Host fraudulently claiming damage

[Ben6225]

Hello! My friends and I just took a one night trip to Philadelphia where we stayed in an AirBnB. Upon arrival the house was not properly cleaned, which should’ve been red flag #1. We looked past it since we weren’t spending much time there anyway.

Fast forward to Sunday, when I get home I find an email requesting $1500 for smoking in the apartment, burning a carpet, and leaving cigar fillings in the trash.

None of these things happened.

In fact, the host used fraudulent pictures in the claim. They posted a picture of a full trash can (we stayed one night and barely filled it halfway. And the trash can just so happened to have the cigar wrapper and cigar guts right on top. 

They claimed we burned the carpet in the living room and posted a zoomed in photo of a burn mark in a carpet. 

They’re lying about the entire thing and using fraudulent pictures to justify their claim.

Unfortunately we did not document the apartment prior to arrival or as we were leaving.

I denied their $1500 request and now AirBnB is reviewing the case and requesting more proof of damages from the host.

My question is, how worried should I be? What happens if airbnb sides with the host’s fraudulent claim?

I’m currently prepared to cancel the CC associated with the trip, but how likely is it that this host committing fraud has tricks up their sleeves to try and pin these lies and fake pictures on us?

Thanks for any and all help. 

[Sara8319]

Sorry you are going through this, unfortunately it go either way. I would like to think it would be covered by the Airbnb insurance, I hope it does for you. Not to preach, I’ve always told my kids anything you rent weather it a car or Airbnb, hotel. Always do a video before and when you leave or drop off car do a final one. It our only proof. I wish you luck and stand your ground .

[Elizabeth3631]

I'm going through a similar situation now. The place we rented in Denver was very dirty upon arrival even though the host assured me it was getting a deep clean prior to our stay. I called support asap and took lots of photos in the first hour. The host retaliated by falsely accusing us of smoking and is trying to extort us for $500 for the handyman to clean the walls. What a joke!  I sent them photos of the stains on the wall when we checked in. I told them only a DNA test on the butts would solve this, but they thought I was joking...how unprofessional.   The Resolutions team seems to be somewhere in SE Asia as they always respond in the wee hours of the morning, and they take forever to reply. Resolutions has taken over three weeks on this case. If they even attempt to charge me $10 for these fraudulent claims I'll take them to small claims court. Lessons learned... never use Airbnb again. It's too easy for a fraudster host to extort a guest. In the meantime I propose we file a class action suit against Airbnb for enabling these fraudsters.