No host protection from Airbnb

[Charlie116]

Hi All, 

I recently had a horrible experience with a guest. 

He was in town for a concert and had far too good of a time. He came to my home around 230am, being very loud and incondiserate of myself and other roommates. I woke up the next day to find that he had urinated all over my bathroom. His dog pooped on my carpet. He was alseep on my couch, which I later found out was because he spilled a large amount of alcohol on the mattress and it was soaked. He ruined a rug that was in the room and stained all of my towels. I had pictures of the bathroom and the mattress. 

For all of these reasons I charged him an extra $70. $35 because I couldnt host the next day and $35 for cleaning. Airbnb had to step in and mediate and favored the guest. 

Support suggested I include a cleaning fee moving forward. I do not want to do this though, because guests previously were never a problem. 

Any ideas on how to move forward? At this point I'm very angry with Airbnb and am considering not hosting any longer. 

[Fred13]

Perhaps start charging $49 or even $59 if you dare, a higher price oftentimes elevates one's clientele.  You just happened to stumble on a classic alcoholic, it may be a fluke. As for getting resolution from Airbnb, it is like playing roulette in a casino, where the ball lands is up to chance (aka which particular CS person you get).

[Charlie116]

@Fred13 I am going to have to raise the rates. I just worry that in my area and with my listing that I wont be able to get that much. Giving it a try though! 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Charlie116  sounds disgusting 😞  

ABB will rarely charge a guest for extra cleaning so the best would be to set a cleaning fee for everyone. It also makes shorter stays more profitable. 

[Charlie116]

@Branka-and-Silvia0 I will have to add that to my listing. I hadnt done this previously because I am trying to keep the cost down to get more bookings. 

[Matthew285]

@Charlie116, that sounds horrible! I'm a so sorry you had to go through this experience.

What was the justification AirBnB provided for favoring the guest in this situation?

[Charlie116]

@Matthew285 It was awful. AirBnB said that the pictures were not enough proof. I asked what I should have done differently and have not gotten a response. 

[Matthew285]

@Charlie116, that's very disappointing.

I know sometimes AirBnB asks for invoices/receipts from repairmen or cleaners, but how are we to provide that if we clean our listing ourselves?

I'm not sure what more you could possibly provide.

A sworn statement from a professional laundry stain evaluator?

An affadavit from a licensed crime scene cleaner? 

Did the guest claim he left the place undamaged?

[Charlie116]

@Matthew285

My thoughts exactly! What more evidence do they need? He claimed nothing was out of the ordinary when he left. 

[Matthew285]

@Charlie116, ah, see that is his way of finessing the truth.

He said "nothing was out of the ordinary when he left."

If he soaks the mattress, stains the towels, and has his dog poop everywhere he goes, then yes "nothing was out of the ordinary when he left."

[Jesus-Y-Ana0]

Hi
Mate and Charlie
You are good people and don’t want to harm others, but sometimes We need to be more strict. Not everybody is like us.
Last year a Man hit my car on the back while I was waiting the traffic light. I notice he was drinking but I decided not to involve the police in order to not cause him a problem, if the driver make the insurance report on front of me. Resuming...The insurance company didn’t want to pay because the driver said it was imposible he was cause that damage to my car. Since them.... I call the police and get a lawyer

[David126]

The only realistic way you would get paid in this sort of situation is if the Guest agreed.

[Cynthia246]

I’ve had a couple similar instances.  All in all the good have far outweighed the bad. I raised my rates ever so slightly to cover extra cleaning and to ensure a better clientele.  Airbnb seems to need extreme proof to side with the host, unfortunately.  Better luck in the future 

[Elena87]

@Charlie116

Sorry to hear about this incident.

In retrospect maybe you could have played the situation better, if you woke up to the mess the guest made certainly it's amber alert time - it would have been prudent to be assertive and do a quick joint inspection before he left to either to put you at ease or to ask him or shame him for compensation there and then.

[Charlie116]

@Elena87

I agree, in retrospect I would have handled it differently. I did try to confront him in person before I left for work. He was still too drunk to stand in one place or to formulate a sentance. Moving forward I will have to make sure to do an inspection before the guest leaves.