35 thoughts on “Hosting on Airbnb – Airbnb Hosting: How To Deal With Damage Done By Guests”

  4. Someone from Airbnb said I left stains on the sheets…. I followed all instructions & I put them in the hamper .. it was really insulting because I didn't . I asked if there was a problem with the hamper or their washer

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  5. This was the exact video I needed to hear right now. I just had a guest break one of our outdoor adirondack chairs ($20 replacement) and take the laundry hamper. The guest before that stained a comforter and the guest before that shattered one of the glass shelves in our fridge. I have been feeling unsure of what typical hosts allow vs what people take to airbnb to report for damages. You are right that at the end of the day all of these items are easily replaced and were most likely accidents that could happen to anyone. With launching the airbnb one month before COVID, it has been very hard emotionally to handle any additional stress or things I feel are wrong, but I need to remember this is a business. I'll be upping my cleaning fee by $5 thanks to your advice. Thank you!!

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  6. Thank you I really appreciate this video. It really help me realized I been too emotional/ patched to my Airbnb home and taken things too personal if things get broken. But also I been feeling airnb does not have our back. Recently the guest did not pay after they damage and broke my cabinet door and Airbnb also did not pay. So I have to deal with the cost, Very unfair. I wish they would actually use the deposit they charge.

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  7. I agree with everything you said except for the insurance part. If you make a claim with your insurance your rates wiil go up.and You might even get cancelled. From your insurance company for making just one claim

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  9. i would not bother a 'minor' issues such as broken wine glasses or stealing towel etc
    HOWEVER
    I am more worry about 'major' issues such as displacement of a carpet caused by guests.
    Who's going to pay for this?
    some Hotels has a policy where guests has to pay the fine for the damages in the unit or common property
    one more thing AIRBNB would NOT ban a guests that has a bad reviews either!!!

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  12. Your videos are awesome! I’m not a property owner but I am a traveler and do stay in Airbnb’s time to time. Your videos help me and my lady be mindful of the little nuisances we can avoid to help our host. Thanks for the videos!

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  14. I have hosted on Airbnb for about 10 months. I have only had one guest cause significant damage to furniture. I submitted proposals from vendors for restoration work and photos of damaged furniture to Airbnb. They were fast to process my claim and awarded me $750 for the damage. Because I’m a super host and have limited damage claims, Airbnb did not hesitate to assist me. You must clearly document damage with photos and get proposals/invoices for repairs. Do it immediately upon noticing damage. Time is of the essence when dealing with security deposits.
    The damage incurred was a bad stain/ring from a hot beverage placed on top of a mahogany dresser without a coaster under it, and damage to a dining room marble table top finish. I contacted a stone restoration company and a furniture restorer for the dresser. As long as you have everything documented for Airbnb, that’s all that’s needed. I absorb minor damage costs and repairs myself. However, I get irritated when a guest is so blatantly careless as to wreck high ticket pieces of furniture. When your left with less than five star quality furnishings after a guest leaves, you should do something about it. Otherwise, future guests will think your accommodation is lesser quality than in your photos and may ding you a star on a review. I also left a review for the guest that mentioned the damage caused. It’s kind to think of other hosts by potentially warning them of your host experience with the guest by writing a guest review. Just state facts and not emotion in a review for damage. Some guests do have a history for damage. I only read this guest’s first good review and booked them. If I had read more reviews for this guest, I would have seen the one mentioning the poor condition in which they left the accommodation. Always read reviews for guests before booking them and ask yourself if you feel comfortable with them. If not, maybe question the guest further before choosing to book them. Lesson learned.

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  15. Hi. Love your videos and have watched many. I'm a soon-to-be first-time VRBO (not AirBnB) host. I'm unclear about security deposits. In this video, at 4:32, you say "I have a security deposit." Can you please explain? Should I ask for a security deposit from VRBO renters or what? The rest of your video seems to suggest that there isn't a separate security deposit process. I'm not concerned about the minor cost-of-business damage you are talking about. The prior owners of my VRBO properties required a $500 security deposit check from each renter and that seemed odd to me, as I've stayed in many AirBnb and some VRBO rentals before and never been asked for a security deposit before. If serious damage happens after the fact (in VRBO) and I didn't have a security deposit, other than homeowner's insurance) do I have any recourse? Thank you.

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  16. Great video- great attitude and do not impress your personal behavior and expectations to a paying customer! As Richard said "shit happens". Take a deep breath and carry on. REGARDS Jamie

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  20. One major point — be as preventative as possible. Have strict policies. Allow only Airbnb approved guests for example with good reviews no negative reviews (that's a setting). Have strict House Rules and post them. Greet each guest and get to know them a little.

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  21. the worst thing that has happened so far is a guest that messed up my bed and multiple others have shifted the bed causing the mattress to be shifted. We will be putting aside money for maintenance soon. I have a navy washcloth for removing makeup. I explain this to the guest. One guest came in and immediately prepared to get it on. Like we're home people. We decided to get something to eat and next thing I know I get a notification that the guest cancelled. She said that the bed shifted and she believes that she broke her wrist on the nightstand. I was like what??! You have to move the boxspring in order for it to shift. It is set deep in the rails. I heard furniture moving. I put in the manual no moving of furniture. I didn't want scuff marks. I had no idea that this could happen. So needless to say, insurance company came out to do inspection and we are switching to another bed. One that I wouldn't get hurt by someone messing it up because that is a solid bed and looks like heirloom furniture. No my expansive head and footboard. No ma'am no way

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  23. It is different with Homeaway, a guest broke a bathroom door ( he was drunk ) , I send a message to the guest and to HA, they send me the deposit without a problem. I send a picture and that was it.

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  25. Most if not all Insurance Companies will NOT pay for repairs to the house or Liability claims if you are renting out your home. I work with a major insurance company who is working on an endorsement that can be added to the home policy to cover the Home while its being rented but that’s still to come. Be cautious when making a claim. If your insurance company knows you’re doing Airbnb and they don’t have an endorsement yet they could cancel you.

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  26. I've just discovered your channel, and am really appreciative of the information you share with us.

    I'm curious how you handle guest reviews in the case of them damaging your place.

    I'm a new host, less than 10 stays so far, but I've had one guest leave the place in poor condition with various minor damages. I debated what to do about reviewing them, fearing any retaliation.

    I ended up writing an honest, not negatively intentioned review, but was curious how you handle these situations.

    Also, I wish you would offer some other way to connect that doesn't require me to have a Facebook account, I don't and won't, but I would like to participate.

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  28. They booked for 2 people and 8 people ended up sleeping in the apartment! (our apartment We can ONLY host 4 guests) Our guests called us saying that a bed was broken, we arranged to fix it in the evening where our Security Complex Guards informed us that there are 8 people residing in our apartment and that they had to quiet them down due to noise levels. They saw someone sleeping on the balcony. When we entered the apartment it was CLEAR more than 4 people were sleeping there (we took pictures) On the beds, on the couch outside, on the couch inside and on the floor of our lounge. They used ALL of our clean extra linen for these "extra" guests. After informing them about our check out time at 10am in order for us to prepare for a next guest, they completely Ignored it and only ended up checking out at 14:35 in the afternoon. When it comes to hosting, we are always reasonable and will assist where we can but absolutely no respect for us or our apartment was given by our guests and lying about the amount of people sleeping in the apartment not only negatively affects the hosts income and furniture but also the reputation within our estate. In our instance our couches are NOT designed to be slept on and it is made CLEAR on our booking information that we can ONLY host 4 guests! After reporting this to Airbnb, Our guests told the agent that he made us aware that he was booking on behalf of someone else, which is NOT the case at all and we have all of the messages proving that they blatantly just lied. They messaged us that they were coming on holiday and that they sat on the bed when it broke. Travellers like this must be blocked off Airbnb. They were not even held liable to pay us for the additional guests!!!

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  29. Your insights are always very helpful and really good for someone who is starting out and has yet to put the first house for rent. I feel so much more confident that I can learn from others experiences and failures and I am very grateful to you for this!

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  30. My worst experience with this is when a guest broke my shower handle and got Airbnb to refund part of their stay before I noticed the damage. Airbnb has a bad wrap for dealing with damages so I just keep a line item in my budget for these kind of incidents

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  31. Airbnb seems to frequently leave the host behind. I have yet to hear anything positive in these outcomes. I found that MOST home policies will NEVER cover any damage by "guests." I was shocked but understand that these companies have wised up to the "sharing community." There is a vacational rental insurance company by the name of Proper Insurance that provides coverage to all kind of rentals which has been in business for awhile however I found them to be very expensive for my 600 sqf Airbnb listing. In my search, I have found that ALLSTATE has something tailored towards Airbnb and VRBO. It is called HostAdvantage and covers the serious damages a host would expect. When talking to the agent, I found that there is a catch to the policy. Only TWO guests per reservation. If there are more than two and damage occurs, there is no coverage. This coverage is not an add on but a home owners policy so this means you would have to switch companies if not already with Allstate.

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  34. You missed the biggest point, if you fall out with your guest over any matter and get angry you will get a 1 or 2 in your review which screws up your superhost average and you have to kiss ass harder to get back the points ….. never argue with a guest, had a guest once burn some chicken setting off the fire alarm, automatic turn out by the fire rescue team …..700 buck bill ….. decided to take it on the chin …… I get hundreds of bookings every year…..nobody died!

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  35. TY! That is where it feels like I need to be as a new host. We just need to eat these costs right now but a broken wine glass is a dollar and that really doesn't matter other than making sure all the glass is off the floor for the next group. But was actually accounting today all the little damages in just the last few weeks and it is crazy $$$! Ruined duvet covers (2 at $70 each), table broken because they left the umbrella up when not using and it was windy ($100), stained carpet ($200), clogged toilet = plumber $200 + I reimbursed the guest that night's stay for their inconvenience ($300) although over half a roll of paper was used in less than 24 hours:-), the abused suntanning white towels and fitted king sheet actually got clean thanks to your STRU group's good suggestions on cleaning those with OXO brite. Right now I want to figure out how can we keep the costs down for future pricing 🙂 This little stuff adds up fast costing us 1k in just a few weeks:-( And interesting each time was left in 'cared for good -at first glance' condition.

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