Last month, I was part of a group of seven people who were visiting New Orleans for a wedding. We we very careful to take good care of the house. Everything went seemingly smoothly with our check-out, until we were notified of a lengthy list of bogus damages that amounted to $178 out of our security deposit. There was no evidence that demonstrated we had caused any damage (because we didn’t), only a few very low-quality photos with no context for when or where they were taken in the house or what damage they were supposedly showing. Furthermore, I feel that the evidence that we submitted in support of our innocence was pretty solid. It was the text message exchange from when we all found out about the damage claims. It clearly demonstrated our bafflement at the bogus claims. After being contacted about this claim, we of course formally disagreed, leaving it to Airbnb to determine how to resolve the dispute. Despite our strong denial of causing any damage and despite the lack of evidence to the contrary, Airbnb blindly sided with the host, and now we are left with almost $200 stolen from our security deposit. This is an unacceptable experience, and we will contest this whatever way we can. Users of Airbnb should be warned that even if you respect your rental house and follow all of the rules laid out by the host, you are not protected from being held liable from bogus damages.
I had a similar story . AIRBN took my money because they wanted to protect the host, although I sent many strong evidences to prove that I was right , I never caused any damages of the host house.
When I think about it again, I can see about the AIRBNB , they only want money, the host brings money to them. How many time in a year we are renting AIRBNB accommodation?
The AIRBNB sent me $1000 bill to pay the host . I told them take me to the court , I will pay at the court.
You should send your story to the press or TV.
Sue them!
When we agreed to their terms of service, we agreed to forced arbitration. I think all we can do is to avoid Airbnb altogether moving forward.
https://revisionlegal.com/agreements/airbnb-terms-service/
We had a similar experience. Fight the good fight but Airbnb doesn’t seem to care. They say they require proof of damage and the value of supposedly damaged items but this is obviously untrue. Our host asked for $2, 000 which was very stressful.