Burglarized by guest and Airbnb making excuses not to payi

[Christina-and-Jon0]

My mother's property was burglarized by her guest.

I have been helping her resolve the issue with airbnb. They took everything. The washer, dryer, massage chairs, vanity mirrors. They even cut the pipes to try and take the cabinets in the bathroom. They even damaged the doors trying to remove furniture. We have filed a claim with airbnb, submitted pictures and receipts for replacement items, sent them a copy of the police report etc.

Each time we send something they say there is a problem or make up something new for us to send. Just when we have sent everything, we get transferred to a new representative and they discover they need something else or that something is missing an obscure detail. We are at our witts end.

Airbnb has already paid for the door damage, so they are clearly not disputing that the burglary happened, but they're being rediculous in getting us reimbursed for the $3k+ of items that were stolen. By the way, we showed up before the guests left with their last load. They ran out the back door and hopped in a truck and drove off with more stuff.

Our neighbors' ring camera caught it!
We have requested twice to be contacted by a supervisor and no luck. 

[Diana-And-Lando0]

So sorry that you and your mother are having to go through this terrible time.  Airbnb is not doing anything about bad guests and hosts.  I wonder how many people  and listings are every taken off the site and unable to rent again.  I like the idea of taking a photo of their drivers license.  We do that for Craig's list and meet them at the end of our street.  Airbnb needs to start to do quality control of both.  Then as hosts we can feel proud to say that we are Airbnb Hosts.  

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Christina-and-Jon0 

Airbnb's ID verification means nothing. 

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1237/verifying-your-identity

Please be aware that completing this process isn’t an endorsement of any Host or guest, a guarantee of someone’s identity, or an assurance that interacting with them will be safe. Always use your own best judgment, and follow our safety tips for guests and Hosts.

IMO, Airbnb paid for the door damage because it's clear the guest damaged the door during the stay and this is exactly the type of thing covered by the host guarantee. Guests intentionally stealing appliances and furniture from the host's home is a different story. 

Not sure how these turned out but here are a few other posts. 

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/Guest-stole-thousands-of-dollars-of-TVs-and-other-electr...

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/Theft-protection/td-p/227660 

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/What-is-airbnb-s-Policy-about-stolen-property/td-p/600177

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/Help-Bad-guests-stolen-items-and-NO-payment/td-p/220716

[Marisa182]

@Branka-and-Silvia0 

What happened to @Christina-and-Jon0 is so sad, and I am so sorry for their mom. I have never had that happen, but like your idea of taking a photo of the guest's ID. I'm wondering if any guests refuse to provide their ID. Is it possible to mention that in the listing so it would not come as a complete surprise to the guest?

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

of course @Marisa182 , this was discussed here on CC numerous times. Look at our profile and you will find it in our house rules.

No one ever refused to show it to us.

[Pete69]

I have some questions:

How soon in advance of check-in did they book? I assume this was a same-day or 1-day in advance booking?

Doesn't airbnb require payment information before booking a guest? I assume they booked with a stolen credit card?

To prevent this from happening in the future, require them to post a photo of themselves (for you to see and for Airbnb to hopefully match up with their ID). Don't accept booking less than 3 days out.

[Martin3344]

Not on the same scale as this incident but a few months ago some guests pilfered some items when they left. They were of minor value, so there was no need to involve an insurance claim, but it was very disappointing behaviour nonetheless. I wrote to them a couple of times about it but they just ignored my messages. I left a review to alert future hosts to them, but then I saw that they just deleted their account to effectively remove the warning review to other hosts. I believe that guests can just set up a new Airbnb account and move on with little more than an email address. So host reviews potentially hold little value at the end of the day, and guests can simply move on with a new account and behave badly again with other hosts who have no knowledge of their bad record. This sort of thing will continue to happen for hosts therefore unless Airbnb tightens up its guest verification checks for the integrity of their processes for hosts.

[Pete69]

I would hope that Airbnb would not allow that. Airbnb reserves the right to ban people from their platform.

[Lorise2]

OMG, How the hell and why the hell would someone do something like that. apparently they own nothing and can't be trusted.  Airbnb should do something because without your homes being readily available for guest there agent will not tribe. host should be able to relax while guest are in the home not worry. RIDICULOUS!!

[John5097]

@Christina-and-Jon0 

I was at a small get together and one of my cousins who lives overseas told me her good friend who lives here in Charleston also had a guest clean them out. Backed a Uhaul up to the house and stole everything. I tried to explain there is less risk if you live at the same place, but its understandable why she wouldn't dream of having an Airbnb. 

[Colleen253]

@John5097 Good practices help a great deal in preventing problems in entire place listings. i.e. having certain listing settings in place and thoroughly vetting guests. Knowing which red flags to be wary of. Having security cameras in place and keeping a firm watch on what goes on (good neighbors relations also help this). Hosting on Airbnb requires one to take full control of every process and leave nothing to chance or Airbnb. 
@Christina-and-Jon0 

[John5097]

@Colleen253 @Oh I was quite the expert when it came to security at Airbnb. I was surprised that this came up. Host should be very vigilant when renting whole houses. She said anyone can rent a place on Airbnb and all the extra security protocols would need to be considered if someone is considering it as an investment, or comparing which listing platform to choose both as a host and guest. Our city and surrounding area already has strict STR regulations in place which I also mentioned and only allows owner occupied STR, because of shootings, parties, and robberies constant in the news and topics of discussion. I should have mentioned as a host you don’t know when your listing might be suspended for any number of reasons that are out of host control. But for me no issues so far.