I’m a seasoned host on both Airbnb and HomeAway/VRBO. I have never any real issues with guests until my experience in May. Little did I know a band was staying in my home after some show gigs in the Raleigh NC area. There was everything from cannabis left in potted plants to cigarette butts, empty beer cans in the yard, etc. I was not happy with the findings but thought my $300 dollar security deposit would easily cover the damages and excess cleaning charges. Four weeks later and I am still waiting on compensation for my damage claim. This was my first claim involving an Airbnb guest and I am now aware the Airbnb site provides little protection for a host. My customer service experience with Homeaway/VRBO has never been this poorly executed. I was told my claim/concern has been escalated and that was three weeks ago. I have been calling every week and the Airbnb agent just verifies ‘someone’ is working on it. Long story short, I am no longer hosting on Airbnb. Anyone considering hosting on Airbnb: don’t blindly think you will actually get paid out of the security deposit you post. You have no control over it.
My husband and I have hosted with Airbnb because we trusted Airbnb to reimburse us under their $1M Insurance policy if a guest were to damage our property. We have been paying Airbnb a portion of every rental for three years. My complaint is very similar. It involves a disputed with Airbnb over a claim we made against Chad Peterson, a Airbnb guest from Ann Arbour MIchigan we rented to, who damaged our property. We in good faith rented to Chad. However, Chad vandalized our property while at our rental. My complaint against Airbnb is the false advertising they make stating the company will protect their hosts if a guest damages a host’s rental. In addition, Airbnb offers a selection to Hosts to set “House Rules” and opt to allow parties or not. We clearly opted for “No parties allowed” and actually state it.
Chad and his party clearly disregarded multiple house rules and damaged our property by breaking glass beer and liquor bottles in multiple outdoor areas on our 7.65 acres. Because we also rent to families who usually use our outdoor property we had a lot of cleanup involved. Not only was there a lot of broken glass but there was a lot of food and other trash spread over most of the acreage. I can’t believe the damage was in anyway an accident due to the concentrated amount of broken glass and food strewn around. This was blatant vandalism. The amount of trash removed, including an outdoor garbage can full of beer cans and liquor bottles was proof Chad and his group of friends partied at our home. We provided Airbnb resolution team with multiple pictures and documents that proved our claim. However, after waiting two months for reimbursement Airbnb has only reimbursed $140.00 out of the requested reimbursement of $807.00 in damages. Our time cleaning, the extra guests at our rental and the broken glass in our soil is not being reimbursed as damage. Airbnb Hosts are asked to set “House rules” to give hosts a SENSE of protection ONLY. This company did not hold Chad Peterson fully responsible for the vandalism done to our property. Airbnb only held Chad Peterson responsible for 17.5% of his actions. This claim made by Airbnb that they will protect their hosts against guest damages gives a false sense of security and should be removed from their website.
This same thing is happening to me right now. Airbnb won’t give me my security deposit even after I provided proof through photos, videos, receipts, and invoices. They simply do not care about their hosts even with there is legitimate proof that guests violated all rules.
I have been trying to recoup thousands of dollars in damages for my place as a result of DV incident where the police had to kick down my front door. Airbnb simply does not want to pay. I have consulted with some attorneys and we may be filing a class action against Airbnb for this behavior. If a suit is filed-I hope that others from this webpage will join us. In the meantime-contact your local news agency with your story.
I will join
Happened to me too and I was completely ignored
How to contact You
When it comes to customer service, indeed VRBO is much more competent and proactive.