The Friday night before Memorial Day, I got a ping. My Airbnb just got a whole weeks booking! Great…guest paid $8,824 for an 8 day stay. I was grateful! Because it was a late night (8:20 PM) booking, I replied to confirm that check in was actually for that night. She replied “Yes. I’m just looking for a place for me and my family to rest our heads.”  I asked for 2 hours so that I could make sure it’s ready…and for the inconvenience I gave them an extra night free.

I didn’t know why my intuition was antsy but it was the whole time. I discreetly stayed around to watch them check in. A small SUV with children arrived first…an hour later a red pickup truck pulled up. At this time they all went in. 

My camera signal was low so I didn’t want to keep opening the app for it to die…but I was able to screenshot it and zoom in from my phone screen. It was a holiday week. They had over 40 people in and out of my home. Majority of them looked like junkies. One night, I saw something that appeared to be my master bedspread on the front lawn but I was like naw it couldn’t be. 

When they left, the camera showed a loaded truck bed with luggage stacked high….as the whole week they loaded the truck bed every single night. It didn’t dawn on me that they were loading the truck with my items.

They stole 2 55” TVs out of my gaming room, EVERYTHING out of my kitchen cabinets including the dishes, glasses, small appliances: Ninja blenders, toasters, air fryers and more. They put cigarettes out on my sofa, nightstands, and carpets. Vomit everywhere! I found drug paraphernalia everywhere. The home reeked of all sorts of odors. 

I’m glad I kept all communication on the site. It was a devastating experience!

Currently, I’m waiting for Airbnb to refund me. No one has said anything yet, but I bet that credit card was stolen too. Has anyone else been scammed like this before? What is the purpose of going through these platforms if they aren’t really verifying the guests as they say they are?