Fake damage claims from the host

[Sandra4965]

Hello airbnb community,

I was wondering if anyone had false damage accusations against them after their stay?

I have booked a flat in Bergen to celebrate my dad’s 55th birthday with the family. We have cleaned the dishes, took out the rubbish, gathered used towels and cleaned the surfaces for the flat to look presentable. 

After our departure from the property landlord opened a case for severe damages i.e. deep damage to the counter, paint on the walls, missing glasses and the key fob missing from the key ring, floors being sticky from spilled alcohol and so on. He is claiming over £4,000 in damages that we didn’t do!

every other day last week and this week he comes back with yet additional damages and this sets me to have panic attacks, as this is just absurd! It was a quiet weekend away with the family and NOT a house party for 20 teenagers! And my reviews during the time I have signed up for Airbnb is spotless: all precious hosts have mentioned me being clean and respectful guest.
I can see some pictures being fake and I have already reported it to Airbnb.

Did anyone have similar experience and how you dealt with it?

I am considering even reporting it to the police.

Any recommendations or advise would be much appreciated.

Thank you in advance!

[Mary1523]

I agree with your comments.

I'm so glad people are sharing their experiences. It is eye opening for a host like me who tries to do the right thing, and never has claimed on AirCover. We have our own house insurance for the occasional serious incidents, which are far and few between. We have lots of maintenance issues but thats on us with a property that is not new. IT does feel like that this Aircover is driving unscrupulous behaviour by some hosts and that airbnb needs to fix this asap as it's breaking their brand trust.

It would be interesting to see with all these experiences, what was the general rating of the hosts? How can one spot them a mile off? I note a pattern in that the host knows how to convince the guest to do review before the 14 day time limit, and then hit them on the 14th day with the claim. 

And the fact that airbnb support team just follows a process ( worst mistake ever by Airbnb to outsource to a 3rd party organisation) means as long as the host knows how, they can game it for success. Us experienced hosts know usually Airbnb always favour the guests on most issues.  Surely Airbnb will see the number of claims jump up in certain countries and start to investigate what has gone wrong with a process that was well intentioned initially, but has been hijacked.

In the meantime, all I can think of is:

-only stay with superhosts (although I lost my status because i had to do one unavoidable cancellation this year and because i only host 2-4 times a month, it was enough to not meet the requirement, if I hosted 10 times a month, it wouldn't have been an issue sigh...) or those with LONG history of hosting and a good rating above 4.8 (note superhosts can have very short history so double check)

-look for properties that have its own host, not run by a management company, lessens the risk. read as much as u can about the host profile, the less info, the bigger the red flag.

-don't go for properties that look standardised, corporate, cheap fitout. its those that tend to be in the airbnb business for the money, not for the hosting good. go for unique/quirky properties that tend to have good intentioned hosts

Here's hoping Airbnb take a look at this process they put in, because clearly not working as intended

My thoughts with those having been impacted, I'm honestly not sure what I would do and I'm an experienced host, if I was that in position to feel so powerless.

[Artjoms1]

Hi Swati,

My wife went to Europe last month to meet with her parents and sister. She rented an Airbnb apartment to stay with her family and fell for the same scam. She's been brushed off by Airbnb support who referenced a photo of broken sofa leg submitted by host 2 weeks after checkout. Law wasn't my major, but still I believe what Airbnb does here is opportunistic.

There is an Airbnb Enforcement Action from July 2019 available on European Commission's website which raises concern over the collection of damages process saying that "...the collection of evidence, the burden of proof and damage compensation should comply with the relevant rules on jurisdiction and applicable law." Under Airbnb's Implemented Changes in the same section the document says: "Airbnb has clarified that it will comply with the applicable statutory rules on the burden of proof.", which means each case requires proving the existence of damage, causation, and liability. 

Try to to push Airbnb back with this and claim proper proof on all 3 key elements. I'm doing same and in few days will find out if it does any good. In the meantime here is the link to the document. Damages section is the last one:

https://commission.europa.eu/system/files/2019-07/airbnb_factsheet.pdf

[Yasser72]

I see that this is a widespread issue. Airbnb relies heavily on hosts, so it’s clear they prioritize keeping them satisfied.

I stayed in Rabat, Morocco for one night to visit family, and the manager or handler—whatever his role may be—made a blatantly false claim. In fact, he mistakenly sent evidence related to another ongoing claim with a different guest! His intention was to get funds from Airbnb’s insurer, Aircover, and it seems this has become an easy way for hosts to stage false claims for quick money. Once the funds are paid out, Aircover then seeks to recover the costs from guests.

This has been a distressing experience, and I will be seeking legal advice. This kind of behavior cannot be allowed to continue, and we need to raise our voices to ensure it stops.

[Stefania1153]

Wow I had no idea this was so frequent. Same situation with me,  I stayed at place in Amsterdam and one full week after I left the host started a claim and stated that I broke a window.
I have a perfect record, have been using Airbnb for travel/work from home for years now, always leaving everything nice and clean. I would have reported and got it fixed if I had done it - but I absolutely didn't. 
Airbnb is siding with the host with zero proof (aside for a photo of the corner of said window taken over a week after I left, where one can't even see what's supposed to be broken). 
It's crazy - really disappointed about the whole situation, but as many said here, there is no way I will pay for this. I'd rather not use Airbnb ever again.

[Alison1216]

This is happening to me now in Atlanta, GA USA. The host was a complete liar about many things through my stay. I wrote two pages to Airbnb in a request for a refund and wrote a bad review. I believe in retaliation, the host submitted a claim for $1600 in damages which are 100% fraudulent. She claimed I broke the door on the standard deadbolt lock and went and bought herself a new one with a keypad (hey, free upgrade!!), claimed I damaged a chair and actually had the nerve to attach the photo that I took and attached to her in our messages where I told HER that the chair was broken upon arrival, in addition to two other chairs. She also just claimed $1000 in extra cleaning - a complete LIE. Airbnb is reviewing but it's been 4 days in review with them, so I'm actually afraid they're taking her seriously. I vow to never ever ever book an Airbnb ever again. This has been a total nightmare and I've lost many hours of sleep over this.

[Michele2233]

I’m in a similar situation to others. I booked 2 nights, and then host communicated by WhatsApp. They sent a photo with a warning about how to open the sliding door to the roof terrace, and wanted me to be gentle as it is fragile. ( this indicates to me there was an known issue).

1. We opened and slid the door  carefully, holding it in place on the roller,  and kept it open for our stay, to ensure it kept in place on the roller

2. I also asked to add a 3rd night to the stay, and the host told me to leave cash, and did not request my booking through Airbnb. We stayed  2 nights booked through Airbnb and then 1 night private arrangement, outside of  Airbnb .

3. We left on a Saturday at the agreed time.  It was a dry day ( this will become relevant)

Then a day later,  I get a claim from Airbnb, with photos of the  door, slid just 4 inches open, and hanging at an angle between the upper roller and the ground.  ie hanging open and off the roller.

i can see in the photos that it was very wet or raining outside. In the background, I spotted that chairs on the terrace had been placed on 2 legs on a sloping angle to drain the rain. This means that the host had to open the door to go outside and move the chairs. Then go back inside and  position the door to an opening of maybe 4 inches, while removing it from the roller, to angle it, in order to take the photos to send to Airbnb.

It didn’t rain for some time after we left, so likely the host arrived by lunchtime. Yet they got a repaired or replacement door  done on the same day, and  supplied Airbnb with a printed receipt the same day. It was prearranged. I mean, did they really get a repair person out at zero notice on a Saturday on an Italian island when everything closes by 1pm?  It was 100% planned to coincide with our departure.

Thus I have proof from the  photo; and proof that I was forewarned of a fragile door; and also my booking was extended outside of Airbnb.

So far they are siding with the deceitful host, and I am on round two of a fake fraudulent claim which I will not pay. Whatever the outcome, it is completely unacceptable that this fraud is even entertained by the company.

How to stop fake claims, except to go public to the press? 

[Monika777]

Here's a polished version of your message:

---

We are in a similar situation right now, and it has been ongoing for 83 days. Airbnb’s resolution team has not called us even once. They keep sending emails saying they will update us, but there has been no meaningful progress. On day 82, they sent a message saying they are siding with the host.

The host is claiming we caused damages, but we never even touched the items they are accusing us of damaging. We also pointed out to Airbnb that the host’s receipt is not accurate and does not align with their claim. Despite this, Airbnb is allowing the host to claim USD 10,000 from us.

We’ve had 28 perfect reviews from other hosts, with no issues during any of our stays. How can we possibly pay such an amount? We are just an elderly couple, and this has put us under so much stress that we feel completely hopeless.

It seems like Airbnb’s policy is to side with the host no matter what, assuming the guests are guilty without question.

We take pride in keeping the apartments or houses we stay in clean and well-maintained, as we would expect the same respect if the roles were reversed. In fact, I am meticulous about cleanliness and always deep-clean every property on the first day of our stay.

We need help. Please help.

[Joan2709]

@Monika777 

So sorry this is happening, but I can assure you that Airbnb is more likely to side with a Guest rather than a Host. 

Since we don't know the details of the situation, we really can't comment or provide suggestions. $10,000 USD is a substantial amount. Perhaps this includes the costs to the Host having to cancel upcoming reservations due to the damage and is not just the actual damage to property.

[Monika777]

Hi Joan,

I completely understand and agree with what you are saying. Thank you for taking the time to comment =0)

We have stayed in 28 Airbnbs over the past 2.5 years, and hosts have consistently reviewed us as honest guests who leave every place in pristine condition.

In this case, the host is claiming damage to items we never even used, like the coffee machine. As I mentioned, we had to buy our own coffee press because their machine was not functional, we did not even attempt to touched it as it looks so old and dirty. The floor already had stains and scratches when we moved in, the walls and doors were marked and stained, the kitchen oven was dirty (which I cleaned myself), and the sinks in both the kitchen and bathroom were full of limescale. We even went to a hardware store to learn how to clean it, but locals informed us that the hard water in northern France makes it nearly impossible.

We informed the host about the lime scaled dishwasher, which we couldn't use, and even provided photos. He acknowledged the issue in the chat but later claimed we caused the damage. Airbnb should be able to verify this in the chat history.

Additionally, the host provided a receipt for an old, rusty coffee table, claiming it cost €500, but the receipt clearly shows it was only €61, etc etc. 

I hope and pray that Airbnb will be fair in resolving this situation. We have spoken to several representatives from Airbnb’s Help Center, and they all agree that this doesn’t make sense. We have recordings of all the conversations so far. All the representatives agree with us. 

[Dina976]

Just happened to me in Palmyra, PA. 

[JulieAnne13]

Hi, what ended up happening for you? I am going through the exact same things with my Airbnb host who is falsely claiming damages that do not exist. Airbnb seems to be less so protective of the customers.

[Silvia3080]

Hi everyone,

I've noticed that many others are experiencing similar issues, and I never thought this would happen to me, but it has. I am currently awaiting a response from Airbnb regarding my situation. However, I would like to suggest to those who may be in a similar position that we consider exploring the possibility of a class action lawsuit against Airbnb. Specifically, I believe there may be concerns regarding the platform's potential failure to adequately protect travelers and its role in allowing practices that could be viewed as harmful to consumers.

If anyone is interested in discussing this further, I'd be happy to collaborate and explore legal options together.

[Amir1437]

Thank you for posting this. I almost rented from Airbnb. After reading this I did some research and it happens all the time. Needles to say I will never rent from Airbnb in my life. If Airbnb staff is reading this you can go ahead and delete my account as I will never use it.

[Joan2709]

@Amir1437 

Sorry these guests have experienced these things, as most Hosts are very honest and go out of their way for guests. Hosts also experience guests who make fake claims and lie in order to get a refund and a free stay. Unfortunately, there will be these problems on any online platform I'm afraid. A hotel option might be a better option for you.

No need to wait on Airbnb to delete your account. You can do that yourself whenever you want:

Delete Your Account

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/240

[Charnette0]

I have had this happen at a recent stay in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States! I had left a review stating their towels were dirty, and two weeks later the host charged me $500 for dirty towels, and an extra $1000 for a broken table that was not even in the AirBnB at the time of my stay. AirBnB sided with the host despite their lack of evidence and my evidence that proved otherwise, and it wasn’t until I let them know I already had a lawyer and was willing to get them involved that AirBnB backed down. They did threaten me and say that it would be documented for future reference, however. Beware, because not all hosts are good hosts! And Airbnb will side with their hosts regardless of your proof.