Desperate help needed! Unjust request for compensation for damages you did not cause?

[Ren29038]

I recently received a request from an Airbnb host to compensate for damage I did not cause. Making things worse, AirCover reviewed the situation and decided I should be responsible for what I thought was very obviously not my fault. I wonder if there are any Airbnb guests out there who have ever encountered such a situation.

I have been an Airbnb user for over 10 years. I do pride myself on making the best effort to keep a friendly conversation with hosts and make sure I leave every apartment clean and tidy - my efforts also received 5-star positive feedback from every single host - until my recent trip in London and booked an apartment, which I later discovered, is owned by a couple owning a lot of refurbished old apartments and have the HOUST agency to manage, so I never met/knew the actual owners of the apartment, and their name on AirBnb is not the real.

I booked this apartment in London for 10 days with my husband and a toddler to visit family and friends. Right when we checked into it, we noticed that, despite its chic and spacious appearance, it had many problems. A major one was that the bedroom carpet was very soaked, mildly stained, and slightly smelly, so it was not a clean soaking. And there were other rather smaller problems: a half-loose toilet seat, holes and exposed metal part in the wood flooring that we had to cover with a suitcase for childproofing, no hairdryer as promised, and no bin liners (the host asked me to buy when I asked, I did not bother to ask for reimbursement).

Because it was just a 10-day stay and we were travelling with a toddler, we tried not to nitpick every flaw and make too much of a fuss. So, we only informed the HOUST support team (to be fair, they were responsive and friendly) of the soaked carpet. They suspected it was the bedroom radiator leaking water and arranged for a handyman to fix it the next day. 

The night before the arranged handyman visit, I was alone with my toddler in the apartment when an angry male neighbour from downstairs knocked at the door, saying his bedroom's ceiling had "a major leak" and "was about to collapse". I said I felt sorry for him and explained that it's probably because of the soaked carpet in our bedroom, and the management had already arranged for the handyman to fix it the next day. But the neighbour did not accept and asked me to call the team to fix his roof right away. I passed the phone to the neighbour to talk to the HOUST rep, where he started to use strong words and said he would sue everyone and mentioned the apartment "was rented to a prostitute last week". The rep kept repeating the same thing, saying it's not possible to get a handyman immediately, and the issue would be addressed the next day in the morning.

Because the neighbour said the leaking was very serious, we dared not sleep in the bedroom and ended up crawling and sleeping with our toddler on the sofa through the night. 

Now you could imagine my discomfort at that moment, especially when I was alone with my sleeping toddler, standing at the door at late hours. So the next day, we asked if the team could arrange for us another apartment, but they just promised the issue would be fixed.

A handyman came in the evening on the next day when we were out and fixed everything. We later talked to the neighbour that night, and he said the team promised to fix his ceiling later that week. We were relieved and thought that was the end of the drama, but that was just the beginning of the nightmare.

Throughout our stay, we had to constantly contact the support team for one problem after another: a noisy water pump that made a siren-like noise every time we used the taps, another leak of the bathroom radiator (that resulted in another handyman callout) and a sudden lack of hot water (because we were not told if we completely switched off the water pump to avoid the noise, we would have no hot water). We were already so bothered by these issues, and the fact that we had to repeatedly drop off the keys for the handyman and carpet cleaner was frustrating and disturbing to what was supposed to be a happy reunion trip.

Our friends and family advised us to ask for compensation and another apartment. But because our stay was so brief, and we were with a toddler! We wanted to avoid as much trouble as possible.

So we took it all in and just wanted to finish the stay, move on to the next destination, and wave farewell to this apartment. But then there was a completely unexpected turn of events -2 weeks after we left the apartment, we received a request from the host asking us to pay GBP151 for the broken toilet seat! He submitted an invoice as proof, which listed that HOUST was charging him GBP151.2 for 2 handyman call-outs (GBP132) and replacing a toilet seat (GBP19), and he was making me pay the entire bill.

From my point of view, the toilet seat was not "broken" or "damaged." One of the hinges at the bottom was missing when we arrived, causing the seat to be loose. The loose hinge was nowhere near the toilet, so it seems that people before us must have cleared it. We didn't give it much thought because the problem was too trivial and did not really affect our normal use of a toilet. When the other hinge began to loosen, my husband simply put it back in place. As you can see, we just did not pay attention to the trivial problem of a half-loose toilet seat at all because of all the other problems, and it never occurred to us to even mention it and never thought it could turn out to be our fault.

Of course, I refused to pay, and the host got Airbnb involved to review. All along I trusted that AirBnB would justly protect me from being taken advantage of. But after a lengthy review, they still ruled that I am responsible for the damage and have to pay GBP151 for the toilet seat!

What I find unfortunate is that we chose to rent this space and had to endure all the repair issues, deal with an angry neighbour, and now be asked to compensate for a toilet seat coming off. 

I requested an appeal, and the AirCover rep insisted that I should "pay for the damage I caused," but I could counter-offer "a fair and reasonable amount." 

I already replied and said the counter-offer would be GBP16, but that was in no way a fair and reasonable amount to me, and I am very disappointed at Airbnb siding with a host like this. 

So I am wondering if someone has a similar experience, and please help and tell me what to do 😞

[Elegant-Homes-Retreat0]

Hi @Ren29038,

Thank you for sharing such a detailed and honest account of your experience. I'm truly sorry this happened to you — especially after what sounds like an already stressful and uncomfortable stay, and particularly while traveling with a toddler. No guest should have to go through this kind of ordeal.

What’s most frustrating is that you tried to handle everything calmly and respectfully, didn’t make unreasonable demands, and even tolerated multiple maintenance issues — yet still ended up being penalized. That alone speaks volumes about how the current AirCover dispute process can feel incredibly one-sided and unsympathetic toward guests in complex situations.

A few key points really stand out:

You reported existing issues (like the soaked carpet and leaking radiator) immediately and cooperated with the host’s team to address them.

The toilet seat issue clearly pre-existed your stay and was minor enough not to interfere with your use — certainly not something most guests would consider report-worthy.

You acted with incredible patience, despite having every reason to ask for a partial refund or even a relocation.

Instead, you’ve been put in the awkward position of defending yourself for a charge that appears more like an operational pass-through than genuine guest-caused damage. £151 for a loose toilet seat (most likely wear and tear) is not only excessive — it borders on exploitative.

What You Can Do:
Submit a formal complaint through the Airbnb Help Center — not just a dispute. Clearly state that the item was pre-existing, minor, and never raised as damage during your stay or check-out.

Ask for a case review by a supervisor, emphasizing your decade of 5-star history, the extensive maintenance disruptions, and how this unfair decision reflects poorly on Airbnb’s treatment of long-time users.

Document everything you experienced and refer to the photos, timeline, and repair records you mentioned — this helps prove your good faith.

If still unresolved, ask for your complaint to be escalated through Airbnb's Trust and Safety Team for a more balanced review.

It’s incredibly disheartening when we, as guests, do everything possible to be respectful and accommodating — and are still treated as a liability rather than a valued customer.

You’ve shown great composure and integrity through all of this. I sincerely hope Airbnb re-evaluates your case and updates its damage claim process to include context and guest protection from questionable charges.

You're not alone in this — thank you for speaking up. It may help protect others from similar experiences.

[Ren29038]

Thank you so much for the advice!