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I Recently had a bad guest. I would like advice from this community before taking action.
The Guest booked for 1 adult for 1 night. 2 adults arrived at check in with a very young child about 3yo(I’m not sure exactly, there were used diapers in the bin). My listing states “not suitable for children”. I also have an additional charge for a 3rd guest. My listing accommodates 1-3 adults.
The problems I found after check out:
I found the front door to be wide open. Not just unlocked, the door was wide open for anybody walking past to come in. The lights were left on and the keys were on the kitchen bench visible from the outside.
There is damage to one of the doors. There is a double sliding door to the bedroom and one of them has come off the hinges( or something of this nature. I am not a handy person) and i am unable to repair it myself. i will have to have someone come to fix it.
The final problem regards the sofa bed. Hows the was the sofa bed works is there is a very large cushion(the sofa part, that is tied with straps to the folded up mattress part. the cushion part must be untied from the mattress part before the bed can be unfolded. they have torn one of the strap that connect the cushion to the mattress. This will need to be sewn back on.
My estimate of the damage bill in AUD(1 USD = 1.4 AUD):
$35 for the extra guest
whatever the cost is to have the door fix. My guess is about $200
Re-attaching the sofa bed strap. $100. this may seem like much, but I am including the cost of having someone see to this problem, as well as the bill from the sewing worker. The large cushion must be taken to the tailors.
Should I contact AirBnB support, the guest, or both? and/or who should I contact first
First you need take pictures of those things you’re gonna claim.
Then you contact the guests stating those things and that you want them to pay xx amount for damages.
Then you ask for the money in the resolution section where you upload the pictures and then you wait.
If they don’t reply you can escalate to Airbnb after I think 1 week or 2?
You are supposed to request it from the guest first. You can contact ABB but they will just tell you to contact guest through Resolution Center. Take pics and send it through RC request ASAP.
The sliding door will not cost $200. All it takes is someone with common sense and the strength to lift it up, align the pulleys with the track, and place it on the track. It will take a minute or less.
If you have a sofa bed that is complicated, you either need to make it unusable as a bed or provide instructions that are almost impossible to ignore. You really don’t want complicated or easy to break furnishings in your AirBnB.
If this happened a week ago – or even a couple days ago, you may be out of luck. There are time limits concerning when you can make a claim.
Still, take the photos and submit it to the Resolution Center. As mentioned, depending on the track/roller system, fixing a sliding door is pretty simple and easy.
I highly recommend you change your listing to not include the use of that folding bed. Sounds 'way more complicated than the ordinary folder.
The folks have pointed out already so there’s no point in repeating what is said. But just remember the claims procedure require that you lodge the claim before the next guest checks in.
It may be an uphill battle - i suspect Airbnb will consider some of these damages as normal wear and tear (i know, its ridiculous).
