Should I accept a personal check for damages as payment after a week of negotiations?

[Rita536]

Should I accept a personal check for damages as payment after a week of negotiations?

[Kevin1322]

if that is all you can get out of them  it's better than getting nothing. 

if I took a personal cheque I'd make sure I banked it with a photo right away in my banking app.

[Rita536]

I  have read all the replies to my question.  Many thanks to everyone who replied. This guest did not seem to like communicating through Airbnb although I 

[Rita536]

I will try again.  It seems I keep hitting the wrong key as typing has never been my strong point. As I began before, the guest did not like to communicate through Airbnb.  However, once on board, the 2 of us went through a point by point negotiation.  Airbnb 'said' that we should try to resolve the many issues between us before making any claims.  That is what we did.  I sent the guest the many pictures we had, but my cleaner did not take pictures of the cigarette butts, the trash strewn around the floor and the undone dishes.  Those issues went to disregarding the house rules and the guest denied them all.  I was able to get her to agree to the several broken detectors.  I won't even bring up the other issues for which she was responsible.  She  denied those as well. Regardless, she finally agreed to pay for the damages with a check, but I am obviously leery of accepting. 

Per some good advice, I did go to the Resolution Center but had to basically repeat my process again.  As you can tell I have never had to make a claim before.  I have asked for the money.  Now Airbnb is asking for the money from her, and I won't have an answer for 72 hours.  No quick payment at all. 

I must have missed something.  Any more suggestions?  I appreciate all your ideas.

[David5641]

That is a big no. Airbnb will no longer assist you if the check bounces since you accepted an off site payment. Because if the guest refuses to pay, airbnb may enroll you to the host guarantee program to repay you for the damages. It will take a while though but it is better than nothing.

[Helen3]

Can't agree with @Kevin1322  personal cheques can bounce @Rita536 

Why can't they pay you through the Resolution Centre? (presume you have been negotiating through Airbnb).

All you need to do is request the funds through it and they click accept to pay.

[Kevin1322]

I was guessing they weren't negotiating through resolution centre any longer and it was a last resort. 

Just that a bounced check is an acknowledgement that they owe you the money.

I'd say a bounced cheque would be automatic evidence for a civil debt, easy to enforce in our country, possibly a different situation in the US.  

[Sarah977]

@Rita536 @Helen3  My take is that these guests either don't want anything on file with Airbnb that indicates that they caused extensive damage to a listing, or that they know full well the cheque would bounce.

[Emily487]

@Rita536 

Bouncy Bounce Bounce. That check is going to bounce. Please go through AirBnB. 

[Jennifer311]

I wouldn't take a check. They may not be sincere. 2 things I've done when guests owed me:

I would offer go to a cash machine with them in a friendly way, or even a supermarket where you buy some small pricey things quickly and they pay. Then I just kept things smiley and friendly but persistent.

This assumes they agree to the amount. You can offer top give them a receipt.

Almost everyone has either paypal, Venmo, or access to Quickpay/Zelle through their bank. It's easy enough if they have their bank's app on their phone. You can do this research quickly now to see if you are set up to receive payments this way. 

Please let us know what happens! And remember that it's our job as hosts top warn others. That's another topic but they might be  motivated top handle this the right way. If you do give them a so-so or worse review, careful to be factual and objective in your tone.

[Jennifer311]

sorry I see now they've left

Better a check than nothing but easier/less iffy to get transfer. Best to get it all done within review period.

[Jeff158]

@Rita536 

Send a request for payment, doesn't matter if you made a claim through airbnb or not.

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/help/article/767/what-is-the-resolution-centre

https://www.airbnb.com/resolutions

[Jody79]

@Rita536 , I agree with @Jeff158 .  I would request a payment through ABB.  You don't need to make a claim.  I stayed at an ABB one time where they weren't collecting the local tax.  The host let me know this at the time I booked and just requested the tax payment through ABB after my stay.

[Kath9]

@Rita536 who uses checks? From your description of the state of the condo, I'm assuming they were fairly young (jumping to conclusions of course) in which case I'd be very surprised if they even have a checkbook. Sounds like the old 'the check is in the mail' scam to me. The others are right - send a request for money through the resolution centre and they can pay you the same way they paid for their booking.