Terrible "Trust and Safety" service, and a misleading Host Guarantee

Jesse107
Level 1
Amsterdam, Netherlands

Terrible "Trust and Safety" service, and a misleading Host Guarantee

I'm a loyal Airbnb guest, and a 5-star host, with years of experience on both sides. Yet my recent experience following €495 in guest damages has left me angry and frustrated.

 

Guests in my apartment damaged an A/V receiver, and accepted blame. After paying €55 to diagnose it with the manufacturer, I learned it was irreparable, and I was forced to buy a replacement for €440. My claim was forwarded to the "Trust and Safety" team, who - after a lengthy delay - proposed a payout of just over half that amount: €264! The only explanation for that figure was a depreciation rate for my 7-year-old A/V receiver at 0.7% per year. 

 

By my calcuation, €440 depreciated at that rate becomes €418.89 after 7 years. Add to that the €55 diagnosis cost, I expected to be reimbursed €468 of the €495 in total costs - already frustrating. But I was told to accept €264 or nothing!

 

That means I had would have to pay €231 out of my own pocket. Unacceptable, of course, when as a Host you're lead to believe the "Host Guarantee" should be there to protect you in such situations. And also unacceptable when it's clear that the Trust & Safety person made a calculation error.

 

The Trust & Safety advisor assigned to my case refused repeated requests of mine to explain how they arrived at €264, and at one point closed the case, offering me no money, by lying and said I had not responded in time. 

 

After almost one month of back-and-forth, in which none of my direct questions are answered, including denying my repeated requests to have a colleague or supervisor assigned to my case, because of the errors made, I'm now left with nowhere to turn. The latest information is that a "mistake" was made, and the depreciation rate is 7% per year (not 0.7%, as I was twice told earlier!), and the diagnosis cost won't be covered.

 

I host based on the reassurance that Airbnb will step in and help me, through the Host Guarantee, when something bad happens. However in this case I've been let down by calculation errors, unprofessional support, no apparent right to a second opinion, and left with a loss of €231. On top of that, a shocking lack of "goodwill", from a company with whom I've been loyal and generated literally thousands of euros in service fees. Who here can assist me in rectifying this, and see that I'm treated fairly and properly reimbursed? Thank you!

6 Replies 6
David126
Level 10
Como, CO

 

Host Guarantee is pretty worthless, best to have obtained reimbursement direct from the Guest.

 

At least you got something, no doubt because the Guest acknoledged the issue.

 

David
Ute42
Level 10
Germany

.

Hi @Jesse0 ,

 

I am sorry to tell You that I as a host must support airbnbs position regarding this case.

 

It should have been obvious to You that a depreciation rate of 0,7% was a typing error. I don't know anything that has such a depreciation percentage, because this would be a depreciation timeframe of 100 years. 7% depreciation is reasonable, and a new unit of course is much better than Your damaged 7 year old.

 

Airbnb acted adequately in Your case.

 

 

 

Ned-And-Laura0
Level 10
Simi Valley, CA

Yeah, I am actually with  Ute in this case.  7% is a very reasonable number for an eletronic device and .7% seems too crazy low for anybody to think it was correct.  You can't expect replacement value for things unless you lost something that was brand new.  No insurance company on the planet would give full replacement value for eletronics.  

Jesse107
Level 1
Amsterdam, Netherlands

My issue here isn't the 'fine print' of depreciation rates - I don't actually see the Host Guarantee as a normal insurance policy (which it might technically be). The issue is Airbnb's total failure to meet reasonable expectations about what the Host Guarantee means in practice. If you read it, you're left with the feeling that they'll assist you and reimburse you should damages occur. However in my case, I'm being penalized to the tune of €231 because the damaged item was 7 years old (irrelevant anyway as it worked as perfectly as day one), and they don't cover me for a diagnosis cost that a normal insurance company would probably demand, as proof the damage occurred. And furthermore, the Trust & Safety person handling my case made repeated mistakes, never answered my questions, takes days and days to reply, and fills each message with cut-and-paste text that bear no relation to the issues.

 

My point is - and I hope other hosts learn this as a takeaway - is that the reassuring feeling that the Host Guarantee may be providing you, is likely a false one. Rather than being shown any goodwill and being honestly reimbursed, you're likely to end up out of pocket yourself due to clauses hidden somewhere in fine print, and suffer from terrible customer service during the process of making a claim. It's the second time I've had this experience with a Host Guarantee payout falling well short of my costs. So, beware!

Francesca452
Level 2
London, United Kingdom

You were lucky though. A guest damaged my kitchen top and admitted responsibilities for that, yet Airbnb didn't refund me a penny! They are a scam!

David126
Level 10
Como, CO

7% per year.

David