Late damages/repairs

[Deanna296]

Hello! I had a young guest and his girlfriend stay two nights last fall, I was a new host and trying to be positive and accommodating. The guest was seen cleaning out a pipe on front door cam, (no smoking policy) the house smelled very foul, they left 2 hours late (trash was full of alcohol cans so probably hung over) and he filled the dishwasher with dish soap instead of using the dishwasher tablets. Luckily I went In to clean right away and scooped out all the bubbles and saved the kitchen from flooding. He wrote a decent review and I didn’t have any renters so I aired out the house and tried to not be annoyed. At least they didn’t trash the place. A few weeks later I notice the dishwasher is beeping and panels won’t shut off but I didn’t think much of it. Then it breaks and repair man does some quick fix for $160- no biggie. Electrical issues on dishwasher get worse and he finally has to replace both circuit boards on the door. Finds soap film on them from those bubbles. I think I’m $600 in the hole now on dishwasher repairs. Long story short- in this situation do you send the guest repair invoices to pay or just chalk it up to business losses? I doubt this kid is going to pay anything and the arguing is just going to raise my blood pressure more. Electrical issues due to water damages just don’t show up right away. Anyways if anyone has experience or suggestions I’d appreciate the advice. Will air bnb actually make them pay this late after a booking? I lost $250 on his rental. Thank you. 

[Joelle43]

Hello @Deanna296 

Unfortunately you are unable to put in a late claim through the Resolution Center for these damages as we only have 14 days to put in a request for damages following the departure of a guest. 

So yes, I'm afraid this is one of those cases when you will have to take this as a business loss.

Hope you've had better guests since,

All the best
Joëlle 

[Deanna296]

Thank you for the info. Would you send the guest photos and let them know what they did? Maybe it would either deter him to book here again (probably a good thing) or make him more careful not to ruin other rental appliances?

[Joelle43]

@Deanna296 

Honestly?  No I wouldn't do that Deanna.  I realise it would give you some relief but calling them out on this so far down the line may do more harm them good.  

I hope you left them a review though?  That is definitely the best step forward as our reviews warns hosts of bad guests which means that other hosts won't necessarily accept their reservations.

It seems incredible that a guest would put dish soap instead of tablets as I imagine you provide these as your essentials?  Any chance that your STR household insurance would cover this type of thing?

All the best for your future bookings and guests,

Joëlle

[Bhumika]

Hi @Deanna296 , I am so sorry to hear of this unpleasant situation with the guest and hope Joelle's advice has helped you with more insights into this incident. 

How did you deal with this situation in the end? 

Drawing on the lessons learned from this incident—have you considered any particular strategies to apply in the future if you encounter similar situations?

We look forward to learn from you!

[Deanna296]

I had to pay for the repairs myself, that’s how I dealt with it. Wish air bnb had more coverage for electrical damages like this that show up months later!