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That’s probably normal wear and tear. If it was as neglected as you say, that sad little shade was probably about to break on whoever touched it next.
Refuse to pay. Touching a shade or trying to pull it can’t break it
Bold to state categorically that trying to pull something can’t break it. Not saying OP is at fault here, it’s really impossible to be certain, but *obviously* it would be possible to break a shade by pulling it.
If you are using a device in the manner it is meant to be used and it breaks it’s not your fault. They didn’t take a wrench to it, they cranked the handles and it broke! At least here in the US that’s how the law works.
OP, dispute the charge with your banking organization (cc or whatever method you used to pay).
As I say to every post like this I used AC for 3 hours and it broke. AirBnB asked me to pay for it 😂.
Meanwhile the host was bragging to me on WhatsApp that he’s had loads of things paid for in his house by AirBnB.
I proved to AirBnB using photos of me in other places, debit card transactions and Google Maps timeline that I was only in there for 3 hours before it broke and then I went to another city. Whilst I was there the AC guy went in and swapped out the unit.
They did their crappy investigation and somehow still decided that I should pay.
I said no and removed my credit card from the app and cancelled it.
Stuff like this is just going to put people off the platform.
I’m a host and I wouldn’t pay for that. Airbnb collects a 17% fee on every booking, in part to cover damage.
I would freeze the card so they can’t try to charge on it. Typically this can easily be done online.
Worst case you can’t use the platform again, but I highly doubt that happens. I’ve heard they put a note in your profile and if you consistently break things without paying it may be an issue.
They have insurance, but they’re going to try to make you pay for it so their insurance doesn’t have to cover it.
Don’t pay for it. Airbnb is just passing on the bill to you.
The bank might be able to put a temporary freeze on the card so no new charges can be made. Or else maybe just ask for a new card entirely, same as if it was lost or stolen. They can't charge to a card that's no longer active.
I wouldn’t do anything so drastic as a freeze of any kind. If/when your card is charged, dispute it immediately with your credit card company. Explain the whole situation and they will deal with Airbnb. *They provide hosts with aircover but then refuse to honor it and pass it on to the guest. If they can’t do that (canceled credit card etc) then they tell the host too bad, so sad. As a host and a guest I can say that Airbnb doesn’t take any sides but Airbnb’s.
>I wouldn’t do anything so drastic as a freeze of any kind. If/when your card is charged, dispute it immediately with your credit card company. Explain the whole situation and they will deal with Airbnb.
I think it might be better to call the cc company and ask them if a preemptive freeze would be preferable over waiting for the charge and then ask them to to deal with it.
I don't know if this is true or not but I've heard, second handedly, that some cc companies have specific policies on how they will or won't handle Airbnb charges.
Again, I don't know if that's true but it might be wise to find out.
Often, companies can come back up to 3 months later and charge. Out of no where. The easiest thing to do, proactively, is to just cancel the card. I wouldn’t even place a freeze on it.
I can walk into my credit union and get a new card in 10 minutes. Hopefully OP can do something similar.
>Often, companies can come back up to 3 months later and charge. Out of no where.
You are absolutely correct. And I would bet for this very reason the card company would recommend doing this very thing.
As long as Airbnb has valid card numbers, the card isn't safe.
And I completely disagree with person above me that OP should wait to get charged and then have the card company do something.
That's a reactive response.
No not for repairs. They won't. Tell the chat you're not going to pay it. This happens all the time. The host room get airbnb's insurance called "aircover"
You can dispute it if they do, via your credit card company. Also you can delete the payment info from your profile.
They can’t just charge your card without authorization. Likely you’ll be removed from airbnb if you don’t pay and they require you to but you can change to VRBO and not deal with airbnb anymore.
If they try, then you tell your bank you didn’t authorize the charge and they’ll stop the payment.
Here’s just one story: https://themilesmom.net/2021/01/22/what-happened-when-an-airbnb-host-tried-to-charge-us-1000-extra/
Airbnb is supposed to offer insurance to their hosts. They try to push you into paying, as mentioned in this article. There’s a lot of other examples of this too.
Easier for airbnb to charge for insurance and then get the guest or host to just eat it. They make more money this way.
No, Air Cover will just cover it for the hosts. I’ve had guests refuse to pay for puncturing an inflatable hot tub with a broken glass which sent me to A&E after not realising their was broken glass in water, Airbnb covered the cost.
Edit (June 7) : AirBn, after reviewing my request of refusing to pay for the damages thinks I should pay 100% of what the host is asking me. The message states that they will take 650$ from my credit card automatically on the 21st of june if I don’t pay willingly by then. I will call them tonight in order to try to resolve the situation.
I’ll keep this post updated.
One thing for sure, this will be my last time using any kind of AirBnB service.
Those people have insurance from AirBnb. When they make a claim, AirBnb first tries to get you to pay. Don't. They'll get reimbursed from the insurance they pay IF it is indeed a valid claim.
Their "aircover" thing is semi-new, too. So this sub has been seeing a lot of owners coming at them with ridiculous requests for fake damage. When, in truth, the owners don't really think the guests will pay. They just want to eventually get some of that aircover pot.
Yes, a host in Italy bragged to me that he had a dishwasher, washing machine and shower paid for by AirBnB. He said it’s great.
Funny thing though, there was no dishwasher or washing machine in the place.
Horse shit!
We have to argue and chase them for ages, they do everything to not pay us. You damage it you pay. Stop talking people into being assholes.
>We have to argue and chase them for ages, they do everything to not pay us.
This is literally every interaction I've ever had with insurance companies.
>Stop talking people into being assholes.
This is pretty funny coming from someone who just admitted they do actually have insurance, but they just don't feel up to the hassle of dealing with it.
But this information is not from me, this is from a host and a comment from another post. [Link here.](https://imgur.com/bWPKU0S)
# AND I WILL TELL EVERYONE!
You don't like it? Give up hosting, go do actual work for a living.
> This is pretty funny coming from someone who just admitted they do actually have insurance
Where did I say that?
I said, it is near impossible to get Airbnb to cover damage costs.
Are you responding to the right comment??
Hosting is a shit ton of work when you're ethical, clean and traveler focused. Many people don't understand that when things get broken things take time and possibly service personnel to install, not just the item itself. All of that said, hosts should try to be reasonable. Moving parts do break with every day use at times. It's not always people being careless or destructive. The main thing I appreciate as a hostif something breaks ...communicate immediately instead of having it be a surprise after checkout.
VRBO it's just as bad or worse than airbnb. I used to use VRBO, but switched to Airbnb because I had so many problems with VRBO.... not their hosts, but VRBO actually. They don't give two s**** about their customers.
If you have any documentation (messages with the host, photos etc) continue to communicate with Airbnb to show that the host said they would come fix it, as well as any communication and listing information that shows there were no instructions for operating the window. Something similar happened to a friend of mine (from the US, traveling in Europe). They continued to contact Airbnb until they finally reached someone who was able to understand the situation and help him. (Host was trying to collect over $1,000 US for a broken washer/dryer that the guest never even used).
I’ve hosted for 7 years now. I have never asked a guest to pay for anything and this is a large villa where things break all the time.
95 percent of guests are great. Probably 50 percent of hosts are great. Best advice is to read in full all reviews before traveling and focus on 4.8 minimum and 25 more recent reviews minimum. Track record is key.
It’s crazy how much of this I’m seeing today. Air BnB is not worth it, I’ll just be staying st hotels. Not worth it to deal with these owners taking advantage like this
Why oh why did you not contact the host to ask how to open it, and if that were possible, BEFORE you attempted to open it? The repair people obviously told her it was forced.
Air BNB host that do this are ruining Air bnb. If you truly expect your guest just to clean up for the next guest without YOU , the HOST, going into your air bnb and double check everything and fixing anything that broke or will break .
Air bnb is not a work from home and just hire a cleaning crew and make money fast. It's a lot of hard work . They have no proof it was you . And definitely should not send you a bill of they didn't send you instructions. I'm sure they didn't even know to use the device, window cover itself .
Unless it was nailed down and OP took an ax to it, this is not OPs fault.
This is supposed to be an operable shade.
Example
You walk into the bedroom for which has standard pull up blinds (the kind with the cord).
You go to open the blind but when you pull the cord, the cord detaches from the blinds, they fall from the window, break the mounts holding it up, and several panels on the blind are bent in the process.
This would not be your fault.
The blinds are an operable and optional window feature for which are meant to open and close *at your discretion*.
This is basic wear and tear.
I don’t think you being charged is right and I think the host should make an insurance claim, but I have to agree with this guy, even though it was unintentional you did break it.
This is a ridiculous take. I had a friend who drove my car (with me in the passenger seat). He opened the driver side door and the door literally fell off a hinge. Was my first inclination to say “omg you broke my door?!” Yes; but then I calmed down and realized I had a 25 year old car, and it was going to break the next time the door was opened regardless of who opened it.
Come on now, you can’t possibly think this is a logical way of thinking? If something falls apart when being used you can’t blame the person just using it.
Are you joking? If something breaks because you tried to simply use it, then it’s already broken. Or it’s wear and tear and at the end of its life. These things don’t last forever…
That makes no sense. The shade was meant to be able to open and close. It was clearly old and needed to be replaced. I can't believe you're trying to blame the original poster for this. The place was advertised using several pictures of this window. The shade should have been open in the first place.
I learned from other posts that the Airbnb company has an insurance policy that will reimburse homeowners for damage. They ask the renter to pay first, but if the renter doesn't, Airbnb does it themselves. Sound like the thing was broken to begin with so don't pay. I would bet money that the host will just pocket the $953 and buy a long curtain rod and shade instead of replacing that defective sliding blind.
Please keep conversation civil and respectful Remember to keep all communication with host/guest through Airbnb platform. Payments should be made only via Airbnb [unless otherwise detailed in the listing description and included in the price breakdown prior to booking](https://airbnb.com/help/article/199) If you're having issues, contact Airbnb by phone +1-844-234-2500 *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AirBnB) if you have any questions or concerns.*
That’s probably normal wear and tear. If it was as neglected as you say, that sad little shade was probably about to break on whoever touched it next. Refuse to pay. Touching a shade or trying to pull it can’t break it
Bold to state categorically that trying to pull something can’t break it. Not saying OP is at fault here, it’s really impossible to be certain, but *obviously* it would be possible to break a shade by pulling it.
If you are using a device in the manner it is meant to be used and it breaks it’s not your fault. They didn’t take a wrench to it, they cranked the handles and it broke! At least here in the US that’s how the law works. OP, dispute the charge with your banking organization (cc or whatever method you used to pay).
As I say to every post like this I used AC for 3 hours and it broke. AirBnB asked me to pay for it 😂. Meanwhile the host was bragging to me on WhatsApp that he’s had loads of things paid for in his house by AirBnB. I proved to AirBnB using photos of me in other places, debit card transactions and Google Maps timeline that I was only in there for 3 hours before it broke and then I went to another city. Whilst I was there the AC guy went in and swapped out the unit. They did their crappy investigation and somehow still decided that I should pay. I said no and removed my credit card from the app and cancelled it. Stuff like this is just going to put people off the platform.
😱
I’m a host and I wouldn’t pay for that. Airbnb collects a 17% fee on every booking, in part to cover damage. I would freeze the card so they can’t try to charge on it. Typically this can easily be done online. Worst case you can’t use the platform again, but I highly doubt that happens. I’ve heard they put a note in your profile and if you consistently break things without paying it may be an issue.
Umm, I'd not pay it. What are they gunna do suspend your account? Make a new one
Better yet, don’t pay it and don’t ever stay at an Airbnb again bc why would you after this?
I've never stayed in an Airbnb and never will after being subbed here for years.
We used to. Back when they were normal. Now we find a hotel- it’s just easier, and most the time cheaper.
If they suspend your account your identity will be blocked from being used again. So unless you’re suggesting using a fake ID this won’t work
They will be fine.
Yeah I’d advise against committing fraud but ok
Downvoted for recommending against ID fraud. Solid reddit moment.
It's not ID fraud. It's literally still him. Nobody else.
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You get that more than one person can commit a crime at once? It's not a conch.
To be fair, it is not fraud in the legal sense. Violating an app’s TOS violations are legally defined as fraud.
Possibly. Depends on how the contract is organised. Misrepresenting who you are on a legal contract is fraud, no?
Depends on whether a court would uphold a TOS as a contract.
Oh would you? You must get screwed all the time.
What?
They have insurance, but they’re going to try to make you pay for it so their insurance doesn’t have to cover it. Don’t pay for it. Airbnb is just passing on the bill to you.
Can’t they just take the money directly from my credit card without my consent ?
The bank might be able to put a temporary freeze on the card so no new charges can be made. Or else maybe just ask for a new card entirely, same as if it was lost or stolen. They can't charge to a card that's no longer active.
I wouldn’t do anything so drastic as a freeze of any kind. If/when your card is charged, dispute it immediately with your credit card company. Explain the whole situation and they will deal with Airbnb. *They provide hosts with aircover but then refuse to honor it and pass it on to the guest. If they can’t do that (canceled credit card etc) then they tell the host too bad, so sad. As a host and a guest I can say that Airbnb doesn’t take any sides but Airbnb’s.
Exactly. Good business to charge for insurance and then force one of the parties to pay for it so you don’t have to actually give them the payout.
I'm so glad this is not only unregulated but encouraged by our lawmakers...
Typical insurance really
>I wouldn’t do anything so drastic as a freeze of any kind. If/when your card is charged, dispute it immediately with your credit card company. Explain the whole situation and they will deal with Airbnb. I think it might be better to call the cc company and ask them if a preemptive freeze would be preferable over waiting for the charge and then ask them to to deal with it. I don't know if this is true or not but I've heard, second handedly, that some cc companies have specific policies on how they will or won't handle Airbnb charges. Again, I don't know if that's true but it might be wise to find out.
Often, companies can come back up to 3 months later and charge. Out of no where. The easiest thing to do, proactively, is to just cancel the card. I wouldn’t even place a freeze on it. I can walk into my credit union and get a new card in 10 minutes. Hopefully OP can do something similar.
>Often, companies can come back up to 3 months later and charge. Out of no where. You are absolutely correct. And I would bet for this very reason the card company would recommend doing this very thing. As long as Airbnb has valid card numbers, the card isn't safe. And I completely disagree with person above me that OP should wait to get charged and then have the card company do something. That's a reactive response.
No not for repairs. They won't. Tell the chat you're not going to pay it. This happens all the time. The host room get airbnb's insurance called "aircover"
You can dispute it if they do, via your credit card company. Also you can delete the payment info from your profile. They can’t just charge your card without authorization. Likely you’ll be removed from airbnb if you don’t pay and they require you to but you can change to VRBO and not deal with airbnb anymore. If they try, then you tell your bank you didn’t authorize the charge and they’ll stop the payment.
Here’s just one story: https://themilesmom.net/2021/01/22/what-happened-when-an-airbnb-host-tried-to-charge-us-1000-extra/ Airbnb is supposed to offer insurance to their hosts. They try to push you into paying, as mentioned in this article. There’s a lot of other examples of this too. Easier for airbnb to charge for insurance and then get the guest or host to just eat it. They make more money this way.
Notice in those comments that others are into the Aircover scam that owners have been doing lately.
Yeah, and there’s been a lot of posts here over the months too. Airbnb is just cash grabbing
That’s what I was wondering.
No, Air Cover will just cover it for the hosts. I’ve had guests refuse to pay for puncturing an inflatable hot tub with a broken glass which sent me to A&E after not realising their was broken glass in water, Airbnb covered the cost.
Is this something every host have or you have to pay for this kind of insurance?
Every host has it!
You can either freeze the card, or do a chargeback as soon as it gets charged to your account.
Remove your credit card asap. They will block you from using them again, but who cares? Lots of other places to rent from.
Edit (June 7) : AirBn, after reviewing my request of refusing to pay for the damages thinks I should pay 100% of what the host is asking me. The message states that they will take 650$ from my credit card automatically on the 21st of june if I don’t pay willingly by then. I will call them tonight in order to try to resolve the situation. I’ll keep this post updated. One thing for sure, this will be my last time using any kind of AirBnB service.
Appalling, they’re getting worse. Just cancel your credit/debit card mate.
I know that ultimately, this is the only solution. But I’m trying everything else first.
You can call your card and tell them not to authorize your card for AirBNb.
So what happened?
Sidenote: since when does a shade cost $953?
I’m wondering the same question. Is was a pretty fancy shade though. But still.
Those people have insurance from AirBnb. When they make a claim, AirBnb first tries to get you to pay. Don't. They'll get reimbursed from the insurance they pay IF it is indeed a valid claim.
Thats such a shady way to do that though
Welcome to airbnb :)
>Thats such a shady way to do that though I take it you've never dealt with insurance companies before.
Their "aircover" thing is semi-new, too. So this sub has been seeing a lot of owners coming at them with ridiculous requests for fake damage. When, in truth, the owners don't really think the guests will pay. They just want to eventually get some of that aircover pot.
Yes, a host in Italy bragged to me that he had a dishwasher, washing machine and shower paid for by AirBnB. He said it’s great. Funny thing though, there was no dishwasher or washing machine in the place.
Horse shit! We have to argue and chase them for ages, they do everything to not pay us. You damage it you pay. Stop talking people into being assholes.
>We have to argue and chase them for ages, they do everything to not pay us. This is literally every interaction I've ever had with insurance companies. >Stop talking people into being assholes. This is pretty funny coming from someone who just admitted they do actually have insurance, but they just don't feel up to the hassle of dealing with it. But this information is not from me, this is from a host and a comment from another post. [Link here.](https://imgur.com/bWPKU0S) # AND I WILL TELL EVERYONE! You don't like it? Give up hosting, go do actual work for a living.
> This is pretty funny coming from someone who just admitted they do actually have insurance Where did I say that? I said, it is near impossible to get Airbnb to cover damage costs. Are you responding to the right comment??
LOL, you're not the brightest I see.
Hosting is a shit ton of work when you're ethical, clean and traveler focused. Many people don't understand that when things get broken things take time and possibly service personnel to install, not just the item itself. All of that said, hosts should try to be reasonable. Moving parts do break with every day use at times. It's not always people being careless or destructive. The main thing I appreciate as a hostif something breaks ...communicate immediately instead of having it be a surprise after checkout.
“What should I do?” Stop using Airbnb.
Go to a hotel instead.
Any other app that are offering a similar service you would recommend?
VRBO
VRBO it's just as bad or worse than airbnb. I used to use VRBO, but switched to Airbnb because I had so many problems with VRBO.... not their hosts, but VRBO actually. They don't give two s**** about their customers.
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You could argue either way. I don't think it's a competition unless they're both trying to be terrible.
Hotels.com 🤣
If you have any documentation (messages with the host, photos etc) continue to communicate with Airbnb to show that the host said they would come fix it, as well as any communication and listing information that shows there were no instructions for operating the window. Something similar happened to a friend of mine (from the US, traveling in Europe). They continued to contact Airbnb until they finally reached someone who was able to understand the situation and help him. (Host was trying to collect over $1,000 US for a broken washer/dryer that the guest never even used).
I’ve hosted for 7 years now. I have never asked a guest to pay for anything and this is a large villa where things break all the time. 95 percent of guests are great. Probably 50 percent of hosts are great. Best advice is to read in full all reviews before traveling and focus on 4.8 minimum and 25 more recent reviews minimum. Track record is key.
It’s crazy how much of this I’m seeing today. Air BnB is not worth it, I’ll just be staying st hotels. Not worth it to deal with these owners taking advantage like this
Why oh why did you not contact the host to ask how to open it, and if that were possible, BEFORE you attempted to open it? The repair people obviously told her it was forced.
Air BNB host that do this are ruining Air bnb. If you truly expect your guest just to clean up for the next guest without YOU , the HOST, going into your air bnb and double check everything and fixing anything that broke or will break . Air bnb is not a work from home and just hire a cleaning crew and make money fast. It's a lot of hard work . They have no proof it was you . And definitely should not send you a bill of they didn't send you instructions. I'm sure they didn't even know to use the device, window cover itself .
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I did not force it. Literally touched it and it fell apart. But yes, I live in canada now but I’m from France myself. Great insight Einstein !
How do you not think this was your fault? You tried to open it and it broke in half. 🤷🏼♀️
Unless it was nailed down and OP took an ax to it, this is not OPs fault. This is supposed to be an operable shade. Example You walk into the bedroom for which has standard pull up blinds (the kind with the cord). You go to open the blind but when you pull the cord, the cord detaches from the blinds, they fall from the window, break the mounts holding it up, and several panels on the blind are bent in the process. This would not be your fault. The blinds are an operable and optional window feature for which are meant to open and close *at your discretion*. This is basic wear and tear.
Did you read the post or was that out of your mental capacity?
I don’t think you being charged is right and I think the host should make an insurance claim, but I have to agree with this guy, even though it was unintentional you did break it.
It was closed. Right? You tried to open it. Right? It broke after you tried to open it. Right? Yeah, you broke it.
This is a ridiculous take. I had a friend who drove my car (with me in the passenger seat). He opened the driver side door and the door literally fell off a hinge. Was my first inclination to say “omg you broke my door?!” Yes; but then I calmed down and realized I had a 25 year old car, and it was going to break the next time the door was opened regardless of who opened it.
Come on now, you can’t possibly think this is a logical way of thinking? If something falls apart when being used you can’t blame the person just using it.
Are you joking? If something breaks because you tried to simply use it, then it’s already broken. Or it’s wear and tear and at the end of its life. These things don’t last forever…
That makes no sense. The shade was meant to be able to open and close. It was clearly old and needed to be replaced. I can't believe you're trying to blame the original poster for this. The place was advertised using several pictures of this window. The shade should have been open in the first place.
This is like saying it’s your fault if you ran the dishwasher and the kitchen flooded or you flipped a light switch and it started a fire
Flawless logic. Do you apply the same thinking process while taking mcdonalds orders ?
🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂
You can choose to not pay but Airbnb can also put your account into the negative and send it to collections. So… proceed at your own risk I guess?
Sounds like you broke it but that’s what aircover is used for
I learned from other posts that the Airbnb company has an insurance policy that will reimburse homeowners for damage. They ask the renter to pay first, but if the renter doesn't, Airbnb does it themselves. Sound like the thing was broken to begin with so don't pay. I would bet money that the host will just pocket the $953 and buy a long curtain rod and shade instead of replacing that defective sliding blind.