Airbnb Does Not Have the Backs of Superhosts

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I am disgusted and disappointed with Airbnb, and I couldn’t be more heartbroken to admit that because over the last year, after Superhosting over 55 guests, having almost perfect scores across the board (last check was 4.9 Stars), being an advocate for Airbnb to everyone I know, feeling so lucky to be able to make much needed income while still working and taking care of my family, Airbnb has made me feel like nothing the only time I’ve really needed them, for damage that was done while a guest was staying.

On August 29th, almost a month ago, during a guest’s stay in my Airbnb-hosted basement, the toilets got clogged. As always, when a guest needs something, we have done everything in our power to help, fix it and exceed expectations. Since the electricity had gone off down there to a portion of it, along with sewage water flooding from my storage room down there too, I immediately made arrangements for my guests to move (at my own expense) to another home, bought them pizza, and called out a plumber to see what was going on.

After the plumber finally arrived that evening, he finally found the problem: baby wipes had been apparently flushed down the basement toilet (he literally pulled them out of the broken pipe in the storage room). He attempted to get the ejector pump working again. Realizing it was completely broken – also advising us that the overuse of the electricity the pump was putting out while trying to process the baby wipes, had tripped the electricity – he said that because the pump had been installed with the home when it was built, he would have to call the manufacturer to get a quote and then include installation fees and he said we’d also have to pay for an electrician to come out to fix the wiring.

In the meantime I went to the basement to start taking pictures of everything before I started my normal “cleaning up” after guests. Since there wasn’t electricity, it was the first time I really had looked in the bathroom area (where the toilet had gotten clogged in the first place). There was an empty container of baby wipes still sitting on the counter next to the toilet. I immediately look pictures of that and it was only at that moment I had evidence this was something my guests (not intentionally of course) obviously did.

After getting the estimate from the plumber of over $1250 just to fix the broken pump (several days later) and knowing the costs of the amount of things I had thrown out due to sewage water in the basement, the future cost of an electrician, etc., I was so deflated because I knew it was something one of my Airbnb guests had caused and I knew I wouldn’t be able to host (which has been a large portion of my income over the last year) until I could get that fixed. As a struggling mom trying to take care of her family, I knew I couldn’t afford the costly repairs on my own, which started me really looking into the host guarantee that Airbnb had always talked so highly of (especially to me, as a Superhost). As long as we submitted all documentation and proof of the damage and followed the steps of the process, I thought everything would be fine.

I won’t bore you with all the details (and I have every single one of them written down) but sadly since my first call to Airbnb on September 2nd (where I not only got hung up the first time, but waited over 20 minutes the second time, only to get a representative that didn’t seem to know anything about what he was talking about), I did everything they asked. I sent in a claim. I sent several online messages (that took them days to respond to and offered no real help in any way. I submitted documentation, pictures, and estimates from the plumber. I finally successfully got a case submitted, and had to wait for the guest to decline it for Airbnb to get involved.

Once they started getting involved on September 17th it really got quiet. Even after multiple calls to Airbnb, calls I made to them (as no one ever reached out to me proactively, despite the promises of getting assigned a person or that someone was “working on it”) days continued to go by, days with me getting no income or even being able to begin repairs to the area. I couldn’t even get the security deposit back, even though that is something the guests agreed to from the beginning.

After every call, after hours on the phone, frustrating conversations that led nowhere and being told “that group can’t get inbound or make outbound calls”, “we have no way of contacting them”, “they’ll get to it”, the most disgusting response of all being a guy who told me “I’m sorry, there’s no supervisor or manager you can talk to because they won’t be able to do anything to help either”, I was at my wit’s end. I begged for a supervisor, a manager, or anyone that could escalate the situation, not just the claim either.

At that point, since I was unable to host or even start repairs since that last guest checked out on September 6th in my basement, I had lost over $1700 worth of income based on what my rentals had been running after a year of hosting. I was getting nowhere and begged for someone to just tell me what to do, since I was late on bills and had a basement that didn’t even work. My bank account balance didn’t allow me to repair it myself and I shouldn’t have had to pay for it anyway, since it was the guest’s fault.

Airbnb does not have our backs, as hosts or Superhosts, no matter the good and dedicated Superhosts we’ve been to them and all of our trusted guests. I’m stuck. I’ve ended my relationship with Airbnb – not because I wanted to, but because they are forcing me to. I was wasting so many frustrated hours on the phone getting nowhere, talking to people that ultimately couldn’t and wouldn’t do anything, and no one is losing more than me in that. I am left with no guests, no repairs, and more bills I can’t afford to pay (bills that I shouldn’t have to pay) and Airbnb doesn’t seem to care at all, despite the faith I had in them.

I just want to be able to fix my basement, be compensated for my losses and loss of income from the days in which my case had just been waiting to be “looked at”. I guess at the very least I just hope someone who really cares about what Airbnb truly stands for will see this, hear me, fix what they should fix and do something, do anything to regain my trust. I just can’t tell you how much sadness and anger this whole situation has added to my life over the past month, a month that was hard enough as it was. I worked so hard to host happy guests. It had brought me so much joy up until I saw Airbnb’s true colors, and those colors certainly aren’t as pretty as they first might appear.

Posted in Airbnb Host Stories and tagged , , , , , .

13 Comments

  1. Host Guarantee program is a joke. Hosts beware. Please don’t make the same mistake I did – over-trusting Airbnb. Protect yourself! I’m moving on.

  2. Hey Ash,

    Airbnb Sucks about resolving issues especially when it comes to paying out. Im a superhost myself and resolution center does nothing. Case managers are there just to take calls and pass it on to whoever may or may not help. The bottom line is , if the host needs to get paid, airbnb will not pay it willingly. If you submit full details and proof such as conversations with guest, pictures from ring app, pictures of damages etc, airbnb simply doesnt have the right to collect from the guest. The deposit on the listing doesnt mean anything because airbnb isnt able to hold funds against the guest’s form of payment. If extra guests appear , airbnb isnt able to charge the guest for them, they just act as mediators to the guest but cant force payment. This is a current situation im dealing with and its been explained to me this way. Also I have a 7mo old case of extra guests and damages, $300 for security deposit and $500 for extra guests. But because the guest doesnt have a good form of payment anymore to collect from, airbnb doesnt want to collect, despite being transferred to 7 case managers, collections and treasury dept., if they even exist. SMH, i think what i took away from this is involving home insurance for rental property and getting the appropriate coverage.

  3. Sorry to hear this happened to you. I understand how frustrating and stressful it must be for you, these are big amounts and since the repairs are not done you loose potential income.

    But if we stay factual, is the guest really at fault? Was he aware he couldn’t use baby wipes in your toilets? If it’s not mentioned in your house rules it’s your sole responsibility and Airbnb has zero reason to pay for it.

  4. Wait- you want to take your guests security deposit? Aren’t baby wipes allowed to go down a toilet? Did you have a sign up saying don’t flush them down? I don’t think it’s the guest fault unless you specifically told them baby wipes aren’t allowed to go down the toilet.

  5. I don’t understand why people like you insist on continuing to call, request managers, etc. when you have already been told that Trust and Safety does not operate by phone and calls can’t be transferred to them. It sounds like you don’t even know who did this. You are probably just trying to get Airbnb to pay for your plumbing to be redone. I hope they deny you. Spoiled, entitled brat.

    • Mark you’re a Dick! Are you an AirBnB employee? I have do not use wipes in my policy and I’ve found the packages in the trash. Those wreak havoc on systems and there are numerous class action lawsuits against the manufactures of these for stating on the package “flushable”

  6. I hear you. I’ve been flighting as of 35 days for a deposit of 300.00 it took 3 weeks of calling airbnb to finally get someone on it I filled all the stuff they wanted with pictures and the recipe. For a replacement of my stove my renters said they were just sitting at the table talking and the glass top on the stove started breaking all over after 25 days of using it. When I went up to look at I seen a point of impact where something was dropped on it or hit with something. As of today I got a email from airbnb saying I had to have a professional come and look at it. They already knew I didn’t have the stove anymore on my receipt for the 800.00 stove it had a 15.00 deposal fee. Really like where was I going to store it for 35 days and why would I pay a 120.00 for a professional to come out and tell me yeah something was dropped on it. So since I don’t have the stove anymore they aren’t going to do anything. I believe they did this so they didn’t have to give the deposit because since they waited so long to start this I don’t think they can get the deposit I think the hold on the guest card is only 5 to 7 days. Airbnb is making me feel like I did something to the stove and I knew I could make it last for 24 days before it all cracked so I could get the 300.00 give me a break.

  7. Ashlea sorry this happened to you.
    Have you tried contacting Airbnb via Twitter with photos of the damage.
    There is of course no guarantee they will cover it in full or in part.

    Personally in your situation I would have put in a claim with your specialist home insurance that covers short term lets – surely that’s what you take it out for?

  8. That’s not a sympathetic answer. Airbnb promises to deal with situations like this. Perhaps the lady doesn’t have home insurance.

    • Thanks for your comments! I do have home owners insurance BUT the AirBnb host guarantee is for these types of situations exactly – & SHOULD “have my back” to repair – just like they promised. I shouldn’t have to file a claim with my home owners insurance, that could eventually cause a rise in my rates, because Airbnb isn’t fixing what they should. I can’t even get the security deposit, which should’ve been the least I’m owed.

    • I will once I know that AirBnb refuses to fix the repairs – I’m just waiting in limbo until then – at the mercy of the people that were supposed to protect me as a host & promised support that never seems to come. . . .

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