I made the mistake of renting from someone who had never rented before. I should have known it was going to be crazy from the start with the slew of emails. From the moment we arrived we got emails threatening they were going to cancel the booking. I had violated the rules because I had booked for my son and husband despite the fact that the host was notified two weeks in advance that the booking for my son and his roommate. Upon arrival, he demanded the video cameras inside the listing be turned on or he would cancel the booking. He continued to call and email me to the point of harassment. He showed up at the listing four times in one day. After two days of continual harassment my son finally turned the cameras off at which point he showed up and told them to get out of his house. This is when I called the police. We had no idea how this unstable person would act, especially after he said he had loaded weapons in the house.
I will never stay in an listing with cameras on. I don`t think this is legal…
You use the two magic words harassement and loaded weapon and this give me a lot to think…
I used airbnb one time and never again.
Even though you booked for someone else, the fact that this guy had video cameras inside his house is terrifying. What the heck!!? If you hadn’t booked here, it would only have been a matter of time before someone else would have using their own profile and the same thing probably would have happened to them. Scary
If you booked for someone else and didn’t stay there yourself, you are in violation of Airbnb’s rules and TOS. The host was right. It means that neither the guests or the hosts are covered by any protection Airbnb offers. If you go against the TOS, you can expect trouble!
First mistake, as you said, booking with someone with zero reviews. There are plenty of honorable and 5 star Airbnb listings out there to choose from.
Secondly you cannot book for a 3rd party. Airbnb is based on trust. You left your trust at the door by using your profile to book for someone else.