House trashed, wrecked, destroyed by guest

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Chris80
Level 3
Eugene, OR

House trashed, wrecked, destroyed by guest

I just had a guest check out and they destroyed my house, causing over $3500 in damages and lost bookings. The list of things wrecked is so extensive, it's not even worth going into exhaustive detail, but here are the highlights (or low points, as the case may be):

 

Huge party lasting until well after 1am, disturbing neighbours and a general nuisance

Vomit stained sheets left in bag upstairs

Mattress stained, wet after sheets and mattress cover removed (presumably because of the vomit)

Two vintage audiophile stereo systems nonfunctional and broken speaker stand

Everything filthy, floor sticky, dirty dishes in sink

Bathroom vile, vanity shelf ripped from wall

 

Additionally, I had to decline a $250 booking since the place is not habitable. I can only hope that the host guarantee covers some of the losses. Has anyone had a positive experience with the host guarantee and how long did it take to be compensated?

1 Best Answer
Breanna
Community Manager
Community Manager
Pontefract, United Kingdom

Hi everyone,

 

You can learn more about damage coverage for Hosts by reviewing this Airbnb Help Center article: Getting protected through AirCover for Hosts.

 

Please note that this content has been archived.

 

You can still access if if you have the link but it won't appear when you search on the Community Center.

 

To ask a new question just click below:

 

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110 Replies 110

Did you ever get reimbursed?

I am being asked to send in photos of like-kind items.

I so get where you are coming fro when they try to act like a contractor is not a valid invoice. it IS a valid invoice if someone was paid to fix your house.

I sent them a receipt from the last time we had our house painted.

 

It was $3500.

 

House is now trashed from a music video, they damaged our sprinkler system & the yard has to be dug up.

 

@Thomas1382 Your place is so nice!  That's a terrible story.  At $80 a night, I think @Gordon would say your place screams party.  I note other listings nearby start at $89 a night.  If I were you I'd raise my price to weed out the scumbags.  I hope in the meantime you've gotten some resolution from Airbnb.

David6
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

Claimed after a major trashing of my apartment. Police involved. You have to fight to get your claim paid.

 

The initial call I made -  the agent was so unhelpful and told me to contact the guest who was arriving the same day I discovered this incident as no way could I host them. I insisted to hold and  to speak with a manager. Still wasn’t being taken seriously so I emailed a senior team member and they did respond.  But you have to do everything, it’s incredibly stressful and time consuming.  

 

Immediately take an extensive amount of CLEAR detailed pictures. Video everything. Phone Airbnb immediately and get it flagged in the system there has been an incident. In my case items were stolen too,  took the microwave, even the iron. Smashed windows, Threw chairs from 4th floor roof terrace - could have killed anyone walking by. If you’ve called the police, don’t touch or move anything until they have visited. 

 

Be realistic. Airbnb will not pay for your stress, your time spend dealing with this or inflated charges. No, it’s highly unlikely they will pay £500 to repaint one wall. You need detailed receipts or links to exact like for like replacements. I had to match my claim to the police report that listed everything stolen and and then ‘show’ every single item picture by picture that was smashed. 

 

They urinated in my linen cupboard and also smashed broken glass in there. For safety - even if washed -  all this has to be trashed as a future guest could have discovered glass splinters in their face towel 🙂 Airbnb agreed. 

 

imagine if you were settling the claim. It is fair and reasonable what you are requesting? Airbnb deal with claims every day & know the fair market price of everything 

Christina163
Level 10
United States

This is awful! This is why I tell people if you throw any events at my house the reservation will be cancelled immediately. My neighbors called me at 1am & the guest wasn’t answering the phone so I texted her & said everyone needs to leave & Airbnb asked me if I was ok refunding her for the remaining nights. I said absolutely NOTHING will be refunded. They even moved a bed from upstairs into my living room. Disgusting lying slobs.....Airbnb constantly backs these lying, conning, careless guests with no regard for other people.

i also asked Airbnb to move the case management to the United States because I don’t want to talk to someone in a call center who makes $3 a day in a 3rd world country - what could they possibly know about property management? They need workers with property management experience.

Nicolas777
Level 2
Miami Beach, FL

This happened to me in March, what worries me is that airbnb allows these kind of guests to destroy your reputation by allowing them to give you a 1-star rating. How come is that fair? Has someone had the same case? Basically, massive destruction of your property and 1-star rating from guest?

Ani61
Level 2
New York, NY

The same thing happened to my parents last night!!

My parents had just put our beach house up for rent on airbnb. The first person who booked posed as a "middle aged man" with "2 other guests". My parents get a call and it turns out there were 40 teenages throwing a huge party in our airbnb. There was a lot of damage. My parents live 2.5 hours away and by the time they got their the kids were gone. Cops made no arrests even though children were smoking weed and used a fake id to book the place. We called airbnb and they first said oh we have to call the customers and ask if they want their money back since we "made them leave the house". They TRASHED and DAMAGED the place, we had to kick them out! They called back and said oh since it is a "unique" situation, we won't call the kids but if they call and say they want their money back you have to give it to them. We filed a claim with airbnb and sent pictures of damage, will airbnb compensate? It doesn't feel right to let the kids get away with this. The cops aren't helping us either. The kids called them saying we are "holding their stuff hostage". Fine, we will give back the stuff, but what about minors faking id and smoking weed and damaging our property?

I would not give them anything back until they PAY in full for damages and the money clears. You didn’t rent to them. They were trespassing.

@Ani61  I'm so sorry this happened and I hope you get an approriate resolution from Airbnb.

 But listing an entire house that you live 2.5 hours away from, without having outdoor security cameras that you are monitoring, and not having a co-host nearby who can deal with problematic situations at the time they happen is quite naive and dangerous. Airbnb isn't some easy way to make money, as you have sadly found out. It's actually quite hard work and requires vigilance and proper vetting of guests. Although I understand that the guest totally lied about who he was and his intentions.

Best of luck with this.

When they lie they should be banned. I have said this before. Airbnb doesn’t listen. Nobody should be on the platform & allowed to lie about their intentions.

While I do agree with you with what you have said, I think the reason my mom and her bf didn't take as many precautions as they should've was because during our various experiences as airbnb guests, we never met the host nor cohost were greeted with someone, nor were there signs of any security cameras. Not saying I don't agree with you, I told my mom to maybe figure out security and get to know our neighbors and the area before renting it out for safety reasons. Of course, she didn't listen to me, and took her boyfriends advice about putting it on airbnb 2 weeks after buying it and were renting it out behind my back.

Christina163
Level 10
United States

They owe for the entire trip and damages. Airbnb is going to Pay. That is the host guarantee. They are trying to get out of it. They are responsible for collecting the security deposit. I had them ask me for a “stamp” on my contractors receipt & I had the owner and contractor sign the receipt. Send in a copy of the check once it clears from your worker. I have a 2500 deposit in small spaces because that’s how much it costs to bring your place back to normal in Los Angeles. Work is expensive! 

 

@Sarah977 @Christina163 Thank you both so much for your feedback! I forwarded all of your comments to my mom and good news- airbnb so far has paid $650 for damages!!

Good! Be very careful now. No last minute bookings! & ask for a list of the names of everyone that will be staying or even be at the house as a guest.

Victoria163
Level 2
Caulfield North, Australia

BE WARNED..

We have just had a terrible experience and AirBNB say there is little or nothing they can do about a huge mess left. 

We had booked 13 guests and turned up to find 30 people sleeping on every bit of furniture, etc. They had a huge party, totally trashed the place.... They'd been using a beer bong and there was alcohol spilt all over walls, windows, all over furniture, down and inside all of the kitchen draws and cupboards. We found drugs, used ciringes, burned spoons, a whole trailer load of rubbish, in the house and all around. 

My wife has spent a whole week uploading our claim, on AirBNB website, on the phone with various unhelpful AirBNB clerks.. All a total waste of time.

AirBNB have informed us that the bond can only be accessed for damage and is not suitable for the 17 non-paying guests, nor the amazing mess. 

We to have around 250 photographs of disgusting filth not worth uploading here, but which AirBNB now have and said there is nothing they can do.

Be warned. It is pointless allowing AirBNB to hold your bond, if they cannot release it even though there members can wreck your home.

Disgruntled holst!