I was robbed while staying at an Airbnb. Support is unresponsive. Help?

[Chase109]

Hello, 

I was wondering if anyone in the forums has dealt with a similar issue. After staying at an Airbnb that was robbed, support has not provided an update on the case in weeks. 

Calling support, DM'ing on social media, and responding to the first support email has warranted no progress. 

What should I do? Thanks in advance for any help. I feel out of options with a company that doesn't care about its customers. 

[Sarah977]

@Chase109  Can you provide any more information about this robbery? What were the circumtances? What was the host's response?

Robbery refers to a crime against a person, like being mugged, or someone forcing or intimidating you into giving them money or goods. If someone enters and steals something while you are out, that is actually called burglery.

What sort of action are you expecting from Airbnb? Did you report this to the local police? 

[Chase109]

@Sarah977, 

The Airbnb where we were staying was entered with no forced entry (door code was used), and as a result,  property was stolen. The host was unresponsive when we reached out. 

All guests on the reservation have been calling support since this incident arose. None of us have received any kind of indication of a resolution, or an expected time of one. It is just the same message that we get over and over; "it is being escalated", "support is working on this ticket", etc. 

I am expecting a reimbursement of the Airbnb, the stolen property, and the hotel that was booked after the Airbnb was burglarized. A police report was filed. 

[Linda108]

Like @Sarah977  I would need more information about the circumstances to provide any useful feedback.  Was this situation related to the group stay back in November 2021?  If so, Air BNB will be communicating with the person who booked the stay, not all the other guests I think.  Have you been in contact witih that person?

[Chase109]

@Linda108 

More info has been provided above. 

This is related to a stay this past January (2022). All members of that stay are in contact with each other, with the person who booked leading the efforts with support. 

[Sarah977]

@Chase109  The most you can hope for is that Airbnb refunds you for the stay. They certainly aren't going to reimburse you for stolen items and they probably won't pay for the hotel. 

Why did you not leave a review?

[Chase109]

@Sarah977 

Appreciate the insight. I was more focused on resolving the case. 

[Chase109]

@Sarah977 

I can't leave a review it seems, I'm just a guest on the reservation.

[Sarah977]

@Chase109  Ah, yes, I didn't realize you weren't the booking guest.

[Sarah977]

@Chase109  I just think it would have been good to warn future potential guests about what happened.

Thefts are pretty common in my town, as it's a very touristy place. Most hosts of entire places here provide safes in their listings. Usually the guest can program the code themselves. There is also a "master code" that only the host or the property manager would have. 

Personally, I would never leave anything of great value, whether monetary or sentimental, in a hotel room or Airbnb unless I was assured of a safe place to stash stuff. Money, credit cards, phones, jewelry, is best kept with you if there isn't any secure lock-up. 

I looked through a few pages of reviews for that hotel, and while they are overwhelmingly positive, there are a few that mention bait and switch- the room they were given was not the one they booked that was pictured. I'd be wary of booking a place like that.

[Anonymous]

@Chase109  You've already taken the most important first steps by filing a police report and notifying the host.  The next step is to file a claim against the Air Cover liability coverage, which extends to theft of guests' property with some exceptions.  

This is where you initiate your claim(s):  https://www.airbnb.com/insurance/create-claim/liability

I don't have personal experience with this procedure, so I can't say for sure how it will go down from here. You'll almost certainly have to supply the police report, and you should be prepared to present receipts to prove your ownership and the value of the stolen items. It's possible that the host has also suffered losses in the burglary and will also have an overlapping claim, so this can get rather complicated.

If you canceled the remainder of the booking after the incident, you should be eligible for a refund of the nights that you didn't stay. I wouldn't expect the nights you stayed or the hotel costs to be refunded, nor the full retail value of any exceptionally valuable stolen items. For that kind of compensation, that's where having your trip privately insured comes in. Did you have travel insurance?

[Linda108]

Each person affected by the burglery should check into their own insurance coverage.  Homeowners and car insurance might have some coverage for lost items.

[Bob297]

@Chase109 

This happened to me once in Ecuador. With the police report, my stolen items were refunded by my travel insurance

[Brandi103]

@Chase109 same thing happened to our family in NJ, armed home invasion. What city were you in? 

[Sarah977]

Deleted by poster.