Last week I had 2 guest on one of my apartments and they just checked out yesterday. During their stay they damaged one of the chairs which is handmade and designed special by a friend. They told me that they would like to pay for the damage which was around $100. After we agreed on, they said they will just put the money on the table before checking out. After the check out my cleaner cleaned the apartment and I asked for the money on the table but she said there was no money. But the guests say they left the money. So what should I do now?
If it’s a cleaner that you’ve used before and trust, I believe the cleaner. As you’ve encountered, it’s not a good idea to have damages paid by cash unless that cash is going directly into your hand. It’s safer to use paypal or obviously the Airbnb resolution system.
It sounds like you are in a no-win situation, that sucks.
2 Likes
Yup I agree with this too 
You can still file a claim for that with Resolution. Do it quickly though, you only have 48 hours!
1 Like
Did they communicate the fact that they damaged the item via Air’s messaging system? If so, that’s a plus.
In the meantime if you plan to file a claim, you could ask them through the messenger where they left the funds or if they still wanted to take care of the damage.
1 Like
If they told you themselves that they damaged chair and were willing to pay, I would believe your guests. It makes no sense, why would they told you themselves and then agreed to pay only after not to leave any money??
How long the cleaner cleans for you? Do you trust her?
1 Like
I have been working with the same cleaner for 1 year, there have been some little issues but she is a nice girl. On the other hand, the guests also look nice. It is difficult to choose someone to blame 
apparently I will do nothing but thank to the advises here, I know what to do next time.
Exactly! I will do it via Paypal next time. Thank you for the advise 
I would let it pass, either way it tends to insult someone, and there is no sure way to really determine who is lying. The $100 is a cheap price to pay for lesson #32: ‘Never have guests leave money for the cleaning lady to pass along’.
1 Like
No, Maria…next time you must take it to resolution with Air. You can’t trust the guest to PayPal it any more than you can trust them to leave it on the table. Once they were gone, they were gone. You are history to them and because you didn’t take it to resolution, they took advantage of you.
You have to use the resolution center for these types of things. That’s what it’s there for. Make sure damage is properly reported. Hopefully you have a deposit in place, but even if it is not enough to cover the damage, Air will usually side with you and reimburse through host guarantee as long as you can provide corroborating evidence.
3 Likes