Being charged damages by air Bnb

[newlabelwriter]

A couple of weeks ago we received an email from air Bnb to say our host has asked for a payment of £229 for broken table leg (photo below). Spoke to my family and nobody had any recollection of any damage made, it was from what I recall a very basic ikea type table and an item we didn’t use for more than putting keys, wallet keys wallet on. Genuinely have no idea how the damage happened but obviously have no evidence of this.

Emailed the resolution centre who were looking into it and they replied saying we’d never had any complaints, positive feedback etc but I’ve just had an email asking me pay £179 for repair to the table. I’m really angry because a) to the best of my knowledge we didn’t damage the table b) the repair is a really simple fix and would cost nowhere near this amount to get it repaired. To me it looks like it could be existing heat / water damage from bubbling on paint (although I’m no expert) c) it’s just really annoying!

anyone else had any experience of this - not sure what to do next?

thank you

Agree: this looks like water damage/someone bashing it with a hoover

Why did you offer to pay £50?

they did it to me. the bank would not accept a chargeback either as I couldn't 'prove' it wasn't me.

So since I wrote to them again to say I was disputing the amount and the fact I’m being charged I got this back. I’m not quite sure what they mean by it tbh…

The grammar there hurts my soul.

The host needs to talk to their cleaner, that’s either a mop or vacuum bash.

The grammar there hurts my soul.

It's spectacularly bad, isn't it? It's the way they've tried to make it sound formal and legalistic that really grates. I don't mind good, honest bad grammar, but pretentious bad grammar is another matter.

I would refuse to respond to that reply on the basis it’s barely legible English and contradicts itself, it honestly reads like a fraudulent spam email 😳

Can you reply with a red pen mark up all over that reply?

Glad it’s not just me, I honestly struggled to understand what she meant.

My table ended up looking like this , it was caused by mopping and the water kept getting under the leg without me noticing causing it to eventually split & Bubble very similar to your picture

Maybe you just need to reply back in plain English “We did not cause the damage. The End.”

Will Air Bnb really collect an additional payment from OP’s payment card?
That is the sort of thing that would put me off using them altogether.
I am a residential landlord and some of the tenancy deposits are not much more than the payment claimed. If I need to claim any payment for damage I have to have a mutually agreed inventory, preferably on video, for the tenant entering and leaving the accommodation. ( in practice it just isn’t worthwhile).
Also any claim for damage should surely be reduced depending upon the age of the item. That table leg doesn’t look new.

they know its not you but it is you-what?

tell them to take you to court that table doesnt cost what theyre claiming and they cant prove it was you

for an ikea (or similar) table?! bloody hell. they’re literally made of paper

I would tell them I'm not taking the decision of someone who can't even spell you're, and that it's a ten quid table that you didn't damage. Tell them any charge to your card will be disputed as fraud with your bank.

Are you sure it's not a scam and not actually air bnb? 'Click the payment limit below'?

Def air Bnb, it’s in my inbox on the app. I haven’t clicked on the payment link though.

That looks exactly like cheap ikea furniture after a few years. Had similar in teens bedroom. That is not accident damage. Looks like moisture mopped up by the chipboard and burst out of its plastic coating.
They can sing for it.

The text makes it look like a scam. You can flag suspicious messages in your inbox, I would just on the off chance it is. www.airbnb.co.uk/help/article/3017/report-suspicious-messages

"We understand that you didn't cause the damage, but there was damage done, so you can pay for it by clicking this link." 🙃

This. Why would you offer £50 for nothing???

Pay nothing

That is def water damage. I'd reply back saying the more you look at it the more obvious it is as you can see how it's bubbled and burst. This has happened to my own table leg and it was a spill we didn't notice and I've also cracked another leg by bashing the hoover in it (by accident)

See this puts me off air bnb! Basically they can say u did any sort of damage and so long as it's just after u have left it means it must have been u 🙈

Thank you Mumsnet. I feel truly empowered to tell them to fuck off 😂

Honestly flag it as a scam just for that. It’s given me hives just reading it.

I abandoned air bnb when they decided that constant drilling 12 hours a day in the next door apartment (also owned by the host) didn’t justify a partial refund. I’d flown from Uk to bloody MEXICO with a 6 yo and wanted somewhere peaceful to deal with the jet lag…

That must be a scam email surely. It makes zero
sense.