Airbnb damage deposit Sucks

[David2391]

I have been vacation renting homes for 15 Years Way before Airbnb and VRBO. In the past 15 years on five properties I probably have taken a $500 damage waiver deposit Four or five times. I had a tenant for a few nights in one of my properties in Mexico. There was some damage to the property. Granite was broken on my barbecue Island trim pieces missing by the dishwasher and the place needed all the walls washed. They must’ve had one hell of a party. The tenant denied and tried to come down on the price which was only $550 in total. So I escalated the claim with Airbnb. They wanted me to get three invoices per facet on the property. Which I tried to explain to them would be impossible being that it is in Mexico. It’s hard enough to try and get somebody out to fix something let alone try to waste everybody’s time in getting a bid for a trim piece for $30. The main problem was the granite out back. So I will be canceling all of my Airbnb listings as of today. They sided with the renter. Airbnb homeowners beware. If there is a problem with your home you need to make sure you know that you need to take off work to waste your time to try and recover 234 $500. I don’t know about any of you guys but I’m a pretty busy guy I don’t have time to meet up with the granite contractor a trim carpenter and my maid service to try and recover $500. I have a bad taste in my mouth right now and to be honest with you all of my high-end properties do not need Airbnb the clientele that I get with VRBO and home away are much better clients and if there’s ever an issue you can take their damage waiver. It’s not about the $500 it’s about I am four hours away from the property and have to open it up to contractors to get bids to try and fix my home that somebody else broke it’s really ridiculous. I threw a number out of $550 to do an excessive clean fix the barbecue granite, and get a new trim piece for my dishwasher the total repairs could be $1000 I just said 550 and to be honest with you what is your time worth to have to take off work drive four hours wait around for contractors to not show up to try and get my $500 that?

airbnb homeowners Beware

[David126]

If you need a Security Deposit and judging from your type of listing you do, AirBnB is not the place to list.

As you found out it is not a Security Deposit in the normal sense of the term.

[Laurie95]

I too have just experience the same issue with Airbnb not paying on a $175 claim to Rekey a property after the guest left with the keys! Minor, I know, but I too have a rental property that I’ve owned and managed through VRBO/Homeaway since 2006 and have always been able to easily collect a refundable security deposit and/or require a guest to purchase a nominal insurance policy for $59 that covers them for up to $1500 in damage.  I have mentioned to Airbnb that this would make sense to offer the same for hosts through Airbnb. Afterall, if it weren’t for hosts Airbnb wouldn’t exist and we should have better protection on our property!  All that said, I received an email from Airbnb nearly 30 days after the guest stayed who caused the “damage” saying our case was closed.  Without payment.  I just got off the phone with a kind woman in customer service that immediately took care of posting a payout to my account for $175 and was sorry for the delay and initial refusal of payment.  This makes me feel a bit better about Airbnb but I still mentioned they should rethink their damage policy coverage and do a better job of not only protecting hosts but making payouts for damage much less cumbersome.  Time is money and it is unacceptable to treat your clients with such disregard.  I am still rethinking listing my mountain cabin and beach house through Airbnb for their lack of timely protection. Or possibly denying damage reimbursement all together.

[Lisa17]

Airbnb has to balance the interests of the guests along with the hosts, too much toward either side and Airbnb won't exist much longer.  I'm sure there are hosts out there that try to charge guests for normal wear and tear, or who inflate repair costs unreasonably, so to protect guests Airbnb has to ask for quotes.  And while asking for multiple quotes may be somewhat of a hardship to a host, doing so provides an extra layer of confidence that the repair costs are reasonable and legitimate, and that it's not the hosts buddy providing an inflated repair quote.  I suspect Airbnb only requires multiple quotes when the claim is above a certain amount as I've never had to do that on my claims (but I never had a claim anywhere near $550).  BTW, if you're spending $175 to rekey you might want to invest in a Kwikset smart lock to save yourself and your guests some money.

[Alexis423]

Wow, this discussion is convincing me to get my listing off of Airbnb asap and onto VRBO/HomeAway. There is SO much more risk to the homeowner who than to the guest (regarding haggling over a $175 or even a $550 claim). My insurance company does not require 3 bids when my car gets hit, why should Airbnb? A homeowner is literally putting their home (=generally their life-savings) on the line, with all of their expensive furnishings plus the time they've spent making a house into a home, which a guest could wreak havoc on in one party weekend. Airbnb used to be great for homeowners--I can see this is no longer the case!