No Help from Resolution Center

[Henry31]

Hi all, I'm not sure what to do. I received a $3,000 water bill (it is usually $350) as a guest left a tap running. I have asked the Resolution Center to get involved but received nothing back from them in a month and I can find no way on Airbnb to follow up on this. Any ideas please? Thanks, Henry

[Hubert0]

@Henry31 Sorry to hear about that. I guess you have opened a resolution case. Have you escalated the case to airbnb?

If you have and it has been a few days, you may want to contact them again. Keep your receipt & proof ready as they can be helpful.

[Henry31]

Hi Hubert,

Thanks for your message. I did open a case wihtin the 14 days required by Airbnb and have escalted it, but I have not heard back from Airbnb. I have the water bill in question (which I have sent to Airbnb) and a series of normal water bills as well. I would like to send the normal water bills to make the point, but there seems to be no way to do that looking through the website. 

Best,

Henry

[Robin4]

@Henry31 Hi Henry...oh dear that is terrible luck. The size of the increase somewhat staggers me. We would not use $2, 500 worth of water in 4 years!!! Given that you may be possibly paying more per Kilolitre for water in Rio than we are in South Australia, although I doubt that (this being the driest state in the driest country on earth)  I still cannot remotely consider how a bill like this could be accurate.

Report it to Airbnb by all means Henry but, from the way you have worded your post the time limit for help via the reolution centre may be against you. Also, even if the resolution centre were to get involved they will require conclusive evidence that it was the guest that created this outcome and not a mis-read meter consumption reading, or some other water related 'event' that occured on the property.

Henry, I really hope you can sort this out in your favour. This is something I have never heard of on the forum before, although we regulary get posts from hosts with electricity wastage complaints, and it is possible to protect your self from these issues. There is a relatively inexpensive water metering device on the market that will shut the water off after a pre-determined amount of water has been used. But this, in itself, creates other issues....you have to make sure it is reset before each guest and for lengthy guest stays it could require re-setting or recalibrating. It also has be accepted by your water board for inclusion on your property

But, you could purchase 15 of these devices for less than the cost of the additional water you are now faced with from this one guest!!!

Good luck Henry, we all feel for you and hope that your outcome is not too costly...cheers.....Rob

[Henry31]

Hi Robin,

Thanks for you message.

Unfortunately water in Rio is expensive in general. I have had the bill analysed and the water board CEDAE explained to me that with every m3 of water you use the price goes up in order to prevent excessive usage. Given how long the tap was left running, it is consistent. 

I have reported it to Airbnb within the time required and I have escalated it as well but heard nothing back as yet and don't know how to chase it up. No doubt they are busy.

As regards evidence, there is no doubt about it as my neighbour had to go round and turn the tap off as it was causing flooding in the garden the house below. 

Anyway, thanks for the suggestion about the metering device, will have a look at that if we continue to do Airbnb.

Best,

Henry

[Bob39]

Check the spam folder of your email, or the approval queue if you have one. Most messages from Airbnb are sent from express@airbnb.com, but messages from the Resolution Center are sent from response@airbnb.com. Check all folders and queues for response@airbnb.com. I lost a case because those emails were waiting for my approval to be sent to my Inbox and I never knew it. 

[Henry31]

Hi Bob,

Thanks for the suggestion. I could find nothing unfortunately. 

Best,

Henry

[David126]

You have a charge for excessive water use? You read the meter before each guest?

[Henry31]

Hi David,

We do indeed have a charge for excessive use, which turns out to be very heavy! 

I don't read the meter, but we get a monthly statement and this happened in the middle of the first month (they were there for 6 weeks during the Olympics as they were competing). 

Best,

Henry

[David126]

That makes more sense.

As far as determining usage and cost.

Then the issue is how you would recover such a cost within the scope of your contract with the guest, I have seen some people mention they have a certain allowance and then the Guest is charged for any extra, does not seem the case here.

[Henry31]

Interesting, I didn't know it was possible to make provision for iton Airbnb and assumed that using them we would be well protected generally. 

It has actually been less than 3 weeks since this was escalated and I found a number online for Airbnb (+1-877-532-2356 FYI) and apparently I will hear back soon..

Best,

Henry

[David126]

I am intrigued as to how it will be handled, I guess it depends on the Guest response.

[Henry31]

The guest is denying having left the tap on, but there is no one else who would have done it. There were 6 guests so it is difficult to speak to them all - sailors from different coutries with their coach competing in the Olympics (one got a silver which was great) - and they also put a large hole in the roof of the main reception room, but that is not hard to fix.

I will let you know how it goes with Airbnb.

Best,

Henry

[David126]

Well presumably one booking made by one person?

[Henry31]

Yes, I just dealt with one of the group throughout.