Guests’ dogs scratched/gouged our floors

[David-and-Annie0]

Our property manager and house cleaner let us know that the guests who left today did damage to the whole downstairs flooring. They had two dogs and it appears that one or both of the dogs’ claws did quite a bit of scratching up of the floors. Mopping and scrubbing did nothing to buff them out or improve them. I am so upset. We work really hard to make and keep a nice place for guests to stay (and for our family to enjoy.)

I immediately messaged the guest through Airbnb and sent pictures. Then I went to the resolution center and submitted a request for payment and pictures. I did a quick search on-line (I don’t know how much it costs to refinish floors) and read that it can usually range between $300-900. I asked the guest to pay $500.

Several hours went by before she responded. Her response was brief, and although she did not admit any fault, she said she understood our position and would like to talk “live” about it over the phone. I have not responded yet because I’m not sure how to proceed.

I imagine she will say that the floors were not pristine to begin with, and that is true. But they did considerable damage that is noticeable and takes away from the ascetic value it did have.

(I think after this we will go to a “no pets” policy, unfortunately.)

The curious thing is, she had more than 10 absolutely glowing reviews—although the last one was in 2018.

I don’t know if I should engage with her in a phone conversation or just keep it in writing within the Airbnb platform.

Should I call Airbnb for advice? What is your advice out there?

Thank you,

Annie

[Anonymous]

@Danielle476  @David-and-Annie0 The "security deposit" is a misnomer because Airbnb doesn't actually charge or hold at the time of booking. No reason not to put one out there as a deterrent, but don't rely on the non-deposit for security. 

[Danielle476]

Oh I’m aware, and I certainly don’t rely on it. I was just hoping that they’d side with me & release the funds accordingly. (I must have been day drinking, because when does that ever happen.) 🙂

[Yiwei3]

@Anonymous what is the purpose of a security deposit if you need guest approval to charge it??  This makes no sense to me.

[Anonymous]

@Yiwei3  Like I said, "security deposit" in Airbnb is a misnomer, which means it's the wrong name for something. In this case, that "something" is "a magic number that goes nowhere."

[Suzanne302]

@David-and-Annie0  Unfortunately as @Danielle476  has already pointed out, Airbnb will not cover ANY damages caused by pets. If you want to try to get reimbursed, you would just have to say the guests damaged your floor and you don't know how it happened. Don't mention it was pet damage.

As someone who has had a positive experience with the host guarantee, if you are pleasant and have everything documented they will pay out. It may not be what you'd like, but you will get something.

And as @Sarah977 said, that is not normal wear and tear from dog nails. Even dogs with long nails wouldn't cause that damage simply walking on the floor. They must have been digging into the floor or being so rambunctious they dug in while playing.

The hardest part about being a responsible pet parent is people labeling all pet owners as bad because of irresponsible pet owners like this. Ugh. So sorry it happened to you.

[Melodie-And-John0]

@Suzanne302 ,I dont want to make light of either @David-and-Annie0 or  @Danielle476   s' damages but when you wrote "say the guests damaged your floor and you don't know how it happened", I can see the explanation of the Urine damage to the laminates by humans, that might be interesting!   I have never filed a claim (knocks on wood) but it seems the free insurance is not worth the price were paying for it.  I think its time I talk to my insurance rep and see what kind of STR  Insurance I can get before I get a rejection from the mother ship.  Stay well, JR

[Suzanne302]

@Melodie-And-John0  Haha! Yes, that would be interesting!

[Kelly149]

@David-and-Annie0 ABB notorious for NOT covering pets and NOT covering "scratches" in floors/countertops/etc, they tend to call this "normal wear/tear".

In this instance and knowing that abb is unlikely to help, I'd see how far I could get with the guest, anything they agree to is likely to be better than what you'd get from ABB

[David-and-Annie0]

UPDATE!!!

Guest reached out through the messaging platform (we didn’t have to have a call), apologized and agreed to pay the $500 as long as we agreed not to ask for more $ later. We did and she paid. Unbelievable. My faith in most people is at least temporarily renewed!!!
Granted, I imagine it will cost us more than $500 to fix the floors and it’s still upsetting that the guest let her dogs do this in the first place, but at least she’s taking some responsibility, and that’s what we asked for (I didn’t dare ask more b/c I didn’t think we’d even get that.)

It’s the best outcome I can expect. Thanks for all your input and for being there. I’m glad I didn’t have to involve Airbnb as it sounds like the outcome would’ve been grim.

I was thinking...is it possible to ask for a deposit when the guest books through the “send and receive money” section (which I guess is part of the resolution system) and then refund it to them when they check out? We’ve been using that tool to collect the pet fee each time a guest books as there seems to be no other way. So...why couldn’t we do it for deposits?

[Anonymous]

@David-and-Annie0  I'm glad you were able to reach a resolution. $500 may not be enough to fix the floors, but it's a lot more than you'd have gotten out of Airbnb since they don't cover damage caused by guests' pets. How essential is it to your listing to be Pet Friendly?

is it possible to ask for a deposit when the guest books through the “send and receive money” section (which I guess is part of the resolution system) and then refund it to them when they check out?

I don't think the Resolutions tool can be successfully refitted into a security deposit. It's one thing to require a flat Pet Fee to be prepaid as a condition of the "additional service" of allowing the pet; guests who don't agree to the fee can still keep their booking but not bring the pets. But to ask for an additional payment as a condition of keeping the booking outright would be a breach of the terms of service. And even if you were to bill it as a "semi-refundable pet fee," you're back to square one if you choose to withhold it and the guest disputes the charge; if Airbnb decides in their favor, that fee can still be deducted from your next payout. 

Long story short, if you want to be able to charge a deposit, you'll have to list on a platform that accommodates this. Airbnb is not the one. 

[David-and-Annie0]

Yeah, you’re probably right. I am just trying to find a work-around. It’s awful that Airbnb doesn’t hold—or let us hold—a deposit from guests. Frustrating.

I don’t know how essential it will be to our rentals to allow dogs. So far, since I changed the policy, we haven’t gotten any reservations or inquires (and we were getting tons of inquiries this last weekend.) Maybe we’ll just have to give it some time to see. 
Originally we didn’t allow pets, but I had so many guests asking us to make an exception (and we usually would accommodate), that I just decided to open the floodgates. 
The area of our rental is a little 4-season place with a lake and the town is very dog-friendly (Big Bear Lake). People love to bring their dogs, esp in the summer. Some places here say “no pets in the winter months” because of the potential mess involved with the snow. 

Especially during this pandemic situation, I think people want to bring their pets instead of boarding them or leaving them home. So, we may have to go back to allowing them. 
However, there are definitely many places in the town that don’t allow pets and I think they do okay. 
Hard to know what to do...

[David6824]

@Anonymous ,

if you could ask for a not-refundable fee it means goes straight to your payout within 24hrs.
Say 200euros rent + 100 deposit, you'll receive 300. What I think (tired to google it now) because I never set e deposit is, at check-out if the guest was ok you can return the deposit by app and the app will keep the money from your next rent.
Otherways why they did the host refund insurance?

[Suzanne302]

@David-and-Annie0  That's awesome! Thanks for updating everyone. Often hosts seek advice and then we never hear what the outcome is.

[Helen3 · Accepted solution]

Great news. Do make sure you leave an honest review @David-and-Annie0.

You can't ask guests for a deposit outside of Airbnb it is against their T&C unless you are some large scale property management company who are allowed benefits like this, that we mere mortals i.e the vast majority of hosts with one or two listings are not allowed to benefit from.

You can ask for a pet fee because that is allowed in their terms.

[Pete69]

Those wood boards look old. You're not gonna find replacement flooring sold anywhere. Typically your best option is to pull up replacement boards from under things like kitchen counters, then use those. Otherwise you have to resurface. Maybe there's a master craftsman out there somewhere who can work wonders.