Dear Tripped Up, In June 2023, we stayed 6 nights in an Airbnb house in Paris, and it was difficulty from the start. The electricity was defective, requiring my kids to use a flashlight to climb up a high stairwell, and the Wi-Fi didn't work, needing us to spend about $200 on global data. For workers to come fix the Wi-Fi, we were instructed to leave the key in a lockbox. (The lights were never fixed.) 2 days later, we returned in the afternoon to discover our house had been robbed, with a laptop computer, clothing and other items missing out on. It's not clear how the burglar accessed the structure– he would have had to survive 2 gates with essential codes– but we think we know how he got in the door. We discovered an essential to the home under the doormat! We spent 2 days filing reports with the police, who were extremely comprehensive and wound up capturing the thief. (He was sentenced to six months in jail.) However although Airbnb markets its insurance coverage on its website, its agents had us running around in circles before lastly recommending us they would not compensate us. Our insurance ultimately paid us about $4,000 for our lost products, however we believe that need to have been Airbnb's obligation, which the business needs to credit us for our messed up stay and pay us back for the data. Can you help? Cindy, Roslyn, New York

Dear Cindy,

I'm sorry your journey to Paris was so frustrating, I'm glad your insurance compensated you for lost items, and I concur that Airbnb ought to have acted more quickly and efficiently to help. After my intervention, the company compensated you $3,029 for your stay and $200 for web access.I am impressed

with the Parisian police and your record-keeping, something that constantly makes my task much easier. It was a clever move keeping all communications in writing too.A spokesman for Airbnb, Javier Hernandez, fasted to react to my concerns with a statement and answers via email.

“The overwhelming bulk of Airbnb remains happen without issue and we offer protections to visitors and hosts in the uncommon occasion something doesn't go as planned,” the declaration started.As a regular Airbnb user and a reporter who follows the company expertly, I have no quibble with that first part. It holds true that a lot of Airbnb stays occur without issue, simply as many dining establishment meals happen without food poisoning and most strolls in the park end without squirrel attacks.But the genuine test for travel business is how they react when something does go wrong.Note that in his declaration, Mr. Hernandez composes that the business uses protections to both” visitors

and hosts. “It's an excellent pointer to travelers that they are not the only clients of Airbnb( and Vrbo and all their rivals). As intermediaries, these business are required to carry out a balancing act of securing visitors while still having their hosts'backs.( Anybody who wants to see the tightrope in action can read through Airbnb's different policies for visitors and hosts online.)Mr. Hernandez noted that” Airbnb's host liability security offers approximately$ 1 million in protection if a visitor ‘s valuables are taken or harmed throughout a stay and the host is discovered liable.”Airbnb deals with Crawford and Company, an Atlanta-based claims management company, to identify liability in such cases. For 10 months– 10 months!– you went back and forth with a Crawford employee, who had you sending out files and photos, and repeatedly explaining your situation.Despite the extended backward and forward and basic politeness of her messages, her final email to you, on April 29, 2024, was an unceremonious rejection:”Regrettably we can't do anything due to the fact that the host rejects that there were duplicate secrets,”she composed.” An image under the mat is no evidence for us. I am for that reason required to close your request.”After checking out your correspondence with her, in addition to the French cops report and court choice, I am inclined to disagree. To begin with, why would the adjuster merely believe the host's rejection?

(A spokeswoman for Crawford stated that under an agreement with the business's customers,”all details regarding claims is private.”) It was not just your image of a key under a mat. The police did a comprehensive investigation, you said, consisting of cleaning for finger prints and verifying that the key under the mat opened the door)

. You also sent to Airbnb(and me)a court document that revealed the burglar had been convicted and that he had used “a concealed set of secrets”to get in and rob the apartment.I can picture a scenario in which the host would not be liable: Maybe the intruder was a foreign spy and locksmith professional wizard who disarmed evictions and created an essential to the apartment door,

stole your child's laptop computer and Nintendo console in the belief it included state tricks, and after that left the secret under the mat as a calling card. But the reality that your child's credit card was utilized minutes later on at an area butcher and regional shoe store makes that circumstance not likely.(The charge card issuer reimbursed those expenditures.)It is possible that the service technicians who pertained to repair the Wi-Fi made a copy of the keys and their associate robbed you a couple of days later on. That circumstance would clear the host of direct fault. In any case, it is hard to picture any

scenario where you might do better than present a court document that supports your story and photos.One lesson tourists can draw from your experience is to copy whatever you did right: Contact the authorities, the host and Airbnb itself– that last one a key step many visitors avoid– and to keep all the documentation, and follow up. Even then, having backup insurance ended up being

your savior.Another lesson is that no matter just how much security Airbnb and competitors provide, opting out of a hotel and into a trip rental includes higher exposure to the real world situations of the location you are going to. In the”frustrating bulk”of cases, that's what makes it excellent.

However in some cases areas reveal their dark side, and in many places, the regional justice system will be far less valuable and effective than the French ended up to be.The house, you will enjoy to understand, is no longer noted on Airbnb. So to attempt to get the host's side of the story, I attempted the very same WhatsApp number you used, but, as I discovered, it no longer belongs to the host's agent. Rather, the profile image of the existing owner shows a scantily attired female whose face is not plainly featured in the image; in our quick exchange the individual clearly had no idea what I was talking about.If you need guidance about a best-laid travel plan that went awry, send out an email to TrippedUp@nytimes.com!.?.!.Follow New york city Times Travel on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. And register for our weekly Travel Dispatch newsletter to get skilled ideas on taking a trip smarter and motivation for your next getaway. Source