Airbnb host demands guest pay to replace stained sofa

There’s almost no point in staying in Airbnb at this point. They are overpriced, often much higher than the cost of a hotel, and on top of that, you’ll often have to do all sorts of household chores before you leave. That’s before we even touch on the fact that you’ll have to deal with the Airbnb host.

In the case of one Reddit guest, this particular aspect of the Airbnb experience turned into full-on drama when she spilled some sauce on a piece of furniture.

An Airbnb host demanded a guest pay $3,000 to replace the sofa she stained.

On the one hand, expecting someone to replace something they damaged is not entirely unreasonable. However, if you rent out your home to strangers, chances are things will break down at some point. It’s just part of the deal.

So it’s hard to believe that this owner’s demands are even reasonable at first glance. But if you take into account the host’s method of submitting a request, it’s all in line with the general trend of Airbnb in recent years – essentially, hosts have become too big for their britches.

IN her post on Redditthe guest explained that she and her friends were hosting an informal memorial party at the Airbnb for a friend who had recently passed away.

“Unfortunately, I spilled some sauce on one of the sofas,” she admitted. “I offered to pay the owner for her time and effort in cleaning. I didn’t think anything else would come of it.” God, she was wrong.

The host contacted her directly, outside of Airbnb, and demanded more money. When she refused, the owner threatened her.

All issues and disputes must be resolved through the Airbnb app itself and not outside of it. This prevents fraud, identity theft, scamsand other incidents.

However, this hostess decided to go rogue by calling and texting the guest directly, demanding $1,100 to replace a sofa that she said was impossible to clean. The sofa is off-white, so that could certainly be true. But as you can see in the photos, the stain was mostly on what looked like a throw pillow. Can’t you just… turn it over?

Screenshot of Airbnb host's posts from Reddit Vegetable_Earth_1319 | Reddit

I think not, because the owner insisted on a complete replacement of the sofa, which, apparently, was discontinued. When the guest refused to deal with her outside of the app, demanding instead an official damage report, the hostess threatened to ruin her guest rating.

The presenter then increased her demand to $3,000 to replace the stained sofa and matching loveseat.

“She appears to be extorting more money from me and is upset that I haven’t sent her money outside of the app,” the guest wrote.

They say that Airbnb usually sides with guests in these situations—hosts have been complaining about this for years.

“Wanting to do this outside of the app just screams scam to me,” one Redditor wrote in response to a guest’s post. Another chimed in and added that “Airbnb usually sides with guests in these situations and only asks them to pay, they will never force them to do so. The owner (definitely) knows this.”

Hosts have actually been complaining for some time about how Airbnb favors guests in these situations. In 2022, one dissatisfied owner even organized a strike protest against favoritism of Airbnb guests and changes to their policies that give guests up to 72 hours to file complaints.

Regardless, this host is breaking Airbnb’s rules, and few of us would be willing to handle something like that outside of the app. Perhaps more importantly, it’s hard to argue that asking $3,000 to replace a sofa because of a stain is reasonable, especially when a white sofa in a weekly rental home is… well, a VERY interesting choice.

Or as another Reddit user put it: “What kind of idiot landlord rents out a $3,000 WHITE SOFA that is rented out once a week?” It’s pretty hard to argue with that. It’s also pretty hard not to feel like this host’s absurd demands are part of a larger trend.

Airbnb shares took a hit earlier this year. drop of more than 14% in August, largely due to fewer Americans using the service. There are many factors contributing to this, including local governments making it more difficult to manage Airbnbs as a way to deal with the extreme economic impact Airbnbs have. housing affordability.

However, experts say The owners themselves also play a role – charge an absurd cleaning feerequiring lengthy steps to be completed before placing an order, and, yes, resolving disputes in ways that seem predatory.

Not surprisingly, as Airbnb shares fell 14%, hotels announced a recovery in their revenues. After all, no one at the Hilton is going to charge you three thousand for a sofa cushion—and they won’t have a white sofa at all, anyway.

John Sandholm is a writer, editor and video host with 20 years of experience in media and entertainment. It covers topics of culture, mental health and human interests.