Airbnb benefits Alaska, one local host says, but is it worth the risk?
By Derek Minemyer
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) — It’s no secret that tourism is a leading industry in Alaska, and Anchorage host Chris Reynolds says Airbnb is a great way to welcome people to our state.
But is it worth it for homeowners to risk their personal assets with complete strangers?
Reynolds walked us through what he estimates to be around $12,000 worth of damage after a guest left the water running in the upstairs bathroom overnight in June.
“This all just came down by pulling the drywall. It’s all completely soaked,” Chris said in a home video documenting the damage.
And his next guest was coming in just two days.
“We had to be hands-on,” Reynolds said. “There wasn’t a contractor that was going to complete it within the small time frame that we had before the next guest came in.”
They made quick, patchwork repairs, and gave the next guest a 25 percent discount on their stay. Reynolds says he submitted a damage claim to Airbnb, and the initial claim process went smoothly.
But he didn’t hear back for almost two weeks. He got the call Wednesday, he says, after Channel 2 reached out to Airbnb asking for their response to this story.
“They left me a message today saying, very customer service-oriented, saying that they were apologetic, that they hadn’t responded to the claim that we had made,” Reynolds said.
Online reviews suggest Airbnb has had similar problems.
Read the full KTUU article here.