Airbnb guest says she came back from dinner to find couch ‘destroyed.’ Now, Airbnb is allegedly charging her $20k over damage she had ‘no control’

When Airbnb disputes play out on TikTok, it often sparks a fierce debate. In this case, a guest claims that Airbnb tried to charge them $20k for damages after the owner claimed that they were responsible for destroying a couch on the property. However, the guest argued that they had no control over the damage, and they claimed to have video proof to back them up.

The woman named Licha first posted screenshots showing messages from Airbnb that informed her she had been determined to be responsible for damage at a property she stayed at. The amount Airbnb determined she owed was $25,302.65 after management fees and other charges had been added. 

On the second slide, the couch is the only item listed as being damaged, with the value of the furniture piece being listed as 20,177,60. The screenshot showed that she had the option to either pay the amount or appeal.

In a comment, Licha claimed that she hadn’t damaged anything and that she had come back from dinner to find the house “destroyed.” Advice from commenters was varied and at times a little morally dubious: “Close the credit card you used & open a new Airbnb account,” suggested one person. Another told Licha to “just ignore it.”

Licha refuses to pay Airbnb

The angry guest returned to TikTok with a video showing the damaged property. In her video, water can be seen leaking from the ceiling. Licha claimed that she came back to the property to find it that way and that she had “no control” over the damages shown. She also showed the couch, which she implied wasn’t worth the alleged $20k the owner and Airbnb were asking for.

After seeing the video, many commenters concluded that the damage likely might have come from a burst pipe, something which Licha wouldn’t have been responsible for. Of course, it’s hard to say for sure, but most sided with Licha, speculating that the Airbnb owner was possibly attempting to make extra cash by charging the guest for the damages and then claiming on the insurance: “They trying to double dip and this under insurance fraud!”

Another commenter questioned if the owner had the correct insurance, as one person claimed, “Homeowners insurance doesn’t cover the pipes,” and that was a “different insurance,” which they guessed the owner didn’t have.

Whatever the case, most believed Licha when she said it wasn’t her fault, and many claimed her experience was exactly why they had sworn off using Airbnb, as they claimed the platform favored the hosts over the guests. Instead, they claimed they choose to stay at hotels.