Problem with Airbnb Host Guarantee: hosts beware!!

Answered!
Valentina32
Level 9
London, United Kingdom

Problem with Airbnb Host Guarantee: hosts beware!!

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

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Stephanie
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

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219 Replies 219

I was going to request it throught Airbnb not outside of their platform. But I did not know you cannot request a security deposit at all. Now I know thanks for letting me know Letti.

 

 

@Anonymous   You can have a security deposit. You have one set at $1000, but AirBnB does not actually collect it just they may be charged up to that amount for damages. Collecting one seperately from that one even through the platform unfortunately is a no no. On HA/VRBO we actually get the money, but AirBnB is totally opposed to this concept. They want more bookings and a huge security charged to their guests would limit many of those that would like to book as their credit cards don't have that kind of limit. Like your case they would have been out another $1000 on their charging ability if AirBnB actually billed it at the time of booking. Also look at the stupid Pay Less Up Front policy designed for people who do not have a large credit card limit, so they can split the cost into two payments and tie up your place for a long time if they then cannot afford to make the second payment when due. It's all about getting more bookings and fee's from the guests. 

Yes I have a $1000 which means I can claim up to that amount, I used to have it at $250 but since I found out they do not actually collect it I upped it to $1000 just in case.

 

If they were actually collect it I would put it at $250. When someone goes to a hotel and book a room the hotel have their Credit card on file and if any damage is done they will charge the card. 

 

The last guest that damaged my home apparantly did not have any funds on their CC they used to book with Airbnb that is why I waited 6 weeks for Airbnb to pay me.

 

Airbnb actually removed the guest reservation from my reservation list so my guess is that they blocked this guest bcause they could not collect from the guest.

They probably had to pay me from their pocket and that is why they took so long to pay.

 

Had they collected from the Guest they would not have to pay instead.

It is just a matter of time before I ditch Airbnb, once my business is established and I start getting word of mouth referrals and bookings from my own website which I am in the process of building, I will move on. 

Peter1196
Level 2
Copenhagen, Denmark

So very right, the host guarantee is nothing but hot air. I tried with a toaster, that a Guest broke, and the claim was rejected. Now I am trying again with marks on a shelf, and getting into Airbnb excuses for one thing after the other. Hence I will stop hosting until Airbnb gets there act together, if ever. 

Victoria567
Level 10
Scotland, United Kingdom

Hi @Vale1ntina

There is a large element of trust in being an air bnb host.

 

No way would I leave my property in the hands of guests whilst I am not on the property 24/7.

 

Too many horror stories in the newspapers.....and now you........

Ron-And-Stacie0
Level 6
Idledale, CO

We have been superhosts for almost 4 years and have overall had really great guests.  BUT  there is always 'that' group.  We had them 2 weeks ago today.  Despite NO PARTIES being listed in multiple locations, they had a party.  They put so much TP down our septic system that it caused the line to back up into our house and onto the carpet.  Urine and feces.  Lovely.  We had to address many things that we needed to do to return our home to it's normal state.  We also missed out on our next guests, which was almost $1,000.  

I contacted airbnb within HOURS of these guests checking out.  I was advised by the person that I spoke with that it would be best for me to send all of my pictures and receipts together when I make my claim.  So, that's what I did thinking that I was 'safe' because I contacted them immediately.  we requested $1972.00. 

The response I received was that they weren't going to cover ANY damages because I didn't turn my documentation in within the correct time frame.  

So, if you want to make a claim, do so THAT DAY.  According to the email that I received, it needs to be turned in within 2 weeks from check out OR (and this is where they get you) within 24 hours of the next guests checking in.   So, here I am trying to be a good host, do the right thing, get the house ready for our next guests, (who were amazing) and Airbnb screws us.  

This company is SMARMY at best.  It disgusts me that they hide behind legalities as their final line instead of doing the right thing to maintain a good working relationship.  We will be looking for another company to do business with.  

Here are the emails that I received from airbnb

 

Hi Ron,

Thank you for contacting us. We’re very sorry to hear of this incident.

For cases to be eligible under our Host Guarantee hosts must notify us of the incident within 14 days of checkout or within 24 hours of your next guest’s check-in. This is a strict policy requirement and is in place to ensure timely and accurate resolutions for both hosts and guests. You are free to pursue reimbursement from your guest directly. However, per this requirement, this case is not eligible for reimbursement.

That said, we will follow up appropriately with xx with regard to guest responsibilities.

You may review the Host Guarantee terms here: www.airbnb.com/terms/host_  guarantee.

If you have other questions about the Host Guarantee and what is covered feel free to respond.

Best,

Dean

Dean K, Oct 13, 02:49 PDT:

Hi Ron,

I understand this is not the outcome you were hoping for. I want to reiterate that this decision was made after careful review of all documentation and communication, and is in alignment with our policies and procedures.

Please be advised that, per our Terms of Service, Airbnb reserves the right to make the final determination with regard to these disputes. We are unable to reconsider the decision made in this case — we've issued our final decision and will uphold it accordingly.

As further communication will not change the outcome of this case, we must respectfully disengage from further discussion.

Best,

Dean

Sue620
Level 2
Sydney, Australia

Dear fellow hosts

I had the unfortunate need to claim for damage caused to my home and I also join you in saying that the guarantee is a joke !

I dont know why they bother putting you through the process asking for endless documents and then refusing to honour their guarantee.

It looks to me that their procedures are designed to frustate the process and even if you endure and meet their endless requests they still dont reimburse you for damages.

I am considering withdrawing our home as result.

All I can say is good luck if you ever have to claim on the bond or guarantee.           

Hi Angelica 

i have had the unfortunate experience of having my unit damaged and having to deal with the rhetoric of air bnb staff not to acknowledge there responsibility in the host Guarantee Have you gone to Accc or fair trading they are supposed to deal with the unscrupulous company dealing within Australia?

 

Jemi1
Level 2
New South Wales, Australia

I'm having problems with payments to be paid to me (as host). There are saying that its my bank fault. They have always paid into my australian account and now they saying they have issues. I provided them my paypal account and they stated that it be verified within 48 hrs. I have phone them and its not yet verified. When will get my payment?

Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Jemi1

Mate there are about 6 threads going here at the moment about just this issue. All Australian hosts are affected.....none of us are receiving our hosting payouts. I would suggest you do nothing and just be patient a bit longer. I say do nothing because Airbnb are aware of it, they just don't have the basic courtesy to let us know about it. Customer Service are hopelessly lost, they have no idea what is going on. Half of them are telling us to reset our payout preferences and the other half are telling us to wait and leave our preferences as they are. It is a full on shambles Jemi.

 

Take comfort Mate , you are not alone....we are all paddling this lifeboat together!

 

Cheers......Rob

Sam397
Level 10
Reno, NV

I may be nieve in thinking this, but all I do walk through the house with my phone and make a video of the house, I go to each room, do a slow pan around the whole room making sure i get the tops of beds and couches and chairs, countertops and tables.  I usually end up with about a 90 - 120  second video. Cell phone videos are time stamped and as far as I know you can't alter the time on them so and this is where I might be nieve in my thinking but there is no way BnB can deny a claim if you have a time-stamped video of a wall in perfect condition on the day someone checks in and another video of that same wall with a hole in it taken on the day they checked out is there? Doing this obviously won't catch everything that could happen such as knobs being over tightened or towels being ruined but it will cover a whole lot of things, well worth the 2 minutes it takes to make the video.

I wanted to share my experience with the host guarantee, especially because I read every post I could find when I first made my claim.

 

Honestly, all of the posts made me extremely nervous and angry because I assumed we were not going to get paid out.

 

On October 31st, we had an instant booking for same-day check-in. That should have been a huge red flag but it was a brand new listing and I really needed the review. So, thinking the house guarantee had my back, I let the reservation stand.

 

About 11:30 p.m. that night, the neighbor send a text message to me and there was a party going on with the property.

 

He's giving us a lot of trouble over Airbnb, so I didn't really put too much thought into it at first. I told him I would message the guest and get it taken care of.

 

I messaged the guest, no reply. I texted the guest, no reply. I called the guest, no answer. I was a little nervous at this point but replied to my neighbor and told him that I had reached out to the guest and to let me know if it didn't calm down in the next half hour.

 

in my mind, it was probably just a few people who got a little too drunk and loud. I was wrong. Really wrong.

 

the neighbor texted me back and said that he was going to going to call the police if this didn't stop right away. I told him I was headed there myself and ask him not to call the police. If the police get called in Nashville 3 times you lose your permit.

 

I gathered up a couple of friends and we drove to the property. We were a few blocks away and I noticed there were tons of cars in traffic, not usual for this neighborhood at this time of night. We drove closer and closer and I started seeing colorful lights being across the trees. 

 

We pulled up to the house, people are everywhere, up and down the streets, sidewalks, there are stage lights beaming out of the windows, a line of people out the door, someone charging cover to get in.

 

In my younger days, I went to a lot of parties, night clubs, dance clubs and none of them held a candle to this party! it was the craziest thing I could have ever imagined! There was a DJ,  a full bar, all the furniture had been moved out of the house. the house has been turned into a full-blown nightclub. Since it was Halloween, everyone had sketchy masks on! It was insane.

 

Long story short, they caused thousands of dollars in damage. I submitted a host guarantee, there was a lot of back and forth. I do mean a lot. Multiple estimates per issue, estimates that had to be redone because I didn't have exactly the right information on them. The whole process was very exhausting. In fact, I almost gave up.

 

But, I didn't. I kept on and on and on sending in another estimate getting another quote taking more pictures. They just emailed me today to let us know our claim habd been paid out in full!

 

So, my advice to anyone with a claim is to provide everything they need, don't give up! Take tons of pictures, take video, make sure all of your estimates are extremely detailed and include labor hours, materials and full letterheads at the top with the company name, address, phone number, website.

 

You might as well go ahead and get three estimates for each thing you're claiming. If you need your walls painted, get three estimates. If your fence needs fixed, get three estimates. If Furniture is broken, provide a link to a replacement item and three estimates to have it repaired.

 

Hope this helps!

 

After reading this entire thread, I'm not going to host anyone under 40.  

Read my post. Even people in their 60s can be negligent, as we learned. 

Jasmin88
Level 2
Hamburg, Germany

Read this article, not really linked to your post, but it's interesting. It's called "Airbnb Hell" 

 

www.airbnbhell.com/too-many-reviews-period/