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I recently had a a couple guests stay at my small studio apartment. They sent me a text when they left saying that they had a wonderful stay and they have vacated the premises. Upon return I noticed that one of my windows had been cracked in 3 places rendering the window unsafe to operate.
I had another group of guests coming in a couple hours which did not give me anytime at all to fix the cracked window and I just had to ask the next guests to please not operate the windows in that room. It’s unfortunate because we are going through a heat wave right now and I know that it will not be a pleasant stay for the guests who are staying there for the next 5 days.
I live in a beautiful historic building with windows that have the original wavy glass on them and write in my description for guests to be very careful when staying here as most of my home is original and I’d like to keep it that way.
I’m not sure how to approach this situation, the airbnber that broke the window was a new user, she didn’t have any reviews. She didn’t mention breaking the window so I’m sure she will deny it.
Can someone please guide me and tell me what the appropriate steps I should take. Should I just swallow the cost myself? Should I leave it in her review? Is this something that Airbnb would cover under the host guarantee?
Best thing to do is open a case NOW with Air. They are going to ask you for documentation about how much it will cost to repair the vintage windows. So get some really good estimates in a hurry. You don’t have much time.
You can still leave a bad review. I would, but you may want to wait until the last minute. The guests must know you are not happy and will crack you back if prompted.
You have to submit claim ASAP. It should be before the next guests checkin, I hope you took pictures, they have a date stamp, which will show when you took pictures.
Guests who damage things don’t tell you. The unit needs to be inspected for damage after every visit.
I think Airbnb ask you to contact the guest first and only if they ignore/deny will they arbitrate.
Perhaps say something like you were sorry after going to clean the apartment after their checkout to see the window in room XX cracked in three places. Which was completely intact before they checked in.
Say as new guests they may not be aware that they should have reported it to you straightaway. And that you will be getting quotes for repairs.
See what they come back with and if they don’t offer to pay you may need to go through arbitration.
Make sure you lodge this with Airbnb before your next guests check in.
My understanding is from many past threads on here you cannot claim if you didn’t take pics and lodge a claim with ABB before your next guests checked in.
I only found out from other’s bad experiences with claims on here so don’t beat yourself up. Still try to claim and hope for the best. It’s a stupid and impractical rule unless Air wants to deal with last minute cancellations as we are attending to our damage claims rather than preparing for the next guest.
Yes, that rule does not make any sense. I emailed the guest and she flat out denied it, which I was expecting her to do. Not sure how to approach her review, overall she wasn’t the worst guest but keeping quiet about damage doesn’t sit right with me.
Are you absolutely sure there’s no way someone else could have broken it? Maybe a bird flew into it or a branch? I only ask because I was SURE a guest had taken a picture I had up in a bathroom but I later found it in the supply closet under a bunch of bedding. My cleaner is the one who alerted me to the photo being missing so it’s a mystery how it got in the closet (frame was broken) which was supposed to be locked but I’m glad I didn’t leave the info in my review of the woman because I can’t say for sure that she put it there. I would have accused her of stealing in the review feeling that she was the only one who could have taken it when she may have had nothing to do with the disappearance.
