After a recent 2 week stay, the host sent a reimbursement request for $421 due to supposed clean up due to pet hair. He attached a receipt that was documented as "power wash pool deck due to pet hair" and a receipt for "cleaning pool filter due to pet hair". During our stay, we encountered several issues, including the dishwasher not working the first 3 days, the internet was out 4 days due to the storm, and the washing machine stopped working the last 3 days, and I tried to be understanding, although it was a huge inconvenience. I never noticed any pet hair during our stay, but I reached out to the host to let them know we did not have a pet with us during our stay. We had made a reservation for a pet, but my friend did not end up bringing him. Therefore, it was not possible for the pet hair cleanup to be caused by our stay. The host apologized if we had to deal with any pet hair that was left from previous renters and ensured he would review the cameras (which are present at all entrances and in the back pool deck), and would provide a refund for the pet fee once he confirmed there was no pet. If we had a pet in the house, the pet would have been captured on camera throughout our stay.
However, he stopped responding and continued with his reimbursement request. I provided all this information to Airbnb and they decided that the host provided valid documentation for clean up, but the host never provided any evidence this was caused during our stay or any evidence of a pet during our stay. It is evident that if the host did in fact find pet hair after we left, the house was not properly cleaned prior to our stay since he didn't have a pet staying in the house with us. It seems that a host can just produce receipts that they power washed their pool and cleaned the pool filter (which all seems to be routine house maintenance), add a note that it pertains to pet clean up, and falsely claim damage. And whatever pet hair needed to be cleaned up was not due to our stay in the house and it is impossible since we had no pet at any point in the house. It appears the host wants to collect money to fix his appliances and is using pet hair as an excuse to collect money from us and make false claims. I have made an appeal, but any recommendations or advise would be greatly appreciated. I have never encountered something like this before and have had great experiences with other hosts. Thanks in advance!
