Surprise and Impressed with Host Guarantee (Damaged Mattress Claim)

[Kaylee18]

I had 2 adults and 2 infants stay for one night.

The unit is 1 bedroom, and I assumed the guests would bring a sleeper/playpen for the babies as all my guests with infants have done this.  (lesson learned - never assume).

Next day I go in to clean and notice the mattress was soaking wet with staining. There was a strong urine odour and it was clear they had tried to clean the mattress. The mattress is memory foam. *There was a mattress protector on, however was not suitable for large amounts of liquid.. clearly. 

I contacted the guest. He admitted to his son peeing, however his version was the boy was wearing a diaper and a small amount of urine hit the bed sheets. 

 I contacted several cleaning companies to inquire if a memory foam mattress can be adequately cleaned after urine going through it. I was told no.

I had to cancel a 2 day stay that was checking in that day due to not having a mattress available at that time. 

I started a claim, and of course the guest denied it and refused to pay. 

I escalated the claim to Airbnb. 

3 days later to my surprise, they advised they would be refunding me for the mattress under the host guarantee coverage!!! 

I've read SO MANY negative stories here about hosts not being covered for damaged items, I was shocked with the positive outcome!

Just wanted to share my experience!

Anyone else have a positive experience with being refunded? 

[Kaylee18]

Yes it probably should be Hamilton, ON (LOL) I never really noticed! 

[Kaylee18]

@Jay1289 Yes it probably should be Hamilton, ON (LOL) I never really noticed! 

No mattresses at Canadian Tire but got another one from good ol' IKEA. The guests seem to like it!! LOL

[Ann72]

@Kaylee18 I'm so sorry, I looked too quickly at your profile and thought "CA" meant California - although I know Hamilton is in Ontario!  🙂

[Roberta2]

I have the Ikea memory foam. Cheaper, and I have the firm one, guest compliment all the time!

[Kaylee18]

@Roberta2  Yes guests love the IKEA ones! That's the one I had, and also replaced it with another! 🙂 

[Jay1289]

I am so pleased the Host Guarantee worked for you. Still, what a shame you had to go through all these back flips because of your "guests". Were you compensated for the two days of lost income and cancellation fees?

[Kaylee18]

@Jay1289  Unfortunately I did not request the 2 days loss of income. I definitely would next time though! 

[Danielle476]

They wouldn't give it to you, unfortunately - I was just reimbursed through the Host Protection Guarantee today (will post story below!) and they wouldn't cover a late check-out fee that I had added to the total.  They said quote "Our Host Guarantee provides payment for direct physical loss or physical damage to an accommodation."  So sadly you wouldn't be able to recover any amount for lost revenue, but I'm glad you had the mattress covered!

[Heather133]

@Kaylee18 Yes, I rent several properties and I'm pleased to say Airbnb has backed me up every time I've had to make a claim thus far. 

[Kaylee18]

@Heather133  Always good to hear the positive sides! Thanks for sharing!! 

[Heather133]

Well, I seem to have jinxed it with this post. They just screwed me over. I'm so disappointed. 

[Ken454]

Nice story they posted to make them look good. I think you were lucky and of the few.

[Susan17]

It's fantastic that you got paid @Kaylee18 , but let's face it.. Airbnb is obligated to honour a certain percentage of claims - however minimal - otherwise, they'd already be facing serious fraud charges. It would look very suspect if they denied all claims. (Also, they tend to pay out on smaller amounts - a few hundred or less - much more readily, especially for newer hosts or first claims. It's the high-ticket and subsequent claims that can break a host financially, that they've proven themselves to be far more tricky about)

it's also rather ironic that we're celebrating and rejoicing in the fact that the company actually sticks to the terms of its own policies, and behaves in an ethical and professional manner every once in a while. That this thread -or others like it - should  even exist,  paints an extremely damning picture of how truly broken and  dysfunctional the Host Guarantee programme really is, and merely serves to highlight the relative rarity of successful outcomes.

[Kaylee18]

@Susan17   Yup, totally agree! 🙂 

[Cormac0]

@Susan17 

Nailed it again Susan