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Well, this one was interesting. We had guests that stayed for 30 days and asked to use the kayaks, which we agreed to do. Turns out that they decided to drop them on the road while doing 50 (or something) and blew the tips open. They repaired them with their own poor hack job and checked out, hiding the evidence as much as they could… turning the kayaks over so you couldn’t see what happened. More guests checked in and we just now had a chance to go take them out… which is when I noticed the problem.
How did I know it was them… Ring video to the rescue! We have them on the lawn doing repairs to both of the kayaks!
AirBnB just sent us a reply that we are outside of the 14-day period and I need to pursue the claim with the guest. (Like they will pay, they are long gone) I feel that with them caught on video this changes the game, but I’m thinking AirBnB is going to tell a Superhost that it doesn’t matter and to pound sand.
I would keep at it, tell them that you do not consider the matter settled. Keep telling them the guests hid the damage and you have proof. This is a good reason to get a copy of ID so you can sue the guests directly.
They will tell a Superhost and everyone else. But don’t take it personally, it’s just a policy, it applies to everyone. If you read the benefits of Superhost list you don’t see anything about SH getting a longer period to file claims.
That said, you can keep asking, you can post on social media about it and you could take the guests to small claims court. None of that seems worth my time but it might be worth yours.
Both 30 day rentals and kayak usage seems like a bad idea but I’m sure given those parameters you have good insurance coverage so depending on your deductible just file a claim with them.
Thank you. I understand about the Superhost aspect not having much weight on policies, but it should carry something if only that the person contacting them is reputable.
We do have good insurance coverage, though the deductible at $1K is just outside of the cost of kayaks or I may swing that.
Sounds like Social Media and small claims may be the way to go here. Pretty sad that I’m sitting here with video of them doing repairs, after all we did for them and their requests. Ughhhh.
This is a common complaint, very few people report the extras being rewarded.
It has nothing to do with it. I’m sure your record, SH or not, vouches for you. But they aren’t going to make an exception for you or any other single host. Policy is policy. You’re just making it personal when it’s not.
I feel your pain. One set of guests broke a window and another broke a fancy yard umbrella. In both cases I discovered the damage after other guests checked in, which left me unable to lodge a claim.
Unfortunately, policy is policy. Airbnb can’t make an exception for you. The most they might do is pay you some small amount out of their pocket as a “one time courtesy” if you keep nagging.
It is a cumbersome task, but if you want to charge for damage you have to do a full inventory ASAP after checkout so you can claim within the policy window. Only you can decide if the time it takes to check “all the things” is worthwhile compared to absorbing damage as a cost of business.
Absolutely frustrating situation understandably. You can send thru a request thru the resolution center from the guest directly and ask for payment. Although you won’t be able to file a “claim” since you didn’t file it before another guest checks in but always worth a shot. Also, a good lesson learned to check everything including the outside area before the next guest checks in.
In Ontario, if you file a claim in small claims court, and the defendants are too, the case will be heard in the plaintiffs jurisdiction. That’s a mighty long drive in some cases. Check it out.
Airbnb’s first reaction is of course try to get you to shut up and go away. Even as a super host. That takes care of probably about 90% of their problems and claims, people just give up.
How much was the damage actually worth?
Maybe if you confront them with it and the video they will agree to pay out of embarrassment?
I understand how frustrating it is and especially when the people were so dishonest, after you as a host put so much into providing them a great holiday.
But I guess you have to decide if the negative energy is worth it, if you decide to pursue the people. In my experience it usually is not.
I hate it when guests don’t report damage and then you rent it to another guest with broken stuff. That sucks.
The people hid the damage. So even if you did a pretty thorough check you wouldn’t find it.
I have had guests do that too. If they break a lamp or something they hide it in the back of the cupboard. If they make a stain on something they turn over the cushion or roll up ad hide the carpet.
It’s not always possible to find the damage before the next guest arrives. Also, it’s not always 14 days but it’s until the next guest arrives! What if you have next guests same day?!
The reality is that not all guests will report damage, it’s up to you as the host to check your listing is fit for purpose before you let it out to your next set of guests @lililou1
Surely you or your co-host goes through your listing before you rent it to the next guests so that you check everything is as it should be and if there is damage you can report it to Airbnb and make a claim before the next guests check in…???
And it’s not just for claiming purposes but to make sure that everything is n perfect order for the next guests. Our apartments are small so we have mostly same day turnovers but there’s plenty of time to check. In a larger establishment, it might be an idea to adjust check in and check out times - or even have a day between guests - in order to make sure that the place is perfect.
When we first listed with Airbnb, we removed the paddleboards at our lawyers advice. He also advised against providing other things we wanted to - kayaks and bikes. (We mistakenly thought that they would give us an edge on other local rentals). Also our STR insurers were sniffy about items that would be used away from the property.
In the case of the OP, I’m afraid that Airbnb are simply abiding by their rules.
But since guests do try to hide the damage sometimes you only find out later!
And I’m not a robot and not perfect so yes there might be something that I don’t catch.
Surely that is understandable.
Its not just that they don’t report the damage - they hide it!
As described in the original post on this thread. How would you find the damage to the kayaks unless you actually took them out and put them in the water?
And obviously the apartment can be “fit for purpose”, but something minor might be missing or broken which is still not nice for the next guest.
I have found it helpful to stay a night or two in my own units on occasion - that is really the only way you discover all the little and larger things that have gone wrong.
Sometimes the new guest might not even know something is missing or broken.
What sort of damage are your guests hiding that you don’t find during a normal turnover @lililou1?
In the original post, the OP would have found the damage much earlier if they had checked the camera’s post check out, rather than a couple of weeks later. In that situation, they would have been able to make a claim and leave an honest review.
I guess you can always blame the host for not being perfect.
How many hours of footage would they have to look at after each guest leaves?
And seeing people fiddling around with the boat might not alert you that the boat was broken, until you actually put the boat in the water and then you have your “Aha” moment?
In my case it was the electric blind switches which had been forced and broken and were completely inoperable.
The blackout blinds and are needed for making it dark for sleeping.
The switches are behind the curtains and when we cleaned between guests, same day turnover, there was no reason to shut the blackout blinds during the clean in the middle of the day.
Luckily we did check and found the damage but it would have been entirely comprehensible if that slipped through the inspection.
Another example is the extra vacuum cleaner we leave for guests (but do not use for cleaning ourselves), completely broken but left in the cupboard as if nothing happened. We don’t take that out for cleaning and on visual inspection it looked OK, you had to take it out and turn it on to see the breakage.
Having said all that, I think dealing with breakage is part of managing your Airbnb and we should all just consider it as part of the expense of the business.
But I prefer to use this forum to provide moral support and empathy to other hosts, instead of pointing out their shortcomings.
Yes, in a perfect world no one would ever criticize anyone else, right? Even if they made a mistake? No, by pointing out what someone did wrong we help them avoid the problem in the future.
