Stolen Items and Insurance Claims

[Thomas2041]

hey folks, 

as a guest in a well reviewed airbnb, my laptop was stolen from our locked room. For some context, the airbnb location was a house with multiple private  bedrooms, and then a communal kitchen and bathroom. Each room was locked, and we had the only key to the room (aside from the host who had spares, and cleaning staff). My laptop was attached to the Find My Phone app, and was accessed about 1km away from the residence a number of times over the following days. In my limiting opinion, it had to have been taken by the host or the cleaning staff as they were the only people with access to the room, and all other guests were international, I don't see them traveling 1km down the road into the a commercial district to use the laptop.

I reported the theft to the police, filled a report and approached Airbnb for a insurance claim. They've just told me today that my claim has been denied because

"The investigation revealed the Host did not breach their duties. There were no hazards or defects
found to the property which would have contributed to your loss. Furthermore, the Host had no
prior knowledge or notice of any hazards or defects. The identity of the responsible party
remains unknown. For this reason, it was determined that the Host did not cause or contribute to
the theft of your laptop."

Have I got a leg to stand on with this? I'm not sure if it's just a case of 'so sorry, but there's nothing to be done', or if I can take it further to an ombudsman or something similar?

thanks in advance

[Sarah977]

@Thomas2041  The host provided locks to all the rooms. It seems pretty clear that someone who had a key entered your room and stole your laptop. It's extremely doubtful that it was the host- hosts wouldn't last long if they stole from their guests and since the host and cleaners are the only ones who supposedly have a key, I can't imagine that any host would risk doing such a thing. Not to mention the place was well-reviewed, so theft from guests is obviously not some normal occurence. So that leaves one of 2 or 3 scenarios. The cleaner stole it (not likely either- is a laptop really worth risking your steady job over?), a previous guest make key copies, or someone has copied the host's or the cleaner's keys with or without their knowledge.

So in this case of yours, I really don't think the host can be held responsible- it would be different if they were renting out rooms to multiple people with no locks on the doors. Since it's not at all provable who stole it, unless it can be located and fingerprints taken, it does seem to be a police matter. I'm wondering, if your phone was able to trace where the laptop was, why the police didn't just go and retreive it and lay charges?

[Thomas2041]

I talked to the cops on the night it was stolen, and called them from the location Find My Phone was giving me (an **bleep**ty supermarket/bar) and they said that the best they could do was knock on the door, and ask the owner if they had the laptop. If the owner said no, then that was the end of it lol. I was spewin', that's for sure.

[Sarah977]

@Thomas2041  P.s. Did you look around at the time to see if there was any evidence of anyone entering through a window? Theives in my neck of the woods are really clever- they'll slit the window screen along the edge, so you can't even see that it's been done unless you look hard, then climb in the window, take whatever they can and leave through the window or the door, which can usually be opened from the inside without a key. People initially see no signs of forced entry and assume that whoever else had a key entered, but it turns out to be just a random theft from outside when further investigated.

[Thomas2041]

No dice, the windows were second story, and could only be opened a few inches. 

On a separate note, I just looked up Sayulita. Amazing!

[Sarah977]

@Thomas2041 Well, yeah, tons of people love it, it's a serious tourist trap, but it does have its charms. I live in the countryside, on the outskirts, so I can avoid pretty much all of the madness :-)) And the thieves don't frequent my area- if they do, my 70 pound ferocious barker leads them seek out easier marks.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Thomas2041 

Isn't it now a matter for the police? Or maybe your own personal  insurance?

Expecting Airbnb to provide insurance for guest personal items really doesn't make sense to me. 

[Jennifer1897]

Going alongside what @Sarah977 said, why did you not try to enlist the police to help you retrieve it. I am notorious for sitting my phone down and forgetting it, so I constantly use the find my iPhone. It is pretty accurate, and as you probably know you can have it ping (are noise) once you get close. 

However, that aside, as far as who stole it, it's hard to say. I too am highly doubtful it was the host. Eventually, a pattern of "missing" items would either be reflected in reviews, or brought to the attention of airbnb through multiple reports. As for housekeeping, again a regular pattern of stealing would not go unnoticed, however it does happen. I worked in the hotel industry for years and was surprised by the number of staff (not just housekeepers) who stole. 

As for other guest, id say that is a most likely scenario. Dependent upon the quality of the locks on the door, some can be rather easy to bypass sans key.  As far as why it would be popping up down the street, I don't know. My guess would be they would just shut it off and store it, but obviously whoever stole it is not as privy to tracking apps.

If it's still traceable, call pd and have them go to that area and see if you can pinpoint it. If its always popping up in the same area, then you can likely figure it's a persons residence. As for Airbnb refunding you, unfortunately it's unlikely, as the host did provide reasonable protection.

Im sorry this happened to you, and I hope it works out. 

[Thomas2041]

It's a difficult one isn't it. Perhaps I am a little to hasty to jump to conclusion that it MUST have been cleaners/the host, but it just seems far more likely to me than a guest copying the keys, coming back into the house, and stealing just a laptop. No other valuables (jewelry and whatever) was taken from the bags, it seems like a opportune crime. Either way, I  guess I'll just get on with things eh?

[Sarah977]

@Thomas2041  If cleaners and such are going to steal, they generally do it more surreptitiously, unless they plan to split town. I have a friend here who kept having small amounts of money and the odd piece of jewelry go missing. Her adult daughter kept saying "Mom, it's the maid". My friend kept saying "Honey, no way, she wouldn't do that, she's been working for me for years, I love her and have treated her really well." 

Finally she fired the maid and guess what? No more missing stuff.

Things would only go missing when there were other people on the property- guests, gardeners, construction workers. The maid was clever- she only took things when there were others around who could be suspected. 

That's why I think it would be odd for a cleaner, unless she was just casual help, not employed on a regular basis, to steal a guest's laptop- it would obviously not go unnoticed, it's not something you can tuck in your pocket, and would be reported to the host, unlike taking a few dollars out of a bunch of money, where someone could doubt themselves about how much was actually there to start with.

But anything's possible. Yeah, you might just have to write this one off, unless the police do their job. Hope you had your data backed up somewhere.