Replies to this post:
Will20 hours ago
HORRIBLE experience with Airbnb Response to Lying guest who Damaged my Property.
Recently I had a guest who booked for an entire month and then found permanent housing the day after she arrived in Seattle. She told me then that my house was "rank with mold and urine" and that she wanted to leave and be refunded fully. After talking to her it became quickly obvious she had found full time housing. She also had two cats that moved with her. Living in California, I was unable to immediately inspect the room. Two of the three Airbnb calls supported my opinion that she simply wanted to leave and leave me with no guest and no money. A third person supported her fully and eventually coerced me to refund her 50%.
I booked a flight to Seattle asap. When i arrived I discovered no mold, but that her cats had pissed all over my bed. The house WAS rank with Urine. I paid a Mold Inspection company $400 to discover no mold. I had to replace the bed and all bedding. Yet airbnb wanted me to have it cleaned. Which i refuse, because my guests will not be the test subjects of if the cleaning worked. It took one phone call to refund her money. It has been a marathon to get Airbnb to reimburse me. I am now out over $3000 including the lost income i refunded this terrible guest.
First I had to discuss with the guest, which didnt work. Then I had to make a request to the guest, which she didnt respond to. Then i had to have multiple phone conversations and wait a week for a response from Airbnb because at this point they will only email me. At every turn I was given 48 hours to do whatever they told me to do. Because they seem to think that I am just sitting at home doing nothing. Today i was told that I have another 48 hours to complete Host Guarantee payment request form:
"Under our Host Guarantee, your property is covered for direct physical loss or physical damage caused by an Airbnb guest. You can read about the Host Guarantee program at
www.airbnb.com/guarantee and what the Host Guarantee covers (as far as damaged items that are outlined in the Terms and Conditions) here:
www.airbnb.com/terms.To access and complete the Host Guarantee request form within the next 48 hours, please use this link:
www.airbnb.com/incidents/new. If this form is not filed within the next 48 hours, we will be unable to offer any compensation via our Host Guarantee Program and will need to settle this matter using only your security deposit."The Terms are 33 pages long and obviously made so that noone will ever read them. Filling out this form is again repeating myself for the 10th time to Airbnb. The guest left my house on the 7th and it is now the 23rd. That is how long this is taking to even discuss my damages. But it took one phone call for the guest to get her money back.Every correspondence asks for evidence, yet i have provided a link to a dropbox folder with all such evidence, as well as i have emailed it to them several times. Yet they just keep asking. I am writing this so that you hosts can know that Airbnb is no longer on our side. They are simply on the guests side and when you need their help, they will send you on an endless journey of hoops, emails, phone calls, demands, and paperwork that must be done at recurring limited intervals that if not fulfilled, will result in a default judgment by airbnb of $0 for us. I have been a host for 4 years. And i am extremely disappointed by this. This is about the 5th time Airbnb has done something similar, where they immediately side with the guest and not the host, and the host have all the responsibility to prove their case. We are all guilty until proven innocent. Lets see if this is deleted by Airbnb...
Jeannene
They immediately charge the host too when we cancel even if we have made numerous attempts to contact guest to verify certain things like... Gee, when will you be arriving and departing my home! It's ridiculous! Don't even get me started on the mistake made on weekend charging of $10 rather than $100!!! I'm literally paying to be a host this week
Will
Yes, i NEVER cancel a reservation. The penalties are ridiculous. I will talk to the guest until they cancel. And even they have to pay a penalty. I called and complained about this as well. I do not believe a guest should have to pay fees for a stay that never occurred unless it is reasonably bad to the Host.
Rhonda
Will, what are you referring to as ridiculous penalties towards the host? Just an automated statement that the host cancelled a reservation?
Margaret
The host penalties are block out the dates so you cant rebook them and fine you. They did this to me once and I protested as the reason I canceled was that I had a guest who booked for one then tried to bring an extra person. I said no. He kept saying that the room would suit the two of them fine. In the end I cancelled as he would not. Airbnb removed the date block and the fine after I complained but it still shows up as a black mark against me on their superhost stats thing. I dont care about that as my house which is old and large and is clean will never be as clean as a modern freshly decorated apartment. I get a steady 4.5 star rating and am happy with that. People either love my home or they write reviews that say its all a bit outdated.
Will
Yes, all the Penalties. There are 4. They block the dates, charge us a fee, put an automated review and you can lose superhost for upto a year! It is like we are their employees. Who owns these homes again? Who takes all the risk? Does all the work?
Rhonda
Aloha Will, just a few questions if you don't mind. You stated you've hosted for 4 years. I see 78 reviews, I can't peruse them all, but your listings seem to maintain the coveted 5 stars. Have you ever achieved Stoopid Host status? How did you end up living in CA with a house in the U District? I am a Washingtonian, just curious. I have great ideas how you can find guests for your rainy cold months. Prior to moving to Hawaii, my comedic husband had stated between the two of us, we had suffered 98 years of that cold and miserable stuff. But found many people who sought it out for all the opposite reasons of what we had become accustomed to.
Rhonda
I didn't get too far past the red flag of your house rules of inviting pets, and your beds were lovely displayed, but the extra blanket at the foot of the bed needs to go from the pictures. I have extra blankets clearly stated in plastic zip containers labeled 'extra blanket if desired'
Salvia
Awful, frustrating and disappointing
Will
After providing all the necessary documents, pictures, etc, Airbnb, (who will not call me, only email) has decided to pay me only $500 for the new bed, and nothing else. No flight costs, no rental car, no mold inspection, and not even the money that i was coerced to refund her. So I am currently negative $3000 from this guest and Airbnb will only refund the "damages" according to them of $500. This is the REAL "Host Guarantee" You are guaranteed to get screwed by both your guests and Airbnb. This is not the first, but the worst experience yet. Oh and finally... despite the cancellation, the guest has left a review....
Salvia
Awful, frustrating and utterly disappointing experience for you from guest and airbnb side! I feel very sorry for you! Unfortunately you are not alone with your experience when it comes to such or even more severe, negative incidents that require reembursement of costs. Other hosts have reported the same experience. Persistence and endurance seems to be the only chance to get somewhere. Hang in there and use ALL channels esoecially twitter to get heard by them! To rent an entire home remotely or while being away leaves you with much less control. I hope for you that it does not happen again. Hang in and fight! I keep my fingers crossed that you will get through this successfully at the end. And yes, this post might get deleted as being against their terms and as stated there - in case there is a "mediation" ongoing which is then not meant to be discussed in public.
Deanna
However, it has been my experience that they never delete anything on this forum, unless the original poster deletes it themselves, or if there is something inappropriate that fellow hosts flag. Which of course we won't on this one!!!!
Will
After providing all the necessary documents, pictures, etc, Airbnb, (who will not call me, only email) has decided to pay me only $500 for the new bed, and nothing else. No flight costs, no rental car, no mold inspection, and not even the money that i was coerced to refund her. So I am currently negative $3000 from this guest and Airbnb will only refund the "damages" according to them of $500. This is the REAL "Host Guarantee" You are guaranteed to get screwed by both your guests and Airbnb. This is not the first, but the worst experience yet. I opened a case in the resolution center. The guest never responded and Airbnb closed the case. So i opened another. I will start on the Twitter. Maybe they will listen since i have 10,000 followers. Oh and finally... despite the cancellation, the guest has left a review....
Aj
Will, sorry to hear your misfortune. I have no experience in such but I understand your frustration. All I can suggest is, fill that form asap, submit it with all your evidence and follow it up with a postal next day delivery Mail signed for too. Call them and stay on it. You have to be calm though, as annoying and crazy this situation maybe, your goal is to be compensated. Don't let them take your money and loss of income and left you dry. Your patience to get your money is the key. Just hang in there but call them and call them and call them!
Rhonda
Aloha and Good Morning Aj, Coconut pie almost ready to be taken out of oven. Passion Fruit Shortbread just needs to be dusted with powered sugar. Got tea ready?
Aj
Oh my daysssss!!!!!! Rhonda! I'm drooling right now and I didn't have my breakfast yet. Hectic morning with the plumbers working on my smelly drains and my daughter not feeling well and I have to head to Brussels tomorrow for 3 hrs but then the travel issue there might take me a day and I cannot do a day right now! So yes, Earl Grey tea all ready for your baking!!!
Rhonda
Aj, never a dull moment, eh? I'll bring the 100% Kona Coffee for me. I'll trade with you, went to eye doctor today. I took a bad fall in June. First they thought my retina had separated, no. Now 1/3 of each eye is less than 6 months ago. That's an unexpected change in the plans. I so enjoy my hearing with the open windows and the birds, never considered the other to such an extreme. There's a surgeon I'm to see up north whenever I can find the time. At least now I have a reason to slack off on my Cindersmella duties.
Aj
Oh no?:-(( I hope it all gets sorted because I'd like when I visit your island, you'll be able to see my cheeky self and get you running around the whole island that your feet will need medical massage in order to be usable lol
)) Do you trust this Surgeon up north? I'm scared of surgeons and hospitals and anything to do with hospitals. My childhood fears never left. Find time Rhonda, your health is more valuable than any Cindermella duties you have! Get that booking up north done asap.
helga
Sorry to hear Rhonda. Is the sight degrading further or do they think it's stabilized now? I hope the surgery works - you'll have to do it in two steps, to be sure to keep one eye if anything does not work as it should. - My mother had to have surgery, they did one eye and everything is great, but she refused to do the second eye. But she used to leave the dentist's waiting room so often at the last minute that she had to get a new dentist, the other refused to grant any more dates to her ;-)
Rhonda
Aloha Helga and thanks for the condolences. I found it rather concerning with the graph comparison my doctor showed. This was funny, I asked if I should refrain from the purchase of new glasses until the other consultation. I just wanted to get the exam, get the glasses on order and carry on with my day. Of course they had limited selection, my choice was to find a totally beautiful 'bling'. Was funny, the newest and most popular frames are by Fysh. Go figure. Anyway, I made the comment of how many people travel to France to purchase their frames and have the lenses fitted later. Paris!! here I come!! I'll pack a BIG fishing net, you the artist can work on the logo after the fact. I'm going shopping for future blingie eyeglass frames. I love Deanna's and her color coordinated square matching blouse. Makes her look so totally a confirmation of "don't expected more than I have communicated; portrays a no-nonsense kind of girl. I think she will do fantastic Uber! Her house is beyond fantabulous, ya need transport from airport? Ring me up? Pay up front! Fantastic opportunity in our downer times. I did receive quite a giggle from Will's comment that he could not qualify since "I drive it like I stole it." Made me ponder Deanna's potential bus load of church ladies and gents who make no need to speed. Deanna's got the schedule down.
helga
Haha, don't drive like that whilst you don't see well, Rhonda ! The best solution would be to buy the frames in France and the glasses in Austria ;-) the French are very fashion, but my Austrian optometrist is all perfection.
Rhonda
Thanks to Aj and Helga for your concern. What an enlightenment that little graph made apparent to me. At the time of the fall and the total hurt to be alive with the rib pain, creating even more delay in enjoying my passions. Year # two of wasted coffee harvesting, harvesting fruits to make jams. Only today did I realize that as paper anal that I am, all I it took was the comparison graph to see the change of attitude I had created. I was only seeing all of this wonderful excitement of a new and wonderfully appreciated living as only 2/3. The upper 1/3 of both eyes were showing shut-down. I'm not making an appointment. I believe that we are all in control of our lives and health. I'm going to practice opening those eyelids greater to welcome the enjoyments I had not 'seen' for the past 6 months. After my new Blue glasses arrive, I shall ask the g/f to take a pic of a more recent photo to update my profile picture to be more appropriate how my style of hair has changed a bit. Some guest made wonderful reviews which included "Rhonda, the housekeeper, was quite friendly and knowledge regarding the area." I'm still chuckling over that one.
Will
After providing all the necessary documents, pictures, etc, Airbnb, (who will not call me, only email) has decided to pay me only $500 for the new bed, and nothing else. No flight costs, no rental car, no mold inspection, and not even the money that i was coerced to refund her. So I am currently negative $3000 from this guest and Airbnb will only refund the "damages" according to them of $500. This is the REAL "Host Guarantee" You are guaranteed to get screwed by both your guests and Airbnb. This is not the first, but the worst experience yet. I opened a case in the resolution center. The guest never responded and Airbnb closed the case. So i opened another. I will start on the Twitter. Maybe they will listen since i have 10,000 followers. Oh and finally... despite the cancellation, the guest has left a review....
helga
Will, I had a flooding once but it did not take so long to settle it even though the guest denied all wrong doing. The 48h deadlines are annoying, especially if you are not in town (I was not either) but you did get them extended quite a few times. It is useful on the other had as it does not block the place for long and you do not loose as much revenue. I read most of the terms then and check important terms when they send me an update notice. It's a coverage for direct damage, not for following damages, so you can't claim lost income. To claim lost income, you would need a professional insurance like a craftsman. I would not expect a refund for a mold expert either - I don't really understand why you did ask for that? If you can't see nor smell mold, how would she have known there is invisible mold around?
As for the bed, you should put mattress protection on all mattresses, as such accidents happen quite often, but usually to the human guests. If you did not buy the mattress yet, establish a cost estimate via the website where you buy it or get one from the company. I got about half of what I got on invoices and half on estimates.
At the time, it surprised me too, that this insurance react differently than a home insurance. On the other hand, this has advantages too: I had the money on my account within maybe 10 days - an insurance claim takes months, even had one train for half a year. And the forms were way more complicated, they sent experts over experts. Airbnb settles with photos.
Rhonda
Aloha Helga, your final comment about "even has one train for half a year." Made me think of C C's listing that I want to play with. I'm sure there are many more wonderful things to enjoy in her area other than the famous "Graceland".
helga
sorry, French word. Had one file delayed for half a year
Will
After providing all the necessary documents, pictures, etc, Airbnb, (who will not call me, only email) has decided to pay me only $500 for the new bed, and nothing else. No flight costs, no rental car, no mold inspection, and not even the money that i was coerced to refund her. So I am currently negative $3000 from this guest and Airbnb will only refund the "damages" according to them of $500. This is the REAL "Host Guarantee" You are guaranteed to get screwed by both your guests and Airbnb. This is not the first, but the worst experience yet. I opened a case in the resolution center. The guest never responded and Airbnb closed the case. So i opened another. I will start on the Twitter. Maybe they will listen since i have 10,000 followers. Oh and finally... despite the cancellation, the guest has left a review.... I got the Mold expert to prove to Airbnb that there was no no mold. The guest claimed the mold was making her sick with a respiratory illness. Which was why she had to vacate immediately. I spent 10 days in Seattle cleaning the house, washing things again and again before replacing all of it. I have mattress covers and this one failed to protect the mattress. So I bought a new one as well. I am done w Airbnb. Time for a new venture. This is not he company it was 4 years ago when i began.
Rhonda
Aloha Will, how silly of you. One little discomfort out of much pleasure in life is compelling you to quit the site? Hummm....78 wonderful reviews, one long term/miserable/expensive guest (which most of us have learned to decline), is the 'deal breaker'? I advise you to carry on and this will only become a memory of your past which you learned from. You seem to be financially savy with your expenses. They are based on what was not refunded. Thus, Bingo! The rest of the expense you get to claim as expenses. Sometimes we come here to vent; take a deep breath, exhale and thank the good Lord above you received $500.
Rhonda
Helga, another thing to put on my Bucket List, shop for frames in France. Of course to an over indulgence of crepes. It was my desire to attend the Airbnb Open in Paris; my non-existent budget thanks me, as well as I run from any forms of violence and response like the plague. I would have not known to add this to my shopping list. I shall miss this group, I encourage you all, especially Deanna, et al, to check out the Paltalk. We can be 'administrators during our time of availability. Close the room when you choose. And other 'administrators' open the room in a time zone/down time available. As administrators, you are able to keep a copy of the text whilst in your absence. I think this is an excellent resolution to what we are voicing our freedom of speech without the commercials and other annoyances. It's free, I encourage you all to Adorn the Big Internet Pants and have a look in preparation of the end of our most loved high jackings. P.S. I told the lovely squash story, Deanna wrote she made French Toast Pumpkin Bread for breakfast the other weekend. My mouth still waters with the fantastic idea. Smothered in Maple Syrup? yes or no?
helga
Rhonda, I'll go to Sète tomorrow, very early in the morning, high speed train, which hopefully stays on the rails, run to the market and spend the afternoon with forms and whatever new requests there are. I just printed half the documents for the artist's insurance again, including the letters from 2012 and 2014, when I had already sent the whole mess. The rest I'll have to digg out from my cupboard where I had jammed in everything in June to make the flat guest proof. Argh. So I should amend my former sentence: a home insurance may nag you for half a year but Social Insurance can harass you for years on end, twice a year or thrice for always the same documents. How can they ask for tax documents from 2011 again, when I sent them several times and anyway they can connect to the tax database? They can, it's an insurance. ...
Will
So glad I did not attend. That would have been money poorly spent. And Airbnbs response to the tragedies was distasteful. They encouraged guests to prove they were Ok by tweeting an airbnb hashtag, essentially advertising for Airbnb. Who is running this ship? Using a mass murder to advertise?
Rhonda
Excuse me Will, I have the personal claim to 'Cynical' one of this group. Many things can be found distasteful; it only is dependent on our personal observations/judgements. WE are the Captains of our own Ships, Airbnb is just an internet connection for our guests. In my opinion, Airbnb is the best of our current market place. Even Moi is not perfek.
Deanna
Yes Rhonda, of course, Maple syrup! I've been out Uber-ing all day, so I haven't caught up on the talk. Paltalk sounds fun, you'll have to walk me through it when my brain hasn't turned into mush. This week's special recipe: my home made sweet potato dinner rolls. Plus cranberry sauce. It's what I'm bringing to the American Turkey Day.
Will
Oh forgive me for expecting more
Rhonda
Rhonda
Aloha Helga, earlier this week I had an 'ah ha' moment regarding my taxes. A total mental block as well as denial. I find it so much more pleasurable to back than paperwork which I retired from. I choose not to go down the 'blame game', and just use it as a 'repair' or 'maintenance' write-off. Speaking from my past life of edumacated Insurance Billing Specialist. It's way easier to reduce my taxes with expenses than go down the road with my Homemoaners Insurance.
Rhonda
personal spellcheck. " I find it so much more pleasurable to Block", rather than just do it. I've realized this unattended duties has been 'blocking' my freedom to do what pleasures me the most, due to my self-imposed guilt feelings of what I should be doing. I'm a female, what color you painting your wall?
helga
Only bright white for walls, I need to hang lots of artwork on them. As for the taxes, no problem with them. And the Social Insurance got those damned documents in 2012 and the following years, they calculated my contributions every 3 months and got them paid then. Only they made an error ladt year and so they start it all over again with my art sales from 2010. Grrr (That concern only the art, not the rest)
Rhonda
Aloha Helga, 'hyper concerned with self' ...lol C C's previous reference regarding guest; my addition to self. I love white on white, and was quite surprised to see Mario's listing totally perfeck for me if Melborne had better swimming. I did see a luxury hotel with a glass bottomed pool directly over the sidewalk of pedestrians there that I would like to experience. I always ask my guests if they are familiar with that piece of architecture. Typically No. As stated previously, my order has ETA of Dec 11 of 10 pieces I'm anxious to receive and hang, thus my own curiosity of your colors and reminders the pictures are in the mail, so I'd better get crackin! My road hedge is my current priority, but we've had plenty of rain as of late for me to enjoy other activities. Re: taxes, my personal taxes are so flippin complicated, this activity just added a sledge hammer to my comprehension of how to continue with my journey to locate all the junk they require. Good thing Mario didn't come clean and toss. I've gotta locate some of that stuff 'I 'might need'.
Rhonda
I do SO enjoy the color mixings/coordinates other hosts have used on their walls. Just not my style of distracting from the views or artwork and open spaces. But I'm always thinking how to avoid all the black marks from luggage. I'm switching my over to Flat White to Satin, Semi-Gloss and High-Gloss for easier scrubbing
Rhonda
'switching mine over from'..4000 square feet yippee! My mother asked me 11 years ago if the time would come when she ever rang me up to find that I did not have a paint brush in hand. My response, "probably not.'
Deanna
I prefer a warm grey neutral paint color on walls, I think it makes the artwork stand out nicely.
)) Do you trust this Surgeon up north? I'm scared of surgeons and hospitals and anything to do with hospitals. My childhood fears never left. Find time Rhonda, your health is more valuable than any Cindermella duties you have! Get that booking up north done asap.