6 ms·

I put way too much faith in Airbnb's "million dollar coverage" when I was a host. I had an Airbnb guest steal all the electronics from my apartment -- Sonos sp

I put way too much faith in Airbnb's "million dollar coverage" when I was a host. I had an Airbnb guest steal all the electronics from my apartment -- Sonos speakers, wifi router, everything. They also left behind a large stack of obviously stolen credit cards, social security cards, and driver licenses. When I called up Airbnb support to tell them what happened they responded by saying "We've found that most disputes between hosts are just misunderstandings. Have you tried talking to them about it?" Then when I tried to claim they needed original receipts (which I obviously didn't have for everything) and ultimately only paid out a small fraction of the original cost (because the items were no longer new).

AlwaysRock 5y ago
Sounds like every interaction I've had with insurance. Sorry to hear that.
- Tiktaalik 5y ago
  I was thinking that. Insurance in general is lousy with them always trying to weasel their way out of paying anything. Would a more typical insurer have done the same thing in asking for receipts and such? Maybe? (I've never had to make such an insurance claim so I have no idea...)
  - dzivo22 5y ago
    Traditional insurance policies are written on a "replacement cost" basis. Which means.....the carrier will initially pay what they consider to be a depreciated value for the item, then when you purchase the identical or similar item, you show them the receipt, and the carrier then forwards a secondary check for the difference of the depreciated value (payment 1 to you) and the current retail price.
  - busterarm 5y ago
    But a real insurer also isn't facilitating bringing the people who made the damages into your house. Airbnb has the means to properly screen guests, but does not adequately do so. I've always personally thought both sides of the AirBNB transaction were crazy. When I was a teenager, long before AirBNB was a thing, we used to rent houses to party in and it was always a disaster. I've never found that getting a hotel was significantly more expensive. Getting my price might be less convenient distance wise but the experience is consistent. To me, AirBNB seems like all of the risks of unprotected sex without any of the upside.
  - jjeaff 5y ago
    No, home insurers wouldn't normally require receipts unless the value of some of your items were in dispute. They usually just ask for an itemized list with estimated replacement values.
- croutonwagon 5y ago
  This is somewhat why i dont mind having done a lot of purchasing online etc. Normally just printing out an invoice from even 10 years ago from a site like Newegg (and i have had to for a claim) is accepted just fine.
- miketery 5y ago
  Ah... I had a motorcycle stolen in NYC. Smoothest insurance claim process ever. Granted the cops had the thief on the bike going over Brooklyn bridge at 3am. Progressive paid for full value of bike (which at the time, pandemic just started was higher than what I paid for it). Plus any add-ons they reimbursed full price. I had pictures and receipts for it all. But all in, from moment of noticing my bike was gone cash was in my bank account 4 weeks later.
  - AlwaysRock 5y ago
    So no transportation for 4+ weeks is the ideal outcome?
nathancahill 5y ago
Yeah same here. Had our hardwood floors damaged by guests to the tune of thousands in repairs. Airbnb paid out about $80 after months of hassling them. Their "talk directly to the guests to get them to pay damages" is obviously a non-started as hosts have zero leverage.
tibbon 5y ago
I've experienced similar as a guest. Had a severe misrepresentation about the property I was renting for a month. AirBNB support initially just said "talk to the host about resolving it", which wasn't going to actually change anything since they simply said "sorry, we're keeping the money". It didn't get fixed until I got in touch with the CEO, which isn't a viable path for everyone - and once I did it was resolved in a few hours. I had another incident at the beginning of covid, where I had to fight hard to get a refund. The international borders were closed to the UK, and the initial response was "talk to the host" who didn't want to refund it. Eventually got solved, but AirBNB was happy to not-help. Generally their support just seems to give few fucks, no matter what side you're on.
- nunez 5y ago
  Same here. Stayed at a property while visiting my parents. Bed was broken, but, worse, ants crawled out of the sink when I went to brush my teeth in the morning. I hadn't eaten anything at the apartment. I left one day into a seven day stay. Literally left the next morning. I only got refunded for five of the nights. The host refused to refund me for the sixth night. I wish I knew that going to the CEO was a support path, as I strongly felt that ants coming out of the bathroom sink is unacceptable and I should have gotten my six night refunded. But based on what I saw in /r/airbnb, it seems like I did better than many other guests did. I'm still going to use Airbnb, as most of my stays have been really good. Just won't use them in the tri-state area, I suppose.
- Psyonic 5y ago
  "got in touch with the CEO, which isn't a viable path for everyone". that's an understatement. But glad you were able to get it resolved!
bradgranath 5y ago
Drunk guest attacked my sister. They said the same thing. Delisted the next day.

AlwaysRock 5y ago

Sounds like every interaction I've had with insurance. Sorry to hear that.

Tiktaalik 5y ago
I was thinking that. Insurance in general is lousy with them always trying to weasel their way out of paying anything. Would a more typical insurer have done the same thing in asking for receipts and such? Maybe? (I've never had to make such an insurance claim so I have no idea...)
- dzivo22 5y ago
  Traditional insurance policies are written on a "replacement cost" basis. Which means.....the carrier will initially pay what they consider to be a depreciated value for the item, then when you purchase the identical or similar item, you show them the receipt, and the carrier then forwards a secondary check for the difference of the depreciated value (payment 1 to you) and the current retail price.
- busterarm 5y ago
  But a real insurer also isn't facilitating bringing the people who made the damages into your house. Airbnb has the means to properly screen guests, but does not adequately do so. I've always personally thought both sides of the AirBNB transaction were crazy. When I was a teenager, long before AirBNB was a thing, we used to rent houses to party in and it was always a disaster. I've never found that getting a hotel was significantly more expensive. Getting my price might be less convenient distance wise but the experience is consistent. To me, AirBNB seems like all of the risks of unprotected sex without any of the upside.
- jjeaff 5y ago
  No, home insurers wouldn't normally require receipts unless the value of some of your items were in dispute. They usually just ask for an itemized list with estimated replacement values.
croutonwagon 5y ago
This is somewhat why i dont mind having done a lot of purchasing online etc. Normally just printing out an invoice from even 10 years ago from a site like Newegg (and i have had to for a claim) is accepted just fine.
miketery 5y ago
Ah... I had a motorcycle stolen in NYC. Smoothest insurance claim process ever. Granted the cops had the thief on the bike going over Brooklyn bridge at 3am. Progressive paid for full value of bike (which at the time, pandemic just started was higher than what I paid for it). Plus any add-ons they reimbursed full price. I had pictures and receipts for it all. But all in, from moment of noticing my bike was gone cash was in my bank account 4 weeks later.
- AlwaysRock 5y ago
  So no transportation for 4+ weeks is the ideal outcome?

nathancahill 5y ago

Yeah same here. Had our hardwood floors damaged by guests to the tune of thousands in repairs. Airbnb paid out about $80 after months of hassling them. Their "talk directly to the guests to get them to pay damages" is obviously a non-started as hosts have zero leverage.

tibbon 5y ago

I've experienced similar as a guest. Had a severe misrepresentation about the property I was renting for a month. AirBNB support initially just said "talk to the host about resolving it", which wasn't going to actually change anything since they simply said "sorry, we're keeping the money". It didn't get fixed until I got in touch with the CEO, which isn't a viable path for everyone - and once I did it was resolved in a few hours. I had another incident at the beginning of covid, where I had to fight hard to get a refund. The international borders were closed to the UK, and the initial response was "talk to the host" who didn't want to refund it. Eventually got solved, but AirBNB was happy to not-help. Generally their support just seems to give few fucks, no matter what side you're on.

nunez 5y ago
Same here. Stayed at a property while visiting my parents. Bed was broken, but, worse, ants crawled out of the sink when I went to brush my teeth in the morning. I hadn't eaten anything at the apartment. I left one day into a seven day stay. Literally left the next morning. I only got refunded for five of the nights. The host refused to refund me for the sixth night. I wish I knew that going to the CEO was a support path, as I strongly felt that ants coming out of the bathroom sink is unacceptable and I should have gotten my six night refunded. But based on what I saw in /r/airbnb, it seems like I did better than many other guests did. I'm still going to use Airbnb, as most of my stays have been really good. Just won't use them in the tri-state area, I suppose.
Psyonic 5y ago
"got in touch with the CEO, which isn't a viable path for everyone". that's an understatement. But glad you were able to get it resolved!

bradgranath 5y ago

Drunk guest attacked my sister. They said the same thing. Delisted the next day.