‘We Trusted Airbnb To Protect Our Home—And They Left Us With Nothing’: Kansas Air Force Veteran Pours Life Savings Into His Family’s House. Then A ‘Verified’ Guest Checks In

Airbnb makes an effort to have the experience be as painless as possible for both parties involved.

For Airbnb hosts, this means allowing them to see who is checking in as well as guests’ previous stays. Hosts are also usually able to monitor guests them for any potential red flags. For guests, this can take the form of coordinating a new stay if there are issues or working with the host to resolve problems. Both parties also receive AirCover, which offers protection in case of issues.

Even with all of these protections, problems can arise. One Airbnb host says she’s learning that the hard way after a verified guest caused significant damage to her home. According to her, AirCover is refusing to pay.

What Happened To This Woman’s Airbnb?

In a video with over 16,000 views, TikTok user Kassidy Thompson (@kassidyhopethomps) says her “dream home” was destroyed by an Airbnb guest.

According to Thompson, she and her husband, who is in the Air Force, purchased the home and remodeled it. To earn some extra money, she says they decided to move in with Thompson’s parents and rent the house on Airbnb.

“We thought we were more safe and secure with that because Airbnb has AirCover,” she explains. “They guarantee if guests cause damages, or if there’s damages during their stay, that they’ll cover those.”

One day, the couple got a request from a verified account with good reviews. However, soon, issues emerged.

“Essentially, this guy was a scammer,” Thompson states. “He provided an untruthful narrative to, you know, essentially get free stays.”

While she doesn’t get into specifics, she says that he sent photos of issues but that she and her husband were able to find those same photos on Google, showing that he was scamming the system. Thompson claims that their failure to accept his false claims could have “made him mad.”

Things At This Airbnb Get Worse

From there, the man finished his stay and exited. Soon, a new reservation was made under a different account and different name.

“The security cameras caught the individual entering in all-black—all-black clothing,” she states. “If that isn’t suspicious, they used a specific four-digit code. That’s how we set up every reservation.”

At the end of this guest’s two-day reservation, the couple returned—and she says they found the house in ruins.

“We could hear the water running as soon as we walked in,” she explains. Upon further inspection, she says that the plumbing had been disconnected. As the pipes are new and threaded, Thompson says this is not something that can happen accidentally. She says she later confirmed this information with a plumber.

In total, she says damages as a result of this action were estimated to be between $50,000 and $75,000.

Airbnb Provides Little Support

Immediately following the incident, Thompson says she and her partner reported the issue to Airbnb and to the police.

“Pretty quickly, we were able to tie the dots because with a background check, that guest and then this previous guest that I talked about, they both lived in California at the same address,” she says.

Although this was useful information, the police, per Thompson, said that their residence being so far away makes their job of solving the problem more difficult.

Instead, Thompson says they decided to pursue the issue through Airbnb. She claims the company sent out an adjuster to assess the damage. Thompson says she was led to believe that, given this adjuster, they would be “covered.” Additionally, Thompson says she knew that she had not been able to get in touch with the guest after the rental. She says she assumed Airbnb was in the same situation.

Unfortunately, Thompson says she suddenly received news that Airbnb decided not to pay.

“No explanation. Just saying that they determined—not based on what the adjuster said—they determined that the guest didn’t cause the damages, that visitors didn’t cause the damages, etcetera,” she recounts.

The Airbnb Host Suspects Foul Play

Thompson says that this incident has caused incredible stress on their family—which already has an 11-month-old and a baby on the way.

As for why their claim was rejected, Thompson says she can only assume it’s because Airbnb is simply trying to make them “give up.”

“As soon as we got the determination, we contacted the adjuster to see what was going on,” she shares. “He let us know that, based on what Airbnb said that the guest actually never provided a statement, never said anything to them.”

“Like, how can they determine that if they can’t even get ahold of the guest that caused the damages?” she adds.

Thompson closes by reiterating her belief that the whole ordeal is simply “[Airbnb’s] way to try and not pay to see if we just give up.”

Is Airbnb Supposed To Pay?

Airbnb’s AirCover service promises reimbursement for guest-caused incidents. According to the site, AirCover promises up to $3 million for “certain damage caused by guests to your home and belongings if the guest does not pay for the damage. It also reimburses for extra cleaning services in certain cases, like removing stains left by guests (or their invitees) or pet accidents and smoke odor removal.”

However, this is not the same thing as an insurance policy. As explained in the Host Damage Protection Terms, AirCover is effectively a means of getting payment from a guest if issues arise. Airbnb reserves the right to deny claims for any of the reasons stated in their terms.

That said, the terms are largely contingent on the response from the guest—and if the company was truly unable to get in contact with them, as Thompson states, then she could have a case to explore this issue further.

Commenters Share Their Thoughts

In the comments section, users expressed their disappointment with Airbnb. Many encouraged Thompson to continue pursuing the issue. In follow-up videos, she says she has done so.

“I would keep fighting Airbnb. They should have to pay that damage!” exclaimed a user. “They are allowing these people to get away with destroying your property when they say they’re going to take care of you.”

“I’m confident your attorney can write a demand letter and Airbnb will change their tune,” offered another.

“I’m also sorry you have to deal with this,” wrote a third. “A friend has major guest damages and kept fighting it with them. Airbnb finally caved and paid damages.”

BroBible reached out to Airbnb via email and to Thompson via TikTok and Instagram DM.