Dear Brittany;
I am glad to hear of ONE person who has had good results with involving the resolution centre (RC). I would love to know the details of your claim! Whenever I have gone thru the RC to recoup money from guests that they agree to, it has been a breeze. But the one time I involved the RC it was a totally different story.
From my experience and countless other stories that I have read it the community, it seems uselss to involve the RC unless you have iron clad proof of the guest causing the damage. Like maybe a video that is time & date stamped, with their face showing clearly . . . maybe???
My case was cut and dry guests' word vs host's word, and even though I am a super-host with over twenty 5-star reviews, my word was NEVER even considered. I involved the RC because the guest said he didn't cause the damage and refused to pay, but the person who received my case just parroted back what the guest said and zero investigation was done. I asked repeatedly to communicate with someone else (another team member, a supervisor, an appeals person, anyone in the department with whom I could discuss not the outcome but just the process) and each time I was told that the guest was believed, I was not, and that I could not in any way ever communicate with anyone other than the person who originally received my case. Oh! But I was continually assured (through sloppy copied & pasted text) how much my contribution to airbnb was appreciated.
Their decision was wrong but at this point it's not even about recovering the $55 so I can replace the damaged item, it’s about trying to contact someone in RC to let them know that their protocols are NOT acceptable by any customer service standard.
Have any suggestion on how I might do that?
I still LOVE airbnb overall as it enables me to live in Jamaica & work towards creating my dream life, but I feel so let down by the RC that I am thinking of implimenting a fine-tooth-comb type of check-out with my guests so this will never happen again, but then I worry that being so strict will affect my reviews. I can see it now: "nice host until she went wacko at check-out" - LOL