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MidwestBB

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We had a couple staying here (booked through AirBNB). In the evening my wife and I heard a really loud crash from the room and it did not sound good. We looked at each other like what the heck was that?

We opted to not go to the room as they had been using the whirlpool, etc, and were likely not dressed for guests. When they left the next day I found that our sliding barn door, which is the door to the bathroom, had been knocked off the rail and had fallen to the floor causing some damage to the door. The raised wood panels were dented and the oil rubbed bronze finish on the hanger brackets were all scratched up. The glass on a small table had been chipped. Thankfully, the tub and tile had not been damaged.
This was, by the way, a brand new door and this was the first guests staying in the room since the door had been installed. The room itself is new. We've only had 3 couples stay in it prior to this couple. By the way, its a high-end home and a very plush, expensive looking room. Not a place people should feel like they can get drunk and party and do whatever they want.
The couple would have had to have fallen against the door (guessing they were drunk) really hard to be able to knock it off the track like that. I'm going to add some brackets to make it impossible to come off the track without unscrewing and removing the brackets.
But my question is, if you hear a really bad sounding noise do you go knock on the door and ask what it was?
 
Oh...and they had put the door back on the track and never said a word about what happened or the damage. They had an awesome breakfast and then left.
 
Good idea to bracket the door so it can't come off the track. Those barn doors just hang on the track by gravity, so I can imagine it's possible to jump the track if you're not gentle with opening and closing it, or bumping into it.
This is a case of guests not treating our things as sensibly as we would treat them ourselves, partly because they probably expect that a commercial operation has "idiot-proofed" things to a greater extent that one would in the privacy of their home.
Personally, if I heard a crash in a room, I'd not go check on it. Whatever has happened is already over with, so intervening then wouldn't make much difference. I'd assume they'd come find you if something was needed right then, like shutting off the water or something.
Not bothering them at the time gives them a chance to deal with it themselves, and plan what they are going to say about it. I'd rather suffer the damage than put a guest on the spot and make their experience worse than it may already be, if damage occurred. It can be dealt with in due time.
 
Generally not, unless I also hear yelling. Either from injuries or fighting.
You can mention these things in your review of them - that they never mentioned the damage. And directly to them you can advise them it's always best to mention damage to the host so they can repair it before the next guests arrive.
 
I hope you've already filed a damage report with Airbnb. They do insure hosts. My Airbnb listing has a $200 security deposit. The guest is charged the security deposit when the host makes a damage claim within 14 days of the guest's departure. I don't know what happens if you have damages that exceed the security deposit, or your listing doesn't have a security deposit requirement. Here's their help page for filing a damage claim: https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/140/how-does-airbnb-handle-security-deposits
 
Oh...and they had put the door back on the track and never said a word about what happened or the damage. They had an awesome breakfast and then left..
People can be pretty careless or dumb, but if a guest should be hurt by a falling door I would be concerned that it could be a larger issue than property damage.
 
MNVineyardBB said:
This was, by the way, a brand new door and this was the first guests staying in the room since the door had been installed. The room itself is new. We've only had 3 couples stay in it prior to this couple. By the way, its a high-end home and a very plush, expensive looking room. Not a place people should feel like they can get drunk and party and do whatever they want.
The couple would have had to have fallen against the door (guessing they were drunk) really hard to be able to knock it off the track like that. I'm going to add some brackets to make it impossible to come off the track without unscrewing and removing the brackets.
But my question is, if you hear a really bad sounding noise do you go knock on the door and ask what it was?
I wouldn't knock, I would ask later, because what if that was something that happened in the middle of sex?
My view... it is up to you to provide a safe space for guests, if this door fell off so soon, you need to do something about it. And unlike others, I wouldn't charge them, I would assume that it's not just a part of business, but frankly, something that isn't safe for the room. There are lots of things that I tried that have changed because they weren't safe or didn't work well. I'm still trying to figure out how to tell guests how to use a luggage rack. Yes, a luggage rack.... they will put their luggage on the floor right in front of it.
As for being high-end...BFD! The guests don't care. That's your perception, not theirs and as you said "looking". People are on vacation, they will get drunk, have sex, trip on unfamiliar surroundings, screw up the TV, unplug the radio/alarm, etc. Heck, I don't know how many people pull back the nightstand to plug in their damn phone when there is a set of plugs as well as a USB charge on the nightstand. And then there is the lady who pulled a mirror off the wall (and half the wall) to put on top of a vanity because she couldn't find a mirror to do her makeup.... which was attached to the top of the vanity! I now leave the top of the vanity lifted, so they can see it's a vanity.
 
I would certainly go to the door and say some thing like I heard a very loud crash is every body ok ???
 
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