Has anyone had luck with Host Guarantee?

1

I read a few related topics here and couldn’t find any success stories just lots of same questions and dead ends. I apologise if this is long winded but in order to explain, its not really possible to shorten.

In mid March pre Covid19 shutdown in my State of Western Australia we had a last minute guest book. She had 1 good review. Mum with 2 kids travelling through and wanting a break. All good.

She vacated leaving a shit show of a mess taking my 2 cleaners 6 hours to clean up. Took drugs and smoked inside. The same date checkin (luckily a semi regular guest who already knows our standard) had to wait until 6pm (from 2pm) til she could checkin. I was overseas at the time on my way back when I found out from the cleaner about the situation.

The police had also been to the property as she submitted my properties address as her address for a welfare check which she was obviously not present for. The cleaner being left to try and explain what was going on and not knowing much??? I remember she had a lot of problems paying for her booking as well (looking back now realised she was probably going through a list of stolen cards trying to find one that worked still).

I submitted my claim straight away to airbnb. It was all for cleaning associated costs. No surprises, airbnb denied the claim as it was cleaning and said it was not covered. I objected a few times on the basis that I was a long time host of air and only submitted 2 previous claims ever, both low costs and that they too had also been rejected. Somehow I must have appealed to airbnb and they decided to pay me a portion of that fee. I accepted as it was better than nothing. It was just over 1/3 of the original claim.

This is where it gets tricky. Host guarantee states claim must be submitted within 14 days or prior to next guest arrival. Well it wasn’t possible to do it before next guest arrival as it was day (usually 4 hour turnover) which was all used cleaning and getting ready. Claim was submitted following day to so along with photos and supporting evidence.
Anyway, next guest stayed a couple of days, then the following guest stayed a few days and then the state went into lock down. Basically from here on in, I was not able to get to my property once getting back home from overseas because I live in Perth, and the property was located in an area of Westrn Australia that had been locked out to other areas (it was called an intrastate border closure).

It took me 1 month to get access back to my property and only with special permission. Upon entering my property I noticed immediately that my playstation and wii station and accessories were missing (stolen by THAT horrible guest). I know it wasnt the next guest as she was a regular and the last guest complained that the tv didn’t work because the tv aerial was vandalised (by THAT horrible guest).

So I advised airbnb about the stolen items immediately again. Well no surprise, they won’t pay that either stating that it wasn’t submitted within 14 days or prior to next guest arrival.

I have tried to appeal to their better comon sense explaining all of the above and that it was quite literally out of my control being able to submit within the terms of the Host Guarantee and that surely extenuating circumstances could be applied. I even said I was prepared to negotiate.

Approximately 20 emails have been exchanged back and forth but they are holding steadfast on their decision.

I should also add that no response has been received from the guest from either me or from airbnb. So negotiating with them is a waste of time.

I feel I did advise them as soon as feasibly possible both times. I could not have done it any better but get the feeling that even if the lockdown hadn’t happened, they would never have paid out anyway.

NOTE: Based on their terms and conditions they will always have an out if you have a same day checkin and do not report prior to that checkin. I guess that means you have to tell that guest that you cannot take them because then you can’t claim through airbnb. i guess it depends on whether the damage outweighs the cost of lost booking???

BTW : Insurance not an option due to Excess and claim being less than that.

I feel its really not worth the paper its written on and perhaps we should insist they remove it from their site as its effectively a big fat lie.

Any suggestions? Is there any way to escalate this further? involve a mediator?

2

Nothing you can do.
You cant prove she took it and the other guests were blameless.
Your history and great hosting means nothing as Airbnb will always try and weasel out.
It is in theT & C’s that all claims must be submitted before the next guest, or within 14 days.
Your cleaner didn’t notice the missing items? They don’t have a check list?
Buy one 2nd hand from the many places you can - facebook, Gumtree, hock shop and let it go.

2 Likes
3

I agree with @Debthecat, don’t bother pursuing this with Airbnb. You’re just wasting your time.

If you host remotely, you need to have someone (e.g. your cleaners) checking everything to make sure it’s functional (and not missing). But, even then, you shouldn’t depend on the Host Guarantee for anything.

This is an unfortunately a hard lesson to learn. It sounds like it was only a few hundred dollars, but it could’ve been a lot worse.

1 Like
4

I am sorry you had such a horrible guest. @TaniaHardman

However this does show the importance of always making sure you have someone to act as a local co-host for you when you know you are going to be away.

They would have been able to deal with your claim and have been able to spot the missing items so a timely claim could have been made.

Airbnb is right on this policy of making a claim before the next guest checks in or else there is no way of proving which guest stole/created damage etc.

5

THERE was your second mistake! First mistake was believing in the Host Guarantee is the First Place.

Other mistakes included leaving expensive items like the playstation and Wii station and accessories in the rental space. And believing that you could prove to anyone, beyond a shadow of doubt, that “that guest” stole anything. Another mistake would be believing that “we should insist that they remove it (the Host Guarantee) from their site…” would do any conceivable good.

Sorry mate, there’s not a bloody thing you can do, except not leave yourself open in the future.

2 Likes
6

I’m so sorry this happened to you. I agree w/ @Brian_R170. My cleaners have a check list that they use as soon as a guest departs. That list includes small appliances, electronics, speakers, TVs, number of bath towels, etc. My cleaners also take photos (about 30) after each cleaning. Those include open drawers in my kitchen w/ the pots/pans, etc. I have a drop box where they house those photos. This gives them a reference if something is out of place or missing. It also establishes a process that we use each and every time, bolstering any claims for missing items.