Tag Archives: airbnb death

Illegal Airbnb Rentals, One Where a Shooting Death Occurred

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I live in West Covina, California where Airbnb and other short-term rentals are not legal but people set them up anyway. In one instance a house was rented and there was a paid admission party with about 60 people, many of whom were not from West Covina. Helium balloons were distributed for people to get high. A couple of guys from another area showed up and shot an 18-year-old man who died.

Since then another house was rented out in a swankier part of town. This party was featured online as a paid admission event and had a very vulgar name that suggested a possible front for prostitution or at least booty calls. This party was scheduled for three days over Labor Day weekend. Underage looking people were seen going to the premises, a man was seen masturbating on a nearby corner, and I was told of loud music and fireworks in early morning hours (fireworks are not legal in WC).

Fortunately, citizens contacted the police and it was shut down. I contacted Airbnb about these concerns and their reply was to contact the renter, host or local authorities. Perhaps they need to verify that these rentals are legal to begin with.

Cynical Refund Policy around Father’s Death

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I had made a booking at the beginning of August 19th for a room in Amsterdam. Four days before we were to leave for Amsterdam my dad died so we could not go. The long and short of it was we were charged for the booking. I informed the host and Airbnb my father had died and they appeared very sympathetic. The host immediately agreed to give our money back but never did. Airbnb asked for the obituary, which we sent, but nothing happened.

We received about six messages from Airbnb saying they had tried to call but they hadn’t. The email with a reply button had a no-reply email address. No one had ever tried to call. Then I received a message stating they had no details of the trip, so I sent them. The follow up was to send me back into the circle of death of emails stating they had tried to ring, etc. I only managed to find a contact email address through Airbnb Hell. I have seen some cynical things in my time but this one beats all. Very dodgy crowd – be warned.

Fatal Fall from Airbnb Illegal Hotel

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On October 28th, 2018, my son was a guest in a New Orleans Airbnb. He was only there for a few hours after work and before another early morning shift as a chef at Commander’s Palace. It’s been two months and the NOPD are still “investigating” his unexplainable fall through a solid 3’x 4’ window positioned over a sofa.

In my attempts to contact Airbnb, they offered their sorrow that since our son was not the one who rented the room there was nothing they could do. They did offer to cancel any future bookings so he did not get charged for future trips.

I explained that, along with endless questions and frustrations, I expected to get my son’s possessions that were left in the room. Airbnb stated that they could not require the host to get in touch with me. Apparently I put some pressure on him and suddenly the other guest later returned my son’s phone, shoes and shirt. I’m still asking for my son’s backpack and chef’s knife kit, which he took to and from work every day.

Airbnb “closed their case with me” after asking me four times if the host had contacted me, which he hadn’t. I messaged the host on Facebook messenger and then called the host on his Facebook messenger app. Nada. The host had five listings on Airbnb that I found and now I see that four of them have been removed. I reached out again to Airbnb yesterday via Twitter and they said they were “escalating the case” (which I heard before they closed it last time), which have not heard from Airbnb.

These photos show the mysteriously single pane window in a building renovated in 2011 after the for windows requires hurricane-proof glass.

Airbnb Stay Literally Killed my Husband

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In December 2015 my husband, our two young children, and I decided to holiday in Malta. We decided we should give Airbnb a go because at least we would have our own pool and jacuzzi. The stay was fine; the farmhouse was cold and took nearly a week to warm the rooms. Also, the jacuzzi was on the cold side. Looking back I realized this property was probably empty for a few months as it wasn’t high season.

On our return to London my husband started feeling very unwell. Within one week he was in a coma. The following week he was dead. The tests came back that it was Legionella from the jacuzzi. I have lawyers on the case but apart from Airbnb calling me from San Francisco and reimbursing me the fee, I have heard nothing.

My husband was 45 and I’m left with two children to raise alone. We had to move from London; we’ve lost everything. I’ve moved back to New Zealand to be close to my family, so our life has had a full shake up, I’m finding it difficult to get work in my field and am living with a brother who turns out has severe mental health issues. My children do not feel safe and require counselling. I’m looking at going into a female refuge.

I’m very bitter towards Airbnb. I feel they need to pay for the wrongful death of my husband so I can at least give my children a safe place to live. The biggest regret of my life was ever booking an Airbnb. They couldn’t care less about people and they don’t consider themselves one bit responsible. It’s their responsibility to make sure every host property is safe.

Cold-Hearted Airbnb Hosts after Traumatizing Death

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I received some money for a gift for my birthday which was a few weeks ago and was planning to use it for my first, short solo trip to Seattle. I found Cory and Amanda’s cute place and was so excited to stay there. After booking my reservation I was getting ready to take my mom and our family friend to the airport, who had come to visit for the weekend. Suddenly I heard my mother screaming like I’ve never heard before. She yelled that her friend was not responding and to immediately call 911. When I saw her I knew that we were too late: she was cold, purple and stiff. I’ve seen dead bodies before but nothing like this. I will truly be traumatized for a long time. A couple hours after making the reservation I told Amanda and Cory what had happened and asked for a refund since they had a strict cancellation policy. My reservation was still two days away and they refused… several times actually. They informed me that I should have known better and was aware of their policy when I booked.

Had I been aware that a loved one was lying dead in the next room I would have never booked the trip. Airbnb was actually very nice to me. I talked to two individuals who tried to get a refund on my behalf and were unsuccessful. I was floored by how cold and rude these people were to me. I even asked to just change dates for a time in the future and wasn’t able to. I hope that I never make someone feel as lousy as Amanda and Cory made me feel. You hope that most people are compassionate and good but this is just an example of how horrible some people can be. It’s also a little about the money for me: I make about 30k a year and have student loans, so trips like these are rare for me. I lost all of my birthday money and will not get to go on a trip. My advice would be to book a place without a strict cancellation policy because if something happens to you you’ll probably be screwed.