A verified Airbnb guest allegedly destroyed a host’s newly remodeled “dream home,” causing between $50,000 and $75,000 in damages, but the host says Airbnb’s AirCover is refusing to pay the claim. This situation is awful for Kassidy Thompson, the host who shared her devastating experience on TikTok under the handle @kassidyhopethomps.
Kassidy and her husband, who is in the Air Force, had purchased and lovingly remodeled the house. They decided to move in with Thompson’s parents and rent the property out on Airbnb to earn some extra money. Thompson explains that they felt safe doing this because they had the protection of AirCover.
Thompson says the couple initially received a reservation request from a verified account that had good reviews. However, the situation quickly devolved. Thompson claims the individual was a scammer who used an untruthful narrative to try and get free stays. The host says the guest sent photos of alleged issues, but she and her husband were able to find those exact same photos online via a Google search.
The couple refused to accept the guest’s false claims fearing that this refusal could have frenzied the alleged scammer
The initial guest finished his stay and checked out. Shortly thereafter, a new reservation was made under a different account and a different name. Thompson says security cameras caught the individual entering the property wearing all-black clothing. When the two-day reservation ended, Thompson and her husband returned home and found the house in ruins.
“We could hear the water running as soon as we walked in,” she recounts. Upon further inspection, they discovered that the plumbing had been intentionally disconnected. Thompson says the pipes were new and threaded, so this certainly wasn’t something that could have happened accidentally. She later confirmed this grim assessment with a plumber.
The resulting water damage was estimated to be between $50,000 and $75,000. Thompson immediately reported the incident to both Airbnb and the police. A background check revealed that the initial scamming guest and the second guest, who allegedly caused the damages, both lived at the exact same address in California.
Thompson and her husband decided to pursue the issue through Airbnb, assuming that AirCover would protect them. Thompson says Airbnb sent out an adjuster to assess the damages, which led her to believe they would be “covered.”
Unfortunately, Thompson suddenly received news that Airbnb had decided not to pay the claim. “No explanation,” she recalls. The company simply stated that they determined, regardless of what the adjuster said, “that the guest didn’t cause the damages, that visitors didn’t cause the damages, etcetera.”
Thompson says the adjuster let them know that, according to Airbnb, the guest never provided a statement or said anything to the company. This detail is incredibly suspicious. Thompson asks, “Like, how can they determine that if they can’t even get ahold of the guest that caused the damages?” She suspects the whole ordeal is just Airbnb’s way “to try and not pay to see if we just give up.” We have reported previously how an Airbnb host had to go out of their way to cancel a dodgy reservation.
It sounds like Thompson isn’t giving up, which is exactly what she should do when facing such massive losses. While the ball is in Airbnb’s court in this case, we have seen guests on the receiving end of issues as well.
Published: Dec 1, 2025 07:30 pm