It will probably not have escaped your notice that in the media, in recent weeks, the topic of bedbugs has been making waves. In hotels, in subways, on buses and in any place open to the public, bedbugs seem to colonize our textiles. If it is generally accepted that in reality there are no more and no less than in the past, this spotlight on this unwanted companion of our mattresses is causing a phenomenon on the rise: the bedbug scam. bed. This scam, organized by tenants to avoid paying their Airbnb rental, is starting to get people talking.
The Airbnb bedbug scam: what are we talking about?
The bedbug scam is one of those terms that is so soon coined, so soon adopted. After the recent spotlight given to this heteroopterous insect on the networks and in the media, the idea quickly arose among certain unscrupulous tenants to take advantage of this popularity to simply not pay for their Airbnb rental. Although the phenomenon remains of course marginal, a few unscrupulous tenants have already made themselves masters in this area.
Concretely: the tenant who enjoys free stays will, during their Airbnb stay, submit a reimbursement request to Airbnb stating the presence of bedbugs in the accommodation, preventing them from enjoying the rental under the conditions provided for. . With photos of bites or bed bugs as proof. It is then up to the owner to prove the absence of bedbugs in their home even though the presence of this invader is not easily detectable.
How to react in this situation?
The first step is to dispute (in good faith, of course) the presence of bedbugs in the accommodation in question with Airbnb. The platform often seems to give the benefit of the doubt to the tenant and thus asks for proof of the absence of bedbugs in the accommodation. The owner is therefore in charge of commissioning a company specializing in the detection of these insects, in particular by sniffer dogs or mechanical means.
It is also possible to challenge the photos provided by the tenant themselves. The background can quickly show that the photo was actually not taken in the home. Having enriched your ad with numerous up-to-date photos will be useful to you here: Airbnb agents will quickly be able to see for themselves that the environment does not correspond to your rental. Unfortunately, the nature of insects means that photos are often taken very closely and elements of comparison are therefore more difficult to find.
Your legal assistance can also help you, if only by providing you with the contact details of a detection company capable of providing you with a certificate proving that the accommodation is not affected by the bedbug problem. In other cases, this assistance will allow you to study the remedies specific to your situation to release the payment of rent and allow your rental to welcome new travelers.
The opinion of our concierge in Annecy on this Airbnb scam:
Scams from Airbnb tenants are legion. Since the popularization of the platform, these have multiplied. However, we generally see that a type of scam becomes popular quickly while remaining marginal in the long term. At the same time, Airbnb has often updated its general conditions to best protect owners from these abuses and facilitate the resolution of disagreements between owners and tenants.
This bug scam is a new example of abuse by unscrupulous tenants who not only jeopardize the activity of owners but also penalize tenants who truly face this problem in their rentals by discrediting them. We, as Airbnb rental managers, can only hope that Airbnb can quickly adapt to find the best way to resolve these issues.
If our concierge service in Annecy has not had to deal with this specific problem, please know that our team stands by the owners to advise them, particularly when tenants assert their rights abusively with the sole aim of not paying for their stay. Of course, we advise all owners to ensure strict hygiene of accommodation as YourHostHelper can do in each of its rentals.
