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When changing the sheets after a guest left, I noticed that there is a new mattress cover on the bed, not the nice plush mattress pad that I paid $100 for a few months ago. I can’t be sure if it was there when I changed the sheets last week, but I think I would have noticed. It was immediately apparent this morning.
At any rate, I wanted to reach out to the guest and see if they knew anything about it, but I’ve already done the review and it looks like none of the contact information for the guest is visible any more. Is there any way to contact them?
What should I do? Should I just chalk it up to experience? It’s happened before. Another time it took a few days to realize that small table was missing from my porch. I contacted the guest
What should I do? Should I just chalk it up to experience? It’s happened before. Another time it took a few days to realize that small table was missing from my porch. I contacted the guest and he said that they broke it and threw it out. He said he would pay for it so I gave him a good review and then…radio silence. Never heard from him again. And hope I never do.
This is what the security deposit is for. So, you can make a claim against a guest if they damage or steal anything. The guest who broke the table is obviously full of crap. They were never going to replace the table…they were tossing it out hoping you wouldn’t notice anything had happened.
It’s probably moot at this point, because even if you do have a security deposit built in (I didn’t at first, but then decided to after reading enough horror stories on here…and I just wanted the protection), I believe you have to make the claim within a short time following check-out, else you just have to eat it. I would chalk these up to ‘lessons learned: be more vigilant going forward.’
It’s amazing how careless guests will be and then try to cover their tracks rather than be forthcoming and transparent about it. I had a couple of gals use my white bath towels to remove their make-up (jeeez! common sense, people!) and then try to cover their error by washing the towels in my machine at 3 AM. Had I not got up in the middle of the night to take the dogs out, I would not have caught them. Hehehe. Fortunately for all, a little bleach did the trick. So, I learned and now have gray and brown towels available for guests use (cheap and plentiful at Target). Sound like you weren’t so lucky.
I would. At first i didn’t because I felt it was tacky and feared it would disrupt the whole “trust” factor, which is a huge part of home sharing. Then i looked into how Air handles it, and I like it. They don’t charge the guest a thing unless a claim is made and Air sides with you. It’s just like how a hotel does an imprint on your card for incidentals in case anything gets damaged or you order porn or something. 99% of the time, it isn’t needed, but it provides them with some security. Thus for us hosts, I think it’s perfectly reasonable and adds an extra layer of peace of mind.
Guys, Security Deposits are a MUST! Guests expect to pay it and are not deterred by putting down a deposit. On Air, they just place a hold, they don’t actually collect it. (On FlipKey, they DO)… So it’s not paid out upon until needed. That being said, you do have to find the damage and report it within 48 hours. You are also required to upload photos of the damage and receipts, or replacement quotes (when my table was broken, I simply uploaded another similar table URL from the retailer where I purchased it.) You then have to confront the guest and request the damaged item be paid for. Even if it is over the amount of their deposit, (which is what happened with me.) They can and usually do deny.
So, it’s not a warm fuzzy process by any means. The guest is allowed to counter and send you a lower price. You can refuse this, and then it moves on to Air Host Insurance Damage claim status. Air has to review and decide. It will be more ammunition on your end if you have a deposit in place! In other words, they are more likely (in theory) to side with you if you have a deposit policy. If you don’t why should they cover you?
Geoff… What on earth!!! Guests damaging things and tossing them!!! ??? Not telling you? That is bizarre. I’ll wager they damaged the mattress pad and just brought in a cheap replacement hoping you wouldn’t notice. Bad, bad!!!
I once found a tube of super glue in one of my studio’s kitchen drawers and knew the guest had broken something and tried to glue it. Never did find the broken piece so I guess the super glue worked!
Geoff, if I were you I would contact Air and see if you can have them review this situation. Maybe they will allow you to claim after the 48 hour period. Worth a try!
If you think they stole it, which sounds as they did ( hard to believe people would go through trouble of buying a mattress cover and replacing it), don’t contact guest, it’s pointless. Contact Airbnb and file a claim
I’m with Koko here I reckon they had an accident, panic’d and got some replacement. Chalk this one up to experience (unless you have time and emotional energy), be relieved whatever they did wasn’t the actual mattress (so your protector did its job!) and get a security deposit in place. I have one now. I started out with flexible policy and no security deposit. Now I have both. I have no idea if it affects bookings, but I doubt it. You have to do a change over within 24 hours to get a good look over your place. Its a must.
Did you happen to see their sheets to see if there were urine/blood stains? Or did the guests have access to your washer/dryer when you weren’t home and laundered the linens and put them back on the bed?
Well Yana, Air makes you go through the resolution center, the first step of which is confronting the guest. Always lovely! Not! See my explanation of how it works above. I’ve had to do it three times. The first was smoke damage. I asked for the full $150; the guest offered $100. I accepted. The second was the broken table. I claimed the damage was $330. The guest denied. I escalated it to Host Guarantee, Air reviews, makes a ruling, decides in my favor. The third was missing snorkeling gear that the guest admitted to. She asked for the alternative of mailing it to me but realized it would just be cheaper to do a claim on the deposit. It was a few days before the money came through and my incoming guests only had one snorkel set while this was underway.
Imo, it doesn’t. You re correct. It also attracts guests who are much more likely to be careful in your house. If they see you have an easy cancellation policy, it just shouts: “Mess with me and cancel whenever you please! I’ll gladly refund!” Just No.
O ok, I did not know. I go from what my friend told me: it’s pointless to contact guest bcs they never answer, so I just file a claim . She did it 3 times also
