House trashed, wrecked, destroyed by guest

[Chris80]

I just had a guest check out and they destroyed my house, causing over $3500 in damages and lost bookings. The list of things wrecked is so extensive, it's not even worth going into exhaustive detail, but here are the highlights (or low points, as the case may be):

Huge party lasting until well after 1am, disturbing neighbours and a general nuisance

Vomit stained sheets left in bag upstairs

Mattress stained, wet after sheets and mattress cover removed (presumably because of the vomit)

Two vintage audiophile stereo systems nonfunctional and broken speaker stand

Everything filthy, floor sticky, dirty dishes in sink

Bathroom vile, vanity shelf ripped from wall

Additionally, I had to decline a $250 booking since the place is not habitable. I can only hope that the host guarantee covers some of the losses. Has anyone had a positive experience with the host guarantee and how long did it take to be compensated?

[Hanna105]

We are in a similar situation in Georgia. In our case guest had 30 more guests and a party with underage girls drinking. Reservation was cancelled but guests refused to leave. We were instructed to call the police, we did, but police would not remove guests as they claim its a civil matter. We showed the cancellation and police would not escort me inside our house to make sure everything was ok, nor were they willing to ask for IDs or ask non-guests to leave. The police told me the guests were too drunk to leave and had to be left in my property until they sobered up and that they were harmless. I was left in my house with unknown drunk individuals. Upon coming back to my house, the booking guest hit me and proceeded to call the police claiming that a stranger had broken into her house and needed to be put down. She claimed she had no idea who it was. I have all this on video. The police came back and escorted me out and threaten to arrest me if I went back to my house. For the next 13 hours the guests vomited, urinated and broke our furniture. Furthermore we have them on video discussing bringing guns to the house and that if they saw me again they would take care of me. I’ve sent the videos to AirBnB and the police, I have yet to be contacted. So far I have had to cancel all my bookings. A Bio hazard unit had to strip the house of all the mattress, furniture and carpet. So far the damage is $35,000+ and still no resolution or a call back. We have been shaken up to realize that the local authorities do not recognize the AirBnB business model and will not provide support. We have been told that this is a landlord/tenant relationship and thus a civil matter, that we cannot ask someone to leave without an eviction notice from the court. We are heartbroken at the estate of our house, shaken up from the assault and gun threat and the loss of revenue due to having to cancelled reservations. 

[Katie]

Hi @Hanna105, I'm so sorry to hear about the issues you've had with these guests. I have just sent you a DM with more info on your case, so please take a look when you get a sec 😊

[Christina163]

you need to raise your prices & get either video cameras or a person to check people in....and also hire a private security company next time to stop by.  police are useless.

[Fred13]

This forum string is a good reminder what a nightmare this 'Host Guarantee' business has been for years. It should have been dropped years ago. It is either a stupid game Airbnb is playing or a ruthless one. It also causes hosts to not exercise enough caution. The whole thing is sheer madness.

[Shawn646]

I am over 70 days and AirBnb won't properly compensate me for my cottage being destroyed during a 2 month stay.  I have had to endure 3 different case managers and have been to my cottage over 5 times.  They keep requesting me to submit more photos and quotes.  The guest checked out in late January.  I submitted over 60 photos quickly for the thousands of dollars worth of damage / cleaning to be done.  I red flagged the renter immediately with AirBnb.  AirBnb allowed this same traveler to leave my place and rent another place less that 1 hour away.  AirBnb waited over 30 days to alert the next host that the guests are not identified and may be dangerous.  The same guests did thousands of dollars worth of damage to her house too.  She was able to identify one of them as a felon and was trying to report to social services that the couple were drugging their kids.

AirBnb is a nightmare.  I lost a two month reservation and have had to email over 40 times.  I emailed upper administration and I am still dealing with idiots in the resolution center.  They definitely try to bleed you out and give up on getting money back.  I had close to $15,000 worth of damage.  AirBnb takes no accountability for me having to wait over 70 days needing funds to get my place back running.  There is no Air Coverage up to a million dollars.  The whole thing is a joke.  I have a huge paper trail of my work and lack of communication.  A billion dollar company and they will try to not reimburse a dime.  I would be embarrassed with the commercials they run because when hosts really need them they kick you to the curb.  The resolution department is useless and communicates about 1 per week.  The 9 day average for a resolution is a lie.   It may work if you have 1 item but if your place gets trashed you are totally screwed and will be on your own for funds and missed reservations.  I think the resolution workers are all part time and get to you when they feel like it.  They stated that there can be no phone conversations.  Everything is done by email and they seem to check their cases when they feel like it.  I get messages that I was out of work for 1 week and nobody else is there to work with you.   

[Gina1986]

Chris, I have had 3 different Guest damage & trashed my home!!!! ABNB has NOT reimbursed me ONCE! I submit proof & receipts and NOTHING gets reimbursed!!! I call ABNB they hang up or after being on hold w/Rep that act like they can’t hear me. They are all talk about AirCover but when you actually need them to reimbursed they give you “The Run A Round”!!! Looking for another platform…gina 

[Lala89]

My recommendation to you is that anytime you sense a party, immediately call Airbnb and get the guests kicked out! 

In terms of your resolution center case, be very persistent with the airbnb claims teams because they can be for lack of better word, useless and unresponsive. You will more than likely need to make a stinky to get any progress. 

[Kimberly889]

Any idea why? 

[Breanna · Accepted solution]

Hi everyone,

You can learn more about damage coverage for Hosts by reviewing this Airbnb Help Center article: Getting protected through AirCover for Hosts.

Please note that this content has been archived.

You can still access if if you have the link but it won't appear when you search on the Community Center.

To ask a new question just click below:

Thanks

[Clare0]

@Chris80 I hope you have private insurance.  For sure apply for compensation through Airbnb's host guarantee insurance, but it's a tough go, I hear.  Be sure to document everything including photos and repair costs.  So sorry to hear this happened.  

I would definitely change the first sentence of your house rules.  Telling people to "have fun" can be interpreted subjectively and not in the way you intended.  Also, add "no parties" to your house rules. 

I hope you succeed through the Host Guarantee but it should never be considered a substitute for your own insurance. 

[Amy4]

I have had only good experiences collecting deposits and/or host guarantee payments for damages. In my five years hosting (multiple listings), I've submitted about 4 or 5 claims, backed them up with photos, detailed descriptions, receipts, and quotes for repairs/replacement. They have all been paid. That said, I never submit claims for trivial things like a broken glass or minor repairs that I can make, myself, but only for significant damage. Don't be afraid of the Host Guarantee. As long as you're diligent in documenting the damage and getting repair/replacement quotes, you should be fine. 

[Julie131]

I agree.  I think the key is not submitting claims for normal wear and tear or trivial things.  

[Patricia2001]

They will not pay anyway. Had problems with guest bringing pets like rabbits and got my highrise unit full of feces and urine. Airbnb never paid. Then one townhouse completely damaged . $3000 worth of furniture in the trash. Airbnb never paid. They don’t care about the host

[Daniella11]

Hi Amy,

I'm hoping you can share more about how you received the host guarantee refund for needed repairs.  We had a guest who used our hot tub though that was not an included part of our listing- they misunderstood. Because the water in the hot tub was low they wanted to fill it up a bit with a hose but forgot about it and left the hose in the hot tub. The hot tub overflowed a bit and affected the electrical panel. It cost $650 to repair the electrical panel on the hot tub. The guest is denying reimbursement because they feel it was a innocent mistake and that they did not directly damage anything. So now I am going after Airbnb's host guarantee. But since I am in communication with the guest, I understand that Airbnb keeps reaching out to the guest to seek reimbursement. The guest has already repeatedly denied request for reimbursement even when I went through Airbnb so I am nervous that they are going to keep running Us in circles instead of just allowing me to take advantage of the host guarantee at this point. What is your experience with this?