David Cook
David Cook emailed Business Insider about the situation, hoping his story will be a cautionary tale for other would-be renters. He says damage to his property near Lake Arrowhead in southern California, has cost him more than $12,000.
Airbnb is a San Francisco-based "community marketplace" that allows users worldwide to book accommodations directly from people who let out their own homes. The site has over 1 million listings.
However, Cook has discovered some of the drawbacks of opening your home to strangers. He posted photographs on his Facebook page that document numerous broken items after he rented his home to different couples on two separate occasions. Both times, the couples stayed for two nights and trashed the property during their stays.
In an email to BI, Cook accused both guests of fighting and being "liquored and drugged up."
He said:
In both cases it was a similar situation: The renter is a cool, responsible, nice guy; but his wife or girlfriend's crazy drunk drug-crazed boyfriend, not so much.
These guys (the first couple) proceed to get liquored and drugged up so bad that they begin fighting and going absolutely ape-shit in our cabin.
The first guy ripped the ceramic soap dish out of the wall in our tile shower, snapped the bedpost off of our 100-year-old family heirloom, a solid mahogany bed, and broke the banister going downstairs! They caused $2,000 in damages.
The second group caused even more damage. Cook writes:
One day later, on New Year's Eve 2014, it's the same situation: a boyfriend and fiancé fighting. We think this guy was on meth or something.
He completely demolished two antique family heirloom nightstands. He took the leg off of one of them and proceeded to swing for the stars!
In addition to crumpled lamps and destroyed side tables, there were marks, stains, and bashed up walls and doorways.
David Cook
David Cook
David Cook
Cook claims the second party bashed holes in walls and windows, ripped closet doors off their hinges, tore the curtains off the walls, and smashed bottles of alcohol over the floor and patio. He says the second couple caused over $10,000 in damages.
David Cook
Airbnb operates an insurance scheme for its users called "Host Guarantee, which says it will cover hosts for property damage up to a $1 million.
On its terms page Airbnb says it "agrees to pay you, as a Host, to repair or replace your Covered Property damaged or destroyed as a result of a Covered Loss, subject to the limitations, exclusions and conditions in the Airbnb Host Guarantee."
Cook contacted Airbnb and says the company has agreed to reimburse all of the damages.
"Over 26 million guests have stayed on Airbnb and problems for hosts and guests are extremely rare. Our Trust and Safety team is investigating this matter and is in contact with this host to help reimburse him under our Host Guarantee program," Airbnb said in a statement to BI.
Meanwhile, Cook has a warning for other Airbnb hosts: "The story is for hosts like us to make sure they raise the security deposit and reword their postings to let guests know that this will not be tolerated and for hosts to know that this stuff happens more often than Airbnb wants the public to know. I heard that Airbnb is working on going public with an initial value of 5 billion. They do not want the public to know that hosts' properties are being trashed."