The so called Trust & Safety team are not the only department to decide they do not want to engage with you. After spending two weeks putting together evidence of damage caused by a guest requested by Airbnb they sent me a standard letter saying the claim was denied and the case was closed. A year later I am still getting the standard reply:
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.
This was so enfuriating that I looked for legal representation and found it with a firm in Dublin who wanted me to join a group action. I told Airbnb and they couldn't care less and after much consideration I decided to drop the action as it would no doubt ruin my relationship with Airbnb moving forward, they might even blacklist me and most of all it would become an unwelcome distraction and worry. I don't care about being right, or about the money, (the claim was £1500 for damage to the house and contents with some missing items) my problem is that the Trust & Safety department will not tell me why they denied my claim, they may as well have just called me a liar. Airbnb are a massive company, the original ethos is no longer present, if you make money from being a host then it is your decision to use them or not. It's an unpleasant realisation but this is our future with online companies, no one is accountable, there is no way of escalating your problem or disputing their decision, in Airbnb's case, there is no host guarantee and the security deposit is not secure, that's the unfortunate truth of it.
