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What to Do When Guests Damage Your Airbnb Property?

It is natural for you to be proud of your AirBnB property in Manchester. After all, you have prepared it with love and care and made sure it fulfills the expectations of your guests. You have invested lots of money on furniture, carpets, paint job, and all the art pieces to make your unit nice and comfortable for your guests. You are hurt and disappointed when you find that your unit has been damaged by one of your guests. You also become angry knowing you will have to spend money on repairs or replacement of the things broken. What do you do in such a situation?

 

Mistakes and mishaps are unavoidable

You must be mentally prepared to accept the fact that not every guest is as careful and immaculate as you are. Do not expect guests paying a price for accommodation to show the kind of respect to the property that you do. It is common to have broken cups or plates, greasy fingerprints on glass doors, and mud from shoes on the rugs. There is no need to make a big issue out of these mistakes and accidents as they are part and parcel of being a landlord. What would you do if your own child throws his toy and breaks the pane of the window? The same goes with scruff marks on the paint of the walls created by movement of luggage into different rooms. This is exactly how you should react when you learn about a small issue at one of your properties. In fact, most AirBnB landlords maintain a separate account in which they deposit a small portion of their rental income every month to care of these minor issues.

 

You must accept normal wear and tear

As an AirBnB landlord, you must keep in mind that your property is making you earn money. You cannot compare it with your private home. So many guests come and stay there and use its amenities. This is bound to create wear and tear in appliances, furniture, and accessories. If a guest spills milk or wine on your carpet that you have been using for a long time, you must accept it as normal wear and tear and not create a big issue out of it. Similarly, old appliances and furniture items can break because of wear and tear. You have invested money into buying a beautiful carpet. But you know that a carpet has a life and it has to be replaced by a new one after say every 5-7 years. Accepted that you were not planning to replace the old carpet very soon, but losing your temper and scolding your guests for making a carpet dirty serves no purpose. You should treat it as normal wear and tear and gracefully accept the damage.

 

What to do in case of a serious damage

How will you react if you are told that one of your guests in a property has broken your large screen LED television? Can you afford to remain silent or accept it as normal wear and tear? Similarly, you cannot remain silent upon finding your expensive sofa set damaged because of nail polish spilled over it. You cannot take all kinds of damages lying back as a landlord. For example, if a guest ruins your sofa by spilling her nail polish over it or you find a tile broken because of a heavy object falling on it, you must act and demand compensation for the damage. For example, if a guest breaks your expensive Italian bathtub because of his mistake, you cannot ignore this mistake or consider it as normal wear and tear. This is because you know how costly it will prove to you to change your bathtub. If you notice damage of a serious nature in your property, you are well within your right to demand compensation. You can do so politely and settle the issue amicably. In the majority of such instances, guests pay for any damage that they have caused accidentally though you can be sure you will not get the full value of a product to replenish it at once. If your guests fail to respond to your claim for compensation, you can contact AirBnB resolution centre by lodging an official complaint.

 

Act gracefully in case of a damage

In the case of damage to your property, you should not panic. It is not that all hell will break loose because of this damage. Yes, it is your property and you are entitled to compensation. But you have to show grace as a landlord and talk to your guests in a dignified manner. It helps in calming down the nerves of everyone involved. It also makes sure that you get compensation form the guests who are responsible for the damage in your property.

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To talk about this, or any other of our amazing properties, or if you’re interested in increasing your rental yield for any of your own properties, please get in touch today on 0333 301 0787 to see what Pass The Property can do for you.