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!

[Joan2709]

@Charnette0 

So sorry this happened to you!

Did you contact the Host during your stay and advise them the towels were dirty and request new ones? I'm assuming you did and took pictures of the dirty towels and sent those to the Host?

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@Charnette0 wrote:

And Airbnb will side with their hosts regardless of your proof.

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I assure you, Airbnb will most likely side with guests. Simply type "negative review" and "false guest claims" in the search the community box and you'll see what I mean. Many Hosts have had guests lie and make false claims in order to get a refund; especially after damage was discovered after their stay and a resolution claim was filed to cover the damage. 

Sadly, there are Hosts and guests that will make false claims. This is the case for any online booking platform. Even a hotel can claim you damaged the room and then charge your credit card. Sigh. 🙁 

[Sam8112]

Hi @Sandra4965, 

We are currently going through the same thing.

We booked an apartment in Albufeira, we didn’t actually like it, as it was very small. So we just booked another apartment and left. Didn’t ask fir any reimbursement or anything, our mistake 🤷🏻‍♀️.

On our return we left an honest review, not unkind, just honest. The host called me screaming about my review and then put in a claim saying we damaged the door, £1550 worth. We only stayed one night, didn’t so much as break a glass. The claim is clearly vindictive, but we have no ‘evidence’  to prove we didn’t do anything to damage the property . 

Its do stressful and so wrong. We took pictures of the hire car when we returned it, but who thinks to take pictures of an apartment??

Airbnb say they are reviewing it, I don’t know what we will do if they find in the Hosts favour but I am not paying for damage we didn’t cause! 

[Helen3]

That's awful @Sam8112 

The host only has a limited time to submit a claim . What evidence did the host provide of damage to the door . Their videos and photos should be time stamped . 

have you confirmed to Airbnb that 

a) you only stayed one night. The host didn't say anything on check out about damage to the property 

b) the host called you screaming at you when they received your review berating you for leaving an honest review 

c) only when they received your review did they raise the issue of alleged damage to the door 

[Alex]

Hi @Sam8112  , I'm truly sorry to hear about your situation with this host.

Our experienced host @Helen3  has offered valuable inputs on the points you might want to discuss with Customer Support. Have you had a chance to bring these up with them? 

Please keep us posted incase you need additional support!

Kind regards, 

Alex