The Host Guarantee is 100% Bull**bleep**

[Patricia1684]

I am fairly new to hosting. I had a guest do $180 worth of damage. Mostly by staining almost every linen in the house with hair dye. I photographed everything of course. I took the weekend to wash the linens to see if I could get the stains out. When they did not come out I asked the guest to pay for the damge. She refused. So I inolved Airbnb, naively thinking that I would be covered by the host guarantee. Because I waited more than 24 hours, Airbnb says I am not covered by the guarantee. But 24 hours is not enough time to get the linens washed to see if they were salvagable. I have a few other friends that are hosts that have said they never get reimbursed from Airbnb either, despite making valid claims with excellent documentation. 

I am thinking about switching over to VRBO. Does anyone know if their guarantee is better?

I wish their was a more public way I could shame Airbnb into doing the right thing. Does anyone know if there is a good way to get Airbnb to do the right thing?

[Emiel1]

@Patricia1684,

Did you have a deposit on your listing ?

(i can not check it, as your account is not active at the moment)

The deposit is much more easier procedure when claiming (small) damages:

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/140/how-does-airbnb-handle-security-deposits

best regards,

Emiel

[Patricia1684]

I do have a deposit. But the next guest checked in the same day. 4 hours later. Which is not enough time to submit a claim. Additionally, I needed time to wash the linens to try to get the stains out. I was trying to help out the guest in this way, but got totally screwed by it. My hope was that the stains would come out and I wouldn't need to submit a claim. But they didn't come out, and time was up. Clearly the deposit is also as fake as the host guarantee.

[Lisa723]

@Patricia1684 @Emiel1 You have 14 days or until the next guest checks in to submit a claim, whichever is sooner. There is no 24 hour limit.

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/361/how-do-i-request-reimbursement-under-the-host-guarantee

I got reimbursement for a damaged hot tub, so it is possible, though I know that experience is not necessarily typical.

Re. VRBO, I don't know. I list on that site but I've never had to make a claim.

Some people report good results shaming Airbnb on twitter or facebook.

[Patricia1684]

The next guest checked in the same day. 4 hours later. Which is not enough time to submit a claim. Additionally, I needed time to wash the linens to try to get the stains out. I was trying to help out the guest in this way, but got totally screwed by it. My hope was that the stains would come out and I wouldn't need to submit a claim. But they didn't come out, and time was up. Clearly the deposit is also as fake as the host guarantee.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Patricia1684

 when in doubt then first take pictures and make a claim and then try to wash / professional clean, it may or may not go out, you can always drop the claim.

btw I succeeded to remove hair dye stains with  bleach