We rented our beach home to a family of four from Atlanta using the airbnb service. Upon their arrival they were a party of four in one SUV, that quickly turned into twelve with the arrival of a van, and then another SUV arrived the next morning, verified by our exterior security camera. I am not sure of the final body count. I contacted them and told them the only people that could stay were the people on the rental agreement. They siad the extra people would leave, they did not leave and they disconnected an exterior security camera. I called airbnb for some help and advice. The person I spoke with was Liem and he said he would call them and try to get the unregistered guests to leave. The next I heard from airbnb was an e-mail from Liem saying that the guest said I had a security camera in the living room and they were refunding all of the guests money. This was an absolute lie and I tried to reach Liem at airbnb but he was not available so I e-mailed and told him to have the guest file a police report. I knew the guest would not be willing to put their lie on a police report. No one responded. I called again but all anyone would do is say they would forward my request to the trip team. I called the guest and told them, by voice mail, if there was a camera in the house they should file a police report, I e-mailed this through airbnb also. I also informed the guest, by voice mail, everyone had to vacate and I was on my way and I would have the police remove them if they were still there when I arrived. When I arrived they were gone but not without doing some minor damage to the house. airbnb will not accept a claim and they refunded all of the guest’s money including the security deposit. I have called back to airbnb trying to resolve this. airbnb has removed the reservation from the site like it never even happened. I can’t leave feedback and I can’t see anything to do with the reservation other than my e-mails. I have asked for a copy of the evidence they used to make their decision and I was told it probably wouldn’t happen. I asked if I sued the guest in small claims court and got a judgment against them would they cover it, all I got was I’ll forward that to the legal department. Still no answers so I called again, or maybe that was the same call, and was informed that the final decision was made in the case and it would not do any good to call because the person answering the phone could not forward my messages to anyone. I asked for a copy of that decision and was told they would send me a copy but it has not arrived. We have decided to take the guest to small claims court, we have a signed rental agreement. It may be a waste of time and money to go to court but it is principal at this point. I have the last two conversations with airbnb recorded. Once I file the small claims case I will post the case number here as it will be public record and anyone should be able to look it up.
