Problem with Airbnb Host Guarantee: hosts beware!!

[Valentina32]

Dear Hosts,

I have been a host for many years and recently found myself in a situation where a group of guests caused considerable damage to my property.

I submitted my request to Airbnb on time and according to guidelines and after two weeks of back and forth where Airbnb asked me to provide a sizeable amount of documents to prove the damage, I was told that my Host Guarantee payment request had been declined as it was not possible to determine the guest's liability for the damages.

This is more than disappointing  as it means that unless you can prove your guest was directly responsible for the damage (by taking a picture of the damage while it is happening? by installing CCTVs in your property?) Airbnb will not cover you. When I raised this point I was told that they are sorry but Airbnb reserves the right to make the final determination with regard to these disputes.

What this tells me is that the Airbnb Host Guarantee is not exactly what they lead us to believe and the deposit they hold for you (which should be held on your behalf exactly for situations like this one) is little more than a joke.

I do not feel as safe leaving my house in the hands of strangers which could damage it without consequences.

Please be careful and assume that Airbnb will not cover for your damages and take extra precautions to protect your property.

If anyone else had similar experiences please share!

Valentina

[Martin3626]

Airbnb is incompetent. It is not worth your time going after deposits put up by the renters. It is not worth your time generating house rules with damage payments outlined. I rented a home on Airbnb for a year, after-parties by high school kids that Airbnb had vetted, trashed house Airbnb did not allow payments for, and general incompetency I pulled my home from Airbnb. My nephew was going to put his home in Airbnb, but after I gave him running text messages of the problems, he decided not to do it. Airbnb has no protection or support of these $300k to $1 million plus homes. If you really want to rent the house, do it yourself or get a local real estate agent; when problems come up, you will have some control over the outcomes. Airbnb told me they would allow a 15-year-old kid to request a home rental (even if the homeowner specifically noted no renting to people under 25) as long as they had a valid ID.

[Raj662]

Lodged 2nov. Assessor just came today as I write this. 8 weeks. Many things have already been repaired. 

[Jason1507]

Same problem I wish I had seen this before going through the expense of furnishing my apartment I would never have hosted with airbnb. I am going back to straight renting the place. 

[Denise1223]

Same!! I have plenty of documentation that a guest burned out my AC blower motor by running running the AC at 65 degrees when it was 90 degree outside (Florida) and froze the coil.  Pictures and back and forth messages with the guest about how to operate the AC.  But because a guest checked in the next day, I am SOL and have to pay an $805 repair bill.  

Class Action Suit Signups here:

I am ready, willing, and able.  They have messed with too many people.  

[Helen3]

Are you saying Airbnb wouldn't consider your claim because you didn't initiate it before the next guest checked in.

if so, @Denise1223  -although I appreciate how frustrating that is for you., you didn't meet their T&Cs. 

just like any type of insurance product Airbnb will have conditions you need to meet and they need to able to demonstrate who's responsible.

Can't see if this is the case that you would succeed in any legal action class or otherwise .

have you tried claiming on your own specialist home insurance for STRs. 

[Emi3843]

Absolutely.  What I found is that they make it extremely hard to claim.  A group of guest left some damage in my property and another guest arrived on the same day.  I submitted the claim around 8pm the same evening.  An Airbnb Case Manager rejected my claim because it wasn't submitted in time because it had to be submitted before the next guests arrived and the check in time was 3pm.  So I "missed" the cut off by 4 hours.  

I argued that the Guest didnt' arrive until late that evening and submitted proof of the Guest late arrival.  But the Airbnb Case Manager once again rejected by saying that I did not prove that the guest had caused the damage, even though the photos are time-stamped on the date and time that they were taken.  

[Heather1198]

Our place was trashed this past weekend - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tE1mfBS59hM&feature=youtu.be

We will see if airbnb comes through for us...

[Helen3]

How awful @Heather1198 I hope you get compensated.

For other hosts in this situation if you see guests partying in your home . Don't wait for them to check out and cause further disturbance to your neighbours/damage to your home.

contact Airbnb and tell them to cancel the booking as there is a safety issue and breach of your house rules and then arrange for your co-host or go to the listings yourself and ensure your guests and party-goers to leave.

[Debbie612]

To all Airbnb Hosts – Especially in South Africa. I’m writing this Letter let you to warn you. As this can happen to anybody. It happened to me.

I have been a AirBnB host for 2 years now. I was doing okay for myself and decided to do it fulI-time. Airbnb seemed like a trustworthy platform, as they have a strict policy and they ‘say’ they do background checks on Guests that want to book your place. But I was wrong and wish that I was much more assertive when accepting guests to stay at my property. I trusted Airbnb, They are my partner at the end of the day.

But nothing could have prepared me for what was to come… A guest (A Criminal) using a fake name and ID, booked my entire house for 2 nights on Airbnb - I was sceptic at first, as it was for one man only, and the booking was approved by airbnb without my pre-approval - Which goes against my policy on airbnb platform.

I didn’t want to cancel, as a host, Airbnb takes points off your listing. Rating You lower, and as this is my business, hosting Airbnb guests, it would have counted against me, Airbnb fines a host and closes your calendar for other possible bookings as well.

So, I got my house ready for the guest arriving the next day, locked my main bedroom door and my office. Then prepared my house for the guest.

The Guest seemed polite communicating over WhatsApp only, he said he is driving from Durban and can’t answer his phone. I should have seen the red flag when the guest never arrived at the time, he said he would, he kept on delaying. But again, these things happen – I want to be a considerate Host, So I decided to leave the keys and remote in a lockbox at the entrance for the guest to enter. I informed the guests and took off to book myself and my dogs in at another guesthouse before 11pm (Before the lockdown curfew time in Dec 2020). I have CCTV cameras so I would be able to check when guest arrived.

What a costly mistake I made trusting Airbnb, and a Horrific 2-month long ordeal all because AIRBNB DON’T DO WHAT THEY SAY AND DISREGARD HOSTS POLICIES –

The Guest cut my CCTV cameras, changed the locks, and invited a bunch of his friends onto my property, broke into my office, my bedroom (both room doors where locked and a no entry sign placed on doors), Stole R12000 cash I had in Safe, stole my Rolex watch and everything valuable in the house. They drank all my wine, carried my lounge suite outside and had a party.

As soon as I saw that my CCTV cameras where cut, I called the guest. I couldn’t believe my ears… He answered, music so loud that my neighbours called me. I called the Police…. And waited for hours, eventually I got a security company to go with me to my house… when I got there, I saw the locks where changed. no-body was there. The security told me to call the police as they couldn’t just break in… I did, but the police didn’t come out. I called a locksmith to break open locks, once inside I saw how my place looked…HOW CAN THIS HAPPEN, I KEPT ASKING MYSELF/ I also noticed that the 2 guest bedroom doors where closed and locked. ‘that’s strange’ I told the locksmith. I phoned the guest and to my surprise his phone started ringing in one of the bedrooms… the locksmith grabbed one of his tools and said “ek gaan hom nou blicksom” I told him not to, and that we should rather leave as I didn’t want any more problems and because I was scared for my life, I didn’t know who the guest was or whether he had a gun… So, I left thinking, he will be gone in the morning as check out time is 10am. But he didn’t leave for another 3 weeks.

I opened a case at the police station (They did nothing), He stole everything, my couches where ruined and in the rain…
I Thought the worst was over, but it was just beginning… The guest refused to leave my house and stayed for the entire December and January Holidays with his friends and family.

I went to the police station again, they told me to go to court to get a court order to have him forcefully removed – which was a challenge over the December holidays. I got it eventually and went to the sheriff’s office, He had to serve and remove the man immediately from my house, but the sheriff told me that due to Lockdown, he can’t remove anyone off premises and told me to come back in January 2021.

WHAT MUST I DO NOW…? I CAN’T TAKE THE LAW INTO MY OWN HANDS, THIS GUEST HAS VANDELIZED MY HOUSE AND IS NOW LIVING IN MY HOUSE WITH HIS THUG FRIENDS, I HAVE NOWHERE TO GO AND MY DOGS ARE WITH ME, I HAVE NO OTHER CLOTHES (except the 2 pairs I took with the day the guest checked in.., MY MONEY IS UP NOW, I WANT MY HOUSE BACK AND I WANT THE CRIMINAL AND ALL HIS FRIENDS TO GET ARRESTED. After 2 months of Hell, They Left and I could finally go home, and get my house in order again, it was so bad, most nights I would just cry myself to sleep.

AIRBNB HASNT DONE ANYTHNG EITHER - I opened a Host reimbursement case with Airbnb, as they said I must, I TOOK PHOTOS OF ALL DAMAGES AND SENT IT TO AIRBNB, WHOM ASSURED ME A HOST PROTECTION CLAIM FOR DAMAGES CAUSED, BUT IT’S BEEN OVER 5 MONTHS NOW…JUST EMPTY PROMISES.

I HOPE THAT THIS LETTER WILL ALERT OTHER HOSTS TO BE CAREFUL WHEN RENTING OUT THEIR ENTIRE HOMES TO GUESTS ON AIRBNB ¬ - NO BACKGROUND CHECKS ARE DONE ON GUESTS. IT’S ALL A IIE TO MAKE HOSTS TRUST THEM.

The guest was supposed to have paid a security deposit amount when he booked my entire house, I asked Airbnb where is this amount when they paid out for the 2 nights. But said the guest didn’t pay it (HOW DID THIS GUEST BOOK WITHOUT PAYING THE SECURITY DEPOSIT. NO ANSWER.

AIRBNB MAKES MONEY FROM HOSTS PROPERTIES, BUT CARRY NO RISKS AT ALL.

[Oscar60]

I can believe what i just read that is really alarming. 

[Sarah977]

@Debbie612 

Sorry this horrendous scenario happened to you.

But:

Airbnb isn't your "partner".

Airbnb doesn't approve bookings 

without your approval unless you have  Instant Book turned on.

If you have a bad feeling about a booking, you get it cancelled. You should never ignore your intuition because of some stat going down or some penalty. In fact, you could have easily had this booking, as it was an IB booking, cancelled with no penalties to you by contacting Airbnb to say it made you uncomfortable.

The Airbnb so-called security deposit is bogus. No security deposit is charged to guests when they book, nor is there a hold put on their credit card.

The idea of renting your own home, with all your personal things in it, to a total stranger, and going to stay somewhere else, is bizarre to me. And leaving R12000, a Rolex, wine and other valuables there, is either unbelievably naive, or insane.

Obviously, this was an extreme situation, and no one should ever have anything like that happen to them. It's also crazy to me that the police were so unhelpful.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Debbie612 Your reviews as a guest make interesting reading

[Sarah977]

@Mike-And-Jane0  A bit of karma, perhaps?

[Sherban-and-Barbara0]

It’s a terrible experience to have to deal with the Airbnb host guarantee. The reps are unprofessional and ignorant. The previous two claims I had they didn’t pay the full amount for reasons that I didn’t understand. But now I have a claim just under $ 3000.00 for a rental that was worth about $ 300. That is not good business. The replies I get from the rep are both evasive and offensive. I’m afraid I may not recover my loss. I see here a lot of people complaining and unhappy including myself and no one is doing anything about it. I seriously consider delisting my properties with Airbnb and using alternative companies that have proper insurance that guests must buy every time they rent.