Guest damaged property, lied in review, hurt my business, is trying to intimidate me and now your Resolution team has me going in circles

[Gisele158]

I am asking for escalation and going in circles for 10 days. As a new host, I was told that Airbnb protects hosts, yet I am not finding this to be the case and I am beyond frustrated and disappointed.

A guest with no previous reviews sent me a request asking for a discount. I told him I do not discount during peak season on weekends. His initial request was for 2 people with 2 dogs. After I said no to a discount, he went ahead and booked at full price. The reservation came through as 1 person. When I asked him to confirm, he said it was actually 2 people, 2 dogs. I let him know there is a $100 pet fee. This has always been listed and has not been altered at any time. Guest agreed, the $100 was added and paid. He agreed to cover the couch and assured me his dogs were not allowed on furniture, and would be kept in crates when he was not home.

As soon as he left, my cleaner came in and noticed new damage to a wall. Damage was not there less than 48 hours before his check in, and nobody was in the house between that time. My cleaner also sent me photos of the couch pillows, covered in dog hair, and told me that the bedroom and duvet/comforter was covered in dog hair. Clearly he did not keep his commitment. 

I consulted my host Ambassador, and let the guest know that I would be getting a contractor to assess the damage and would be sending him an invoice (I would use proper channels for this request, of course). He became completely abusive - calling me an extortionist, and threatened me with a negative review. He denied the damage. Note that my contractor, cleaner and I know every inch of my home that has been completely renovated in the past 10 months. The contractor agrees that this damage was caused by somebody (or something) banging into the wall.

When the guest became abusive, and after consulting with my Ambassador, I told the guest I would take care of the damage.

However, he continued his tirade, and told me he reported me to Airbnb for "violating my contract" and "soliciting funds". Neither of these are true.

Now two things have happened:

1. He wrote a scathing review full of lies and accusations. He also says I changed the temperature of the air conditioner. I have proof that he had the AC down to 59, and that the house temperature was actually 59. I did not alter his temperature, despite my believe that 59 is a very low temperature for the AC. At one point, he had put it down to 51. 

He also reiterated his claims that I tried to solicit funds against policy - for both the damage and the pet fee. Neither is true.

His negative reviews brought my perfect 5 star rating down to 4.2 stars, and Airbnb sent me a note saying I am now in the lowest ranking and that I am in jeopardy of being de-listed. This is outrageous!

2. He filed a false claim for return of $100 pet fee - and your resolution team allowed it! What? How is that possible! It's listed. It was discussed and agreed to. I am stunned. Truly.

I am asking for an escalation and to discuss this with a person senior enough to take ownership through resolution. I am seeking a removal of his review, payment of $250 damage to the wall, and reversal of his $100 pet fee refund. I am heartbroken, frustrated and disappointed in this entire experience. I work extremely hard to make my home as perfect as I can, and to be a responsive and responsible host.  I've been going in circles for 10 days getting somebody to resolve this. It continues to get worse (his review is still up, he's been awarded $100 in pet fees, my rating has gone down, he's made false accusations about me). 

Note that I have additional photos (including the damage to the wall, and hair on the pillows. I can't get them to upload on this forum. I also have additional information about the guest's activities as captured on my Ring doorbells that I am willing to share to show patterns of his behavior. 

[Kate867]

@Gisele158   Whereas I do have an element of sympathy, the ‘pet fee’ is there to cover additional stuff associated with pets such as extra cleaning on top of your normal standard clean.  The guest did pay this fee initially once you reminded him so I am somewhat perplexed that Airbnb returned it unless of course it was not on your listing at the time he booked and you added it subsequently either prior to his stay or after his reservation commenced.  The terms and conditions that would have applied to him would have been what was on your listing when he booked.  You should have asked him to amend his booking with the appropriate fees added in.

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/resources/hosting-homes/a/what-you-need-to-know-about-hosting-pets-463?_set...

With regards to the damage, which in your review of him you state is minimal, you should always request this through the resolution centre, and keep all communication on Airbnb  Messages.  Airbnb support staff do not recognise or arbitrate on any other kind such as standard text, whattsapp and verbal communication.

[Gisele158]

Hi - 

The pet fee is listed - always has been. It was also discussed and agreed to prior to booking. 

All communication has been through the portal. I cannot fathom how Airbnb reversed these charges. It appears they did not actually read the communications or review the published fees. 

I told him that I would be having a contractor assess the damage and would invoice. Then I did that via Resolutions. I never gave him a number or asked him to pay me outside of the system in any way. A simple heads up that there was damage and I would be having it estimated. 

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

@Gisele158   You will have a stronger argument for your AirCover claim if you leave out your wish for the review to be censored. Even if it contains lies, can clearly see in the review policy that Airbnb "does not mediate disputes concerning the truth of reviews."  That nasty threat from Airbnb over the star rating is just an automated thing that happens whenever a guest leaves a lower star rating. Anytime you stick to your guns about damages and fees, a bad review is inevitable, so you have to keep a thick skin about it and let go of the unsustainable "perfect 5 star" fallacy.

The refund of your pet fee was nonsense, so hopefully with a little luck you can get it reversed. The damage claim is going to be hard because your listing allows pets. But if you zero in on the one item that was unequivocally damaged during the stay and leave out all the excessive details such as pet hair on pillows (that's absolute non-starter) you might be able to get some kind of compensation. TLDR: keep it simple.

"Senior person," ha! I'm afraid you've severely overestimated the coordination of the contractor Airbnb outsources its customer service to. Those days when you could "speak to the manager" are over.

[Gisele158]

Hi -

Thank you. They awarded me the $250 damage, but deduced the pet fee of $100. I don't understand how that's possible as it was always listed, was discussed and agreed to prior to adding it to the costs, and paid in full. I have referred them back to the conversation (via portal) and the listing, and have even sent photos of relevant evidence and still going in complete circles.

That guests can just flat out lie about things despite having proof that it's untrue is insane to me. That's not "protecting the hosts" as Airbnb would like you position itself.

And, yes, getting a 'senior person' has proven to be completely impossible.

[Anonymous]

@Gisele158   My guest would be that Airbnb split the difference and appeased the guest while leaving you with about the highest end sum there insurance was going to cover anyway. This is a better result than you can usually expect from Airbnb, so if you plan to continue using the platform you might want to start finding ways to change your parameters and double down on durability so that you seldom, if ever, have to make a damage claim again. 

"Protecting the hosts," ha. They're a corporation, not a condom. 🙂

[Helen744]

@ Andrew0 ha ha 

[Huma0]

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@Gisele158 wrote:

And, yes, getting a 'senior person' has proven to be completely impossible.

---

Mmm, I've just had a back and forth conversation with a rep (about what appears to be a technical glitch with my ratings rather than anything very serious) and, when it became clear that she just couldn't grasp what I was asking, I asked her to pass me on to someone senior. She said she would. Let's see if that actually happens...

[Gisele158]

Oh, trust that I have asked, and asked, and asked....and I still keep getting agents that can't manage to resolve issues. 

The whole support system is sorely lacking.

[Gisele158]

A corporation with holes in their condom! How somebody can post complete lies and they won't remove it. Yelp and other review sites will do that if you can prove that lies have been told. I'm not talking differences of opinions. I'm talking facts (e.g. pet fee not listed - I have proof it was).

As for durability - the guest broke a freaking wall! My house is minimalist to try to mitigate potential damage but when somebody smashes into a wall I don't know how to guard against that.

[Drayton1]

I just had a guest that booked in June till July 15'th for business. The first night he arrived he took a shower without the shower liner inside the tub and water started coming down threw the kitchen ceiling onto our table. We ran upstairs banged on his bathroom door and told him to put the liner in the tub. Next he came downstairs and said he couldn't get anything on the Tv So went up and scanned the channels so he got 23 channels he was all happy. So all went well after that.

   Until July 2nd I got a notice from Airbnb to leave a review for him, I figured it was because it was for the end of June. About an hr. later I got a nasty email from Airbnb stating that I was in violation of not having my home up to Airbnb's standards and I was going to be taken off of Super Host status! I was in SHOCK so I called to find out what was going on. Well come to find out my guest called and said he was staying in unsanitary conditions he STATED THE TUB LEAKS, CARPETS ARE FILTHY, WiFi doesn't work he can't get any CHANNELS on the TV. So AIRBNB BELIEVED HIM! They REFUNDED him the rest of HIS STAY! They never called me or anything about what was happening! So I went up to his room to find that yes he was gone. Then found out that his BUISNESS TRIP WAS CUT SHORT! HE WAS NOT NEEDED HERE ! SO BINGO IT ALL MADE SENSE NOW! He LIED they believed him and he also STAGED PHOTOS for them! 

      So that very evening I got another booking for that night. So did our regular cleaning like always for preparation for this new guest. While in the mean time trying to get hold of someone about the last guest. Finally after 3 days of trying to get a hold of someone that actually could help me. She wanted me to take pics. of the rooms and closets and the Bathroom I took them as we spoke and sent them. So she said I'll call you right back. She called me back and they reversed their decision and gave me the balance of the rest of his stay. I figured that was the end of that! My new guest just checked out after 3 days left me a 5 star review! Well the next day the Lying guest did a review and gave me a 1 STAR REVIEW and told the same lies 🤥 on the review. CAN U BELIEVE AIRBNB WILL NOT REMOVE HIS REVIEW and now it's COSTING ME MY SUPERHOST STATUS!!!! They just sent me a NOTICE how I AM IN JEOPERDY OF HAVING A 5 DAY SUSPENSION FOR NOT BEING UP TO AIRBNB'S STANDARDS!!! 

    SO NOW AFTER BEING WITH AIRBNB FOR 5 YRS. I GUESS I HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO LEAVE AIRBNB! THEY WILL NOT EVEN SUPPORT THE HOSTS OVER THE LYING GUESTS!!! I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS! I BUSY MY BUTT FOR GUESTS BRAND NEW FURNITURE, CARPET, ALL FRESHLY PAINTED AN DECORATED and THIS IS HOW AIRBNB TREATS A SUPER HOST!!!!! I GIVE UP!!!!! 

    Look up my listing and see for yourselves. I'M JUST IN TOTAL SHOCK!!!!

[Helen2833]

@Drayton1  I feel your pain..going through similar situation currently. I have blocked my calendars and currently researching other platforms. When my last confirmed reservation is complete I’m done with Airbnb. They do not support Superhost at all!

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Helen2833 give it a month two. All will seem better then.