Navigating Airbnb’s Resolution Center

It’s finally happened! I had to use Airbnb’s Resolution Center for a guest who was adamant he didn’t cause damage…what to do now.

The Background

The guest left on a Friday morning but unfortunately my cleaner was on a short vacation and couldn’t get to the home until Monday afternoon. She discovered the shower just like in the pictures above. She did have about an house to clean it all up and we were left with some damage metal railing and no more glass door.

The Resolution Center

The first thing I did was the inquire with the previous guest if they knew anything. I sent him the pictures and he immediately denied it. I did keep all communication in the app and just asked a few questions if they knew how it happened. It was eventually clear that he didn’t know anything or didn’t want to admit to anything; neither which helped me in that moment.

Starting the Process

The Resolution Center process starts by submitting media to show the damage, assigning a guest to the damage, adding a cost estimate. We were fortunate the Home Depot had the same model of bathroom glass still available so we were able to buy and pay a handyman to replace it in just a few days between guests. It would have been a bigger problem had we had a quick guest turnaround. I was able to use original receipts of the purchases and work orders but Airbnb says they will use “official estimates” with a letter head.

I submitted the pictures, costs, and dates and sent them off. The guest had 24 hours to decide what to do and they denied the damage. I then had the option to stop or request help from Airbnb.

The Emails

I got an email a few days later from their resolution department asking for very similar information from the app process. This included pictures, dates, times, and who the guest was. I did send all that information and also asked for more details on their “Aircover for Hosts” which they offer as a way to help cover costs for hosts with damage.

I assumed Aircover was some type of insurance but I should have honed in on the “reimbursed” verbiage which is used for the damage section rather than the liability insurance explicitly spelled out in latter portions of the info page. This is what I was received from their resolution department:

“Remind yourself that the terms of host damage protection are not an insurance policy. We need to get strong proof from the host and the guest for this process. We identify the responsible person based on the documents we have received, pay the host, and then try to get the money back from the responsible guest. We regretfully cannot proceed with the claim if we find the  guest isn’t responsive for the damages.”

Final Decision

After thinking about when the damage was found, the guest vehemently denying the damage, and understanding that if I had been accused of damage that was found several days later, I probably would have some issues with the process. I decided to stop the process.

I’m not sure what would change my name for a future issue or damage. I’m also not sure why but the time between the cleaner discovering the damage and the check out also bugged me too a little. I empathized with the guest about that.

Going Forward with the Resolution Center

As a guest, please always video or picture your way out of an airbnb to show that nothing is wrong. For me as a host, I’ll need to make sure we get to the house to at least inspect for issues even if cleaning can’t be done at that moment. I have thought about asking the cleaner to get clean pictures once her work is done but I don’t think I will add any value considering it could be days before the next check in once she’s done. Right now, we get inspection videos when the cleaner walks into the house after a stay.

It’s been an interesting process to say the least. I now know that the resolution center is more arbitration than any type of insurance when it comes to host damage. I’m glad I got to see the majority of the process but now I know. I’m not sure what I’ll use this process for in the future but I’ll be sure to understand the money may come from a guest who is adamant they didn’t do it.

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Bathroom Renovation Complete!