AIR BNB host demanding money!

[silentwallflower]

My family stayed for 9 days in an Air BnB. After the 2nd day, the TV ( old and shit TV) stopped working. I contacted the host straight away and they said they would try and pop round in a day or two. We replied we weren't planning on watching much TV and it wasn't an issue. Nothing else happened.

A couple of weeks later , we get a message the host is demanding 160 quid for damaging the TV. What was really weird they messaged us saying along the lines, 'thanks for leaving the flat in a clean and tiday state. When I switched on the TV I saw the same issue you reported, and the TV is out of warranty , so I'll have to buy a new one."

What the fuck?!! Is this normal? Will Air BnB side with the host? To be blunt, 160 quid isn't a lot of money to me, but I would rather go to jail than pay for something that is entirely not my fault!!

Any experienced Air BnB hosts out there that can help, I'm typing up my response to Air BnB now.

Isn't this what his insurance is for?

I'm an airbnb superhost of many years, yes I would be slightly frustrated the TV was broken but also grateful you had given me the heads up.

Obviously I wouldn't look to guests to pay unless it was physically damaged, screen smashed for example.

did you keep the messages ?

I had one bitch host try similar with me in June.

it took weeks to resolve, as it appears their call center is not always based in the UK, so it depends on who is replying to your messages.

anyway, the end result was I was issued a refund of the airb&b fee.

Also an Air BnB super host. No way are you responsible. The tv broke - as TVs do. It would only be down to you if you’d a) damaged it and b) that had proof it was undamaged before you started your stay.

Politely decline as you caused no damage to the (old) tv and refer it to Air.

I am an Airbnb host ~ducks~

While this is not something I would ever do (in fact, I replaced my guest TV when it broke same day), I think this may be part of the process for claiming on insurance

Just reiterate that you have done nothing wrong & refuse to pay : but emotionally detach

I am very confident Airbnb won’t charge you

I can see why you are frustrated because I would be too!

Not quite sure why you’re expected to pay for their tv!

How is the TV broken? Like physically? Surely if there’s something wrong with the picture or signals (other than someone smashing the screen or ripping out stuff) one doesn’t really “break” a TV with normal use.

Our TV broke. We had to buy a new one. No one broke it,.it's a problem with software.

They're being cheeky twats.

We had this a few years ago. We were in the host's home and they went away on holiday. They left the number of a neighbour who could help in case of any problems.

On day 2 the dishwasher overflowed as it was blocked and stopped draining. We both spend plenty of time using our dishwashers at home so it certainly wasn't a case of not treating it properly.

In short the neighbour couldn't fix it so we spent our holiday washing up (2 adults 5 kids) .

We were going to let it go despite the fact that we could have complained as it was very frustrating! They seemed like a nice elderly couple and we didn't want to rock the boat .

We then got 'told off' and slapped with a similar bill! We were gobsmacked!

We went through the Air BnB resolution centre and we didn't have to pay. It's madness!

Something similar happened to me. I was staying in a property, opened a cupboard door but didn’t see that it wasn’t a proper cupboard, it was to cover the extractor. it wasn’t properly attached to the wall, no screws or anything. When I tried to open the door everything fell down damaging the glass stove to bits. Immediately contacted the host and Airbnb. Didn’t have to pay as there was proof (from pics) that the cupboards weren’t securely attached.

doubt Airbnb would make you pay

Thanks for your reply, its calmed my nerves.

Its in the hands of the Air BnB gods now, as we are refusing to pay with our reasons why. We've been using Air BnB for many years in the UK and abroad and never had any problems, the opposite in fact, lovely hosts who have made our stays very comfy.

Other than this sting, the place was nice and the host came across as being friendly. I guess that's why its such a shock.