Thank you K9Karma. I don’t know what types of losses Air claims cover but I just saw that the carpet (yes, also new) is dotted with food and wine spots. So, I don’t feel like we can book it in this condition. What we offer is an immaculate, hotel-like experience and we cannot turn this around in our usual 2 hours. Does Air cover loss of income?
I don’t know but I doubt it. Oxyclean on the wine spots as well.
Contact Air if you have not already done so and explain your concerns about being unable to rent it in its present condition. So sorry your first guests ruined your place. Terrible way to start hosting.
Claims must be submitted very soon, and you have to have receipts and proof of damage, repair and replacement.
Just wondering, did you charge a damage deposit? You must. When guests think they are having their card held for damages, in theory, they should behave better. They don’t really know how difficult it is to make a claim.
Did these guests have any reviews?
But ughhh, bad way to start and I’m really sorry> 
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Thanks for the sympathy. 
These actually aren’t our first guests, but the first guests who disrespected our place since we went live at the end of May. We built out the unit over the winter.
They were our first long stay guests at 18 nights, though. I have a feeling they live this way at home and no security deposit would have helped their behavior.
I’m making a claim now.
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It’s true… but the psychology of having one in place should (it’s wishful thinking) engender a sense of responsibility in the guests.
Hope things go okay. keep us posted and do review them toward the very end if possible. Don’t mention the open case in your review.
I realized I didn’t answer two of your questions. We did not require a security deposit, and they were brand new. Great communication so I took a chance on them.
Okay Suite…
Please… change to a security deposit NOW. I guarantee it will help… and will give you more credibility with Air when it comes time to make a claim. I charge $180 for my studio apartment. I’ve made a couple of claims guests agreed with and only one where the guest denied and the damage she caused exceeded her deposit (she broke a table while hosting a drunken party in the room.)
I just added a $200 security deposit. All summer we had lovely and tidy guests, none of whom paid a deposit. Initially, I thought charging one would make us less competitive as a new listing. But I can absolutely see how it boosts my credibility with Air to have one. Thanks for the great advice!
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I knewd it 
The jerks!!!
I had recent tenants (ER nurses) move out of the rental house in front. They put up a couple dozen of those adhesive backed hooks around the room. Every one of them stuck so that I had to pry them off with a spatula which left a big divot. They also burnt out the garbage disposer (new when they moved in), left huge circular stains on the carpet (fairly new), blocked the laundry room drain. Left behind their burnt out washer that had probably not functioned in months; it leaked oil all over. I could go on about the damage their free range bunny did.
Their $1000 deposit made a small dent in the total cost to fix everything.
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I know that many posters here are enthusiastic about security deposits. We don’t have one. We’ve had guests (including regulars who give us rave reviews) tell us that they won’t stay at places that have one; not because they want to trash the place but because they believe that a security deposit signals a host who will charge them for every tiny thing.
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I think you can edit a claim after submission - so make sure you claim EVERYTHING including the cleaning up expenses that are beyond normal, because AirBnB has a habit of downgrading the amount and coming to a compromise amount. If you get the wall quoted, don’t get a discount quote, get a proper full quote, even if it’s from a friend doing the work as a favour, etc. It needs to be on official letterhead. And it doesn’t matter if you already charge a cleaning fee (many of us do but actually use it for fixed non-cleaning costs).
As for the blinds, I also personally find it weird when people are so fussy they need absolute pitch darkness, but I have accepted it. After we got a complaint (in springtime, mind you, not even high summer) we put up blackout curtains over the blinds ourselves. We also bought a stack of eye masks online, which were cheap as chips, and we leave these for the guests as well. No more complaints. Sort out the windows so that guests can achieve a pitch black room. If you don’t, they will take it upon themselves like this couple did - or by hanging a bed quilt over the blinds and ripping them down by mistake, etc.
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@EllenN, that was my thought when we opted not to charge a security deposit. We thought there would be really minor stuff (that we would “self-insure” for) and possibly the odd big thing (using Air and/or our insurance) and not much in between. OTOH, I don’t want Air to minimize our claims because we don’t require a deposit.
They DO give you more credibility when you take responsibility for your own guest damage deposit and don’t put the onus on them.
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Hi Eliel,
Can you share a link to those cheap eye masks? I’ve been looking all over and haven’t found anything in a decent price range.
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Indeed in southern Europe + France all windows have outdoor shutters or blackout outdoor blinds. They’re useful to block daylight, heat, cold and robbers.
The first time I visited relatives who live in the US, I tried to close the shutters of the bedroom and I just could not understand that they were just “decorative” and their was no way to close them as they are just stuck on the wall 
I bought blackout material and sewed it into the existing curtains in the rental room. The benefit to me is that is blocks the heat of the afternoon Florida sun. The benefit to them is that if they want to sleep late in almost total darkness they can. The outside lighting here is a bit bright, I lined my own curtains also for a darker night’s sleep.
For all who participated in this thread, gave advice and sympathy, as well as recommendations, here’s an update on our Host Guarantee claim. Air paid all claimed damages for which we had a receipt which included sofa cleaning, carpet cleaning, and patching and painting! The total paid out was almost $800. They did not pay for our two hours of extra cleaning, however, I got the impression if we had paid professionals to do it and presented an invoice, we may have been reimbursed.
I was expecting some sort of discounting by Air like .75 on the dollar, or for them to balk at the cost of the professional painting contractor. But it was remarkably fair and easy. They sent payout today.
I do have issues with the ease of using their resolution center and the subsequent escalation. There was extra work in uploading photos twice (once for resolution and again for Host Guarantee), frustrating timeouts while uploading photos, confusing information about needing a police report for damages over $300 (found out, only applies to criminal damage but this is not explained in the text), confusing info about invoices needing to be on letterhead (we had no issue with the upholstery cleaner’s emailed invoice). But, all in all, we are quite pleased with the result.
Possibly coincidentally, when we added a security deposit, no more bookings! It is the off season now, but there’s been nothing, nada, after a steady stream of guests. We have since removed the security deposit. I now understand that one of the benefits of the security deposit vs. relying on the Host Guarantee would be that it could potentially pay for things that the Host Guarantee would not cover, such as our extra hours of cleaning.
I hope this helps someone else and/or is somewhat informative regarding what to expect.
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A side question: is it standard to clean during a guest’s stay when you don’t live on the property? We don’t clean guest rooms in our home while they’re there. Our bathrooms are shared, so we do clean those.