@Jessica2477
Jessica, If you and the guest have come to an agreed financial settlement that the both of you are comfortable with, just hit the 'Send or Request money' tab which you will find in the message stream with this guest, put in the agreed amount, click 'submit' and Airbnb will take care of it from there.
Unfortunately in many of these damage claim instances it is not as clear as that! If the guest decides on reflection not to accept the amount you are claiming, your claim will go to adjudication and the Resolution Centre will become involved.
I have never lodged a damage claim with the Airbnb Resolution centre. You need to understand it is the duty of the Resolution centre to minimise Airbnb and it's guests exposure to damage claims. There is a complicated claim procedure that you have to abide by........to the letter! They will require documentary evidence and conclusive proof linking this particular guest to the claim. And even if you can satisfy all those requirements the claim may be subject to wear and tear and the amount you receive could be as little as 10% of your claim amount!
If a guest is willing to admit to a damage issue and accept responsibility I will let the guest compensate me personally with an agreed amount without involving Airbnb. If the guest is not willing to compensate me, I don't take it any further, I just pull the required amount of money out of an account I have set aside for damages, put the problem right and get on with the business of hosting.
If the object of the claim in minimal I tell the guest not to worry about it.....accidents happen.
I had a guest come to me one morning all apologetic because she had broken a bowl I supply eggs in for guests breakfast. I told her not to worry about it, the value of it was minimal and I had others I could replace it with. She said she felt terrible about it but I told her, please don't think about it any further, these things happen.
A week after she left a postal package arrived for me and inside that package was a replacement bowl and a $50 note.
I shed a tear when I opened it, this woman (Roxy) had gone to so much trouble and expense to do the right thing that it made me feel terrible for not not just accepting a couple of dollars at the time.
I feel I am in Roxy's debt and the next time she wants to come and stay here you can bet there will be some 'special pricing' attached to the booking!
Most guests are honest and want to do the right thing, involving Airbnb just muddies the waters!
Cheers.......Rob