Thanks for the idea, Brian_R170! Great work-around. But I will still wait and see what they think is a “fair” security deposit, out of curiosity.
I may do that on Friday once three of my listings will be booked for a month. Think I could fairly easily check around for other private rooms to see what happens with those. Mine is part of a farm stay so quite different but I doubt they really take that into account.
I co-host for my elderly mother and just had 2 terrible guests who caused multiple problems Including damage. Air cancelled their stay on the 2nd night of 3. They then helped the guest to send my listing a booking request which was subsequently withdrawn. So yeah, air just bounce rubbish guests to unfortunate hosts. This is why hosts need to be strict with reviews. They recieved 1 star all round and thumbs down.
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The part about this that I do not like is that AirBnB says they if they do not like the amount you are asking for security, they will change the amount-without the host’s control.
I had my security deposit at $200, but I recently had a guest with a toddler that destroyed a brand new 51-inch color TV. The guests obviously ignored what the toddler did. One of the many things he did was while cheese dip and chips he put four or five cheesy hand prints on the tv screen–my wife tried to clean it up but the cheese had dripped down into the electronics and could not be repaired.
As a result, I changed my security amount to $400 in case something like that happens again and changed my listing to no children under two. We also bought a wall-=mount for the new TV and put it on the wall where we hope it will be safe.
I therefore find it absurd that AirBnB wants to tell me how much security deposit I should have and will change that amount without asking.
I took photos of the screen which I will not bore you with, but it looked awful. There were also cheese dripping stains on our new carpet and even new living room couch and even on the mattress.
It’s been a long time since we have had a baby around, but when our son was that age we did not let him carry on like that.
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This is the part we need to be careful of:
While Airbnb-required deposits are intended to protect our community, we are not responsible for failure to apply a deposit in any case where one may have been advisable.
It looks like they are saying if you do NOT have a security deposit in place too bad so sad for you.
RR
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Yet another race to the bottom… So the security deposit will be more prominently displayed, desperate hosts will lower it in hopes of more bookings, Air will not kick in if you do not have enough of a deposit… Seems like another way to put the burden on the hosts.
A better solution would be everyone has a minimum required security deposit of $250 which would level out the playing field. If only…
RR
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The email says they will use whatever amount you set (except $0).
I can see the benefit of a set amount but maybe at a percentage level. If you have a private room that goes for $50 a nights there is no guest that would book it with a $250 deposit and if you are traveling then you could possibly have $1000’s in a deposit holds on your credit card making it probably they wouldn’t stay at ABB locations. There are a lot of ABB that are not destination location but travel thru sites and an arbitrary all deposit required would probably run us out of business quickly.
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IMHO what they are saying is that if they do not set a deposit because it doesn’t meet their criteria they can not be sued or held liable for not requiring a deposit. Not that the guest is not responsible for the damage or that you can not proceed with a claim thru the resolution center or thru their “insurance”.
You know what I would love to see is not only reviews, but how many times a guest has stayed at an ABB. If a guest has stayed 20 times but only has 2 reviews that gives me an idea of the guest status vs just reviews. Or maybe if a guest has had a resolution damage claim over $100
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Yes they would if all the listings were 250
Hotels do the same thing, when I went to new Zealand I had a 5K hold for deposit on motorhome.
Travelling costs money, I for one do not want to attract the guests who cannot even handle a 250 hold (or 6) on their CC
Nah
RR
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You are making the assumption that all guests are traveling for vacations, or advanced planning. I get plenty of one night stays for individuals who are just traveling thru because of health issues, funerals, weddings, emergency situations where it may not have been a planned trip but need to get where they are going the most economically way they can. Or they are coming here to visit great-grandma who is dying or they are in need a location so they can go the one of the many hospitals in our area for treatment etc. I think we have two totally different type of ABB’s and different circumstances.
Yes it sounds like we do market to different demographics. I am in a resort area and I charge more than most because I do not want the bargain hunters.
RR
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This is not true (yet, we will see if it changes things when they start holding it). I rent a private room for $36/night (with a $20 cleaning fee) and have a $500 deposit.
Point taken… let me say that in my area anyone who has more than a $100 deposit has a low occupancy in my location.
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What I don’t like is the cancellation up to 36 hours before check in. Why can’t they get the “deposit hold” authorization at time of booking in full? ps mine is high.
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Recent post—I can’t find it—host stating Airbnb not able to place a hold on the guest’s credit card for her $1,000 security deposit had caused last minute cancellations. Several (including me) stated we didn’t know Airbnb did that. Maybe she was a test market or among the first for the Airbnb change.
Bottom line, if your guest doesn’t have credit card funds avalable, the reservation can cancel.
I’m rethinking my security deposit to be one night’s rent instead of my current $200. I can rebook if I have a week’s notice but a last minute cancellation of less than 72 hours, I probably won’t be able to rebook.
A high security deposit will cost me rental revenue. In 4 years, I’ve never filed a claim so I’m going low to preserve rentals.
This thread
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The Airbnb email I was sent, stated that it WILL pre authorise my security deposit- and for me to check the amount I am setting (and then they will cancel the booking and refund guest if not paid 36 hrs before arrival). I currently have a security deposit of £800.
The new article in the host help centre says it WILL NOT pre authorise host-required security deposits, (only airbnb-required security deposits, which they will set themselves)
The two are obviously contradictory and I can’t get a proper answer from support staff.
I can’t risk losing a booking (and a few thousand pounds because it is a large property sleeping 18) through lack of authorisation of a deposit so close to arrival date. I can’t even make a decision about keeping my listing on Airbnb because the information they’re providing is contradictory and support staff are none the wiser. Is anyone else clearer about the new policy?
You’re right, @tflute, the article quite clearly states that Airbnb will place a hold only when they set the amount, not when the host sets the amount.
https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/140/how-does-airbnb-handle-security-deposits
There are so many things in that article to irritate both hosts and guests.
My guess is that they are trying to limit payouts from the host guarantee by pushing the responsibility onto the guests (where it belongs) for things that they flag are high risk, such as short-notice/same-day bookings, amenities like a hot tub, and hopefully, guests that were the cause of previous payouts.
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