u/Desperate_Hawk_4603

Hey, I really need some advice because this situation is stressing me out.

I stayed at an Airbnb and there was a fire involving the stove. The thing is… we never used the stove at all during our stay. So I honestly don’t even understand how the fire started. The controls are at the front, so I guess it’s possible something got bumped, but we definitely didn’t cook or turn anything on.

After the stay, the host made a damage claim and now Airbnb is saying I’m responsible. They want to charge me:
• $681 now
• and possibly over $6,000 total

Which is crazy to me considering I don’t feel like there’s any proof I caused it.

What’s even worse is this:

I called Airbnb and the agent I spoke to (Kim) literally told me in writing that:
• I’m not liable
• to ignore the previous message
• and that they wouldn’t charge me without my approval

I felt relieved after that.

Then I talked to a supervisor after, and he basically said:
• yeah that was a mistake
• claims team already decided
• there’s nothing they can do
• and they’re still going to charge me anyway

So now I’m just stuck with completely opposite answers from the same company.

I already emailed them to dispute it and asked for proof. I also called my bank (RBC), and they said they can’t stop it but I can dispute it after if it goes through. Airbnb said they’ll try to charge me on May 12.

I just don’t know what to do at this point.

Has anyone been through something like this?
Did you just refuse to pay?
Did a chargeback actually work?

Any advice would really help 🙏

Hey, I really need some advice because this situation is stressing me out.

I stayed at an Airbnb and there was a fire involving the stove. The thing is… we never used the stove at all during our stay. So I honestly don’t even understand how the fire started. The controls are at the front, so I guess it’s possible something got bumped, but we definitely didn’t cook or turn anything on.

After the stay, the host made a damage claim and now Airbnb is saying I’m responsible. They want to charge me:
• $681 now
• and possibly over $6,000 total

Which is crazy to me considering I don’t feel like there’s any proof I caused it.

What’s even worse is this:

I called Airbnb and the agent I spoke to (Kim) literally told me in writing that:
• I’m not liable
• to ignore the previous message
• and that they wouldn’t charge me without my approval

I felt relieved after that.

Then I talked to a supervisor after, and he basically said:
• yeah that was a mistake
• claims team already decided
• there’s nothing they can do
• and they’re still going to charge me anyway

So now I’m just stuck with completely opposite answers from the same company.

I already emailed them to dispute it and asked for proof. I also called my bank (RBC), and they said they can’t stop it but I can dispute it after if it goes through. Airbnb said they’ll try to charge me on May 12.

I just don’t know what to do at this point.

Has anyone been through something like this?
Did you just refuse to pay?
Did a chargeback actually work?

Any advice would really help 🙏

——————————————————————————-

Just to update everyone on the situation — I ended up closing my bank account so Airbnb won’t be able to charge the card they had on file.

I’m still going to keep disputing this because I genuinely don’t believe I’m responsible. There’s no proof that we caused the fire, and we never used the stove at all.

Also, I’ve been doing more research and found that this type/brand of stove has had issues reported before. Multiple sources mention that the front controls can be accidentally activated too easily and that better safety mechanisms are sometimes needed to prevent this kind of situation. That honestly lines up with what could have happened here.

So at this point, I’m continuing to dispute it and push back as much as I can.

If anyone has gone through something similar or has advice on next steps (legal, chargebacks, etc.), I’d really appreciate it 🙏