothing, and we should all have our own insurance, but ABB is putting it out there that they will cover us.  And if they don't then they are not trust worthy.

[Ange2]

@Rose21  

"ABB is putting it out there that they will cover us"  

Yes, but does paltry compensation validate the promise and can it be considered  'cover' ? 

I received less than 25% and the guests admitted they had ruined the item.  Airbnb found the cheapest generic replacement and decided that was compensation enough for the quality brand, expensive item I had – I had sent them an image of the damaged item in situ, the link they sent me of what they considered replacement bore absolutely no resemblance to my item, except that it had four corners. They then gave me 48 hours to accept the pittance or I would get nothing and of course no one was available to speak with before the deadline. It's not what I would call coverage or a promise kept.

[Claire426]

Very often insurance does not cover you...your excess can be more than the damage! Airbnb DO NOT honor their promise "we've got you covered"...yeah right. There are copious claims here from SUPERHOSTS who have jumperd through all of Airbnb's hoops to rightfully receive compensation only to have the door slammed in their faces and get poor service. Read this forum, carefully. Airbnb do not derserve any accolades.

[Edwin57]

But it was alright for every body to make money sorry to said this is like renting a car you know what I mean come on now Airbnb is brand and we are a product now were does every body stand

[Fiona-and-Keith-and-Fami0]

@Edwin57

Are you a troll? I've seen your callous comments elsewhere in the Community Center. In order to entice the product to be placed on the Airbnb shelf, part of their promise is the $1,000,000 host guarantee AND the resolution center. Now where do we stand?

I have been able to come to a satisfactory resolution when needing assistance on the to-date (5 years this month) handful of issues, but I DO occasionally have to be assertive on and throw my weight around which, btw, is quite heavy with over ONE THOUSAND completed (that is COMPLETED) bookings--never mind the ones that have been cancelled or the views and inquiries. So this product (my husband & I and the two listings in our home) contributes to Airbnb's profits.

When I encounter resistance, I INSIST on speaking to a supervisor because the first line of defense is often a newbie rep who knows LESS THAN I DO so I must be patient and feed them information they don't yet know; and when I come across and experienced rep, I am vocal about having to provide FREE training to THEIR representatives, whether paid staff or contractors.

Keep in mind, I rarely call but that is because we DO NOT USE INSTANT BOOK! I don't give a hoot about "getting more bookings" because we screen/vet EACH AND EVERY guest who will be entering OUR home. If I get a sense that the guest has not read the listing details I have put MANY, MANY hours into writing and re-writing, or if they are not responding, I DO NOT accept their request. Because I am QUICK TO RESPOND to requests, our ratings are not impacted.

I believe it is because of our screening of guests that we are very happy with 99.9% of our hosting experiences. It does make for more work up front, but I would MUCH RATHER take the time up front than have the grief and aggravation of fixing things after the fact. As you can see from our reviews, 99.9% of our guests are also very happy with their experiences staying in our home. We work at being welcoming and accommodating hosts who want our guests to feel comfortable and relaxed when they stay with us.

I understand and can appreciate your perspective even though it's sometimes a challenge to decipher what you are attempting to say. Would you consider using punctuation in your sentences? Because they are absent, one must read and re-read to figure out what your point is. It’s not necessary to have perfect grammar, but punctuating your thoughts would help a lot.

Though they may be callous, you do make a point: WE are in charge of and responsible for our "product" offering. Thanks for your contributions.

[Emiel1]

Hi Inge,

What i wondered: was there any communication between you and the guests about the toilet problem ?

Seems to me rather inconvience for guests also. Did the plumber indicate what caused the clogging ?

Did you inform the guests also about the situation/damage after returning home ?

Best regards,

Emiel

[Sofia-and-Ed0]

So true  Sorry to hear your ordeal.  We have the same problem, but mine was only $120.  The resolution person is Clueless and ARROGANT.  he will not come to the phone.  Will not listen to anything.  You have to Prove that your items were damaged.  And then they Still Side with the GUEST who destroyed my stuff.  

What's the point in being a SUPER HOST if you are treated as a Second Class Citizen?  Without Host they have no business.  We are seriously considering a different platform as Airbnb is all about protecting the GUEST and not taking care of their Hosts

[Lachman0]

Yes airbnb protects the guest more than host. I was helpless when a good guest having chit chat and I even showed her  neighborhood areas even dropped them to a food area as its the same way towards my home... friendly towards us suddenly left a 2 star review. All because she said bathroom was not clean and to access the room have to climb 2 stairs. It was obviously explain in the airbnb..I told her its an old bathroom with old tiles but very very clean as we kept housekeeper to clean hostel and everything every day and I specially as a detailed cleaner make sure its clean. I know bathrooms are very sensitive and even asked her if there is anything I could do to make ur stay feel better pls let me know.....all this is not only the $10 money I'm looking for as we run family business downstairs and make sure to give the comfort for far travelled people. Just a human care...nothing else. Even some guest stayed and lost their credit card in the street and  cried and even helped them to call Germany bank from my mobile to block the card...that phone call cost $15... We don't ask money.....well frankly should have asked the bill but I thought of doing something nice to human then automatically we also become happy....lucky we got business to run downstairs:))  Well that 2 star rating makes my account suspended for a week... I wonder with $10  is that many guest expect the service of a 3 or 4 star hotel and airbnb doesn't educate them to expect little less for the money they spent... maybe the woman was having a bad day with her boyfriend....god bless...