Airbnb do away with damage deposit

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paolo
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Airbnb do away with damage deposit

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Airbnb have announced they are getting rid of damage deposits, to be replaced by charging the guest's credit card after the event, as well as offering owners the guarantee of their US$1 million AirCover. However, guests will have 72 hours after their arrival to report any problems to Airbnb, rather than 24 hours currently.

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/resources/host ... damage-503
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Re: Airbnb do away with damage deposit

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Good blog post here about this significant change to Airbnb policy:

https://vrmintel.com/risky-business-usi ... managers/

Worst-case scenario: you have guests staying in a peak week, they see a mouse/ants/hornet in the house. They ask airbnb to be re-housed. The only house available at this time of year costs three times what yours cost. Who pays the difference? You do!
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Martha
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Re: Airbnb do away with damage deposit

Post by Martha »

It is a real worry.
The big chalet never really rented through Airbnb but now we are renting the little one we use it a lot.

Whilst there are plenty of issues with it, I have to say that in two years of using them, we have never had any problems to do with the platform itself. I think their pricing structures and guest review systems are good.

I never rent peak weeks on Airnbnb because there are just so many potential problems with late cancellation and other issues. Essentially if you get a nightmare complainer guest you have no backup from the company and no leg to stand on.

I tested the waters a bit with Airbnb when we had a guest who wanted to cancel just because she didn't like the place. This was a first, and she freely admitted in writing on their messaging platform that it was as described, that I had warned her that I didn't think it would suit her, and it was her fault for booking it. I was very worried about a bad review and despite a lot of soft soap from Airbnb they basically said it was just tough if she posted one. Even though it would have been a potential disaster for my star rating and I would have lost my superhost status over her mistake. Luckily everything was resolved and she left me a very nice review but it could have been very different and a disaster for the business.

Having said this...I've found in practice that the guests are very nice and so far I haven't had any of the nightmares that I know other people have experienced. It is, at the moment, worth it for the level of bookings it brings in - it is probably the source of about half our bookings, though not half our income as it's off-peak only. I think they are one to keep at arm's length and to not be taken in by their illusion of being one big happy family, they will screw you over with no conscience at all if it suits them.

This new regulation is definitely a step further and increases my determination to never, ever use them for peak weeks, the nightmare scenario described in the post is only too likely to happen. Pretty shocking that they can make your liability extend beyond a refund. :(

When I've got a bit of time I'll read through the https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Air ... -p/1597933who are pointing out the problems. There is a note to say 'house rules are taken into account' - however the basic problem is that it's impossible to write rules to cover every eventuality and serial complainers are notoriously inventive. Their example gives little comfort - would you really expect a refund because there are a few leaves in a pool? :(
Chalet la Foret, Chamonix
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paolo
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Re: Airbnb do away with damage deposit

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Yes you would have to include every possible eventuality in your house notes. Apparently there are plenty of blogs out there dedicated to the subject of how to get a free stay via airbnb, now they can also write about how to get a free upgrade. I had a quick look at that airbnb community forum, the gist of the reaction is 'the first time it happens to me is the last time I host with airbnb'.
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Re: Airbnb do away with damage deposit

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Following an unsurprisingly negative reaction to these changes from owners/hosts, airbnb has backed down and removed the threat of owners having to pay for alternative accommodation.

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/resources/host ... policy-514
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Re: Airbnb do away with damage deposit

Post by Martha »

That's interesting, I was just thinking over other ramifications of this one and wondering if it was even legal.
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