Useless security deposit. Guest overstayed.

[Christopher375]

We had guests that tried to stay and extra day, thinking we would not notice.  They disabled our wifi lock so that they could come and go as they please.

Our cleaning crew arrived, hours after checkout time, to provide service, they could not because the home was filled with their possessions.  We spent over an hour trying to get in touch with the guests.  They just kept sending our calls to voicemail.  We finally left a message that we were removing their possessions as our cleaning crew needed to come back and complete service before the next guests arrived. We were charged for two cleaning service calls due to the rescheduling.

The guest argued that given what they paid, they should have been allowed to stay.  Airbnb turned down our request to cover the cost of the extra cleaning call because "they can not police guest policies" and we "didn't have any physical damage".  I appealed and was told that "the matter is closed".

How is this fair at all?  What good are policies if the guests can just ignore them and do as they please?

[Dale711]

Salut @Christopher375,

Early check in , late check out, over stay are host responsibilities.

We need to remind the guest of check out time and assume they follow the schedule.

[Lisa723]

@Christopher375 Review the “overstay” text in section 2.3 of Airbnb terms of service. The CS rep you got was just plain wrong. (Shocker!) Did you open a resolution center claim and then select “involve Airbnb?”

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2908

[Christopher375]

Yes. Their response “Please be advised that, per our Terms of Service, Airbnb reserves the right to make the final determination with regard to these disputes. We are unable to reconsider the decision made in this case — we've issued our final decision and will uphold it accordingly.

As further communication will not change the outcome of this case, we must respectfully disengage from further discussion.”

[Lisa723]

@Christopher375 Infuriating. In your shoes I would open a new help ticket and continue to pursue it. Quote the terms of service and send your receipt(s).

[Colleen253]

@Christopher375  I agree with Lisa! Keep trying. 

"If you stay past checkout, the Host has the right to make you leave in a manner consistent with applicable law, including by imposing reasonable overstay penalties."

Because Airbnb CS are so useless and often don't even know policy, it is a good idea to ALWAYS have the relevant policy at hand when speaking with them. If you speak over chat, you can cut and paste or provide links so they have it staring them in the face.  Harder for them to shoot you down that way. 

And being able to provide evidence, in the form of security camera footage, receipts etc is also a good idea. 

[Mark4168]

Hi, since it sounds like you are renting out an entire unit and not just a room in a house you live in, you may want to try vrbo. I only rent out a room in the house that I live in on airbnb so if there is any problem like smoking, guests coming over, etc. I can deal with it because I live here.

Airbnb is a crapshoot, best to turn off instant book and okay guests requests to stay if they have good reviews.