Tag Archives: airbnb guest attacked

Cliffside Bali Disaster Almost Leads to Mob Attack

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This was the worst Airbnb/hotel experience of my life. We were almost attacked by host’s family/friends upon leaving. We booked two nights at what looked like a beautiful cliffside villa in Bali for my girlfriend and I. We overpaid for Bali so we kind of expected a nice place.

After dragging our belongings down five flights of stairs, we were taken to a room that looked nothing like what we booked. It was a totally different place. It had a pretty view of the sea so we didn’t complain.

When we emailed the host asking for the wifi password she quickly became defensive. After explaining that we were both working professionals who require internet access for our businesses the host became outright offensive. She continually called my girlfriend (who is a doctor) “sweetie” and “darling” after telling her how spoiled she was for asking for wifi. Absolutely not an appropriate way to speak to anyone, let alone a guest who is paying a lot of money.

We explained that we booked this place specifically because the listing said it had wifi, and we overpaid for it as well because we were told it would certainly have wifi. Then the host became abrasive and abusive, calling us names via WhatsApp and the Airbnb messaging app. We decided to cut conversation with the host at that point and asked her not to speak to us that way.

Noticing that the door to the Airbnb would not lock and watching the host’s worker come and go through our room without our permission, we decided we should leave for our safety as well. This turned out to be a good decision. After messaging and calling Airbnb and dealing with one useless customer service rep after an hour we finally got to a manager who read the rude messages from the host and realized how bad of a situation it was.

Agreeing that the host’s behavior was way out of line, she agreed to a refund. We were told the host was penalized for her behavior and misrepresentations as well.

But the story didn’t end there. We still had to get our bags out of the apartment. We quickly ran back down the cliffside stairs to get our belongings. We packed everything as well as we could and began carrying our big bags back up the stairs. Not an easy task even in the best of circumstances.

As we walked up the road a group of local people approached us asking if we were staying at the Airbnb. The man in the group was on the phone with someone and was leering threateningly at us. Being frequent travelers I sensed immediately that this was a threatening and possibly dangerous situation. The group blocked the way up the stairs to the road and asked us repeatedly if we were staying at the Airbnb.

Sensing the danger, we denied that we were going to stay at the Airbnb and said we were from another hotel. We pretended to not speak English as well and were able to pass by the group. The group however followed us to the main road where they continued to ask us questions about where we were staying. We heard the man on the phone mention the host’s name multiple times on the phone. It was obvious that this group was looking for us. One man continued to hover behind us while talking on the phone leering at my girlfriend. I positioned myself between him and her in case he intended her harm.

Thankfully, we were able to catch a rideshare in time and leave safely as more people began to show up. As we drove away the man on the phone made an aggressive lunge towards the vehicle as if attempting to provoke a fight. This was a very dangerous situation that could have gotten out of control quickly. I believe that without quick thinking by us and the luck of having a driver nearby we could have become victims of something far worse than a ruined vacation stay.

We left the Airbnb and went to another hotel but are very nervous and shaken up from the experience. I think this will be the last time we stay in an Airbnb. Not worth life and limb for a pretty view. I wish there was a way to tell more people to stay away from Airbnb. We saw other reviews where similar behavior occurred but we weren’t able to review online because we canceled. Stay away from Airbnb please for your own health and safety.

Airbnb “Sleepwalker” Guest Approached Me Naked

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My guest, Sean, arrived with two of his friends who were in a band. They seemed like a nice group of young men, although I had mistakenly thought his party would consist of a female and two males. Had I known it was three men, I wouldn’t have accepted the booking. At about 3:30 am, I saw the bathroom light come on, heard someone use the bathroom, and saw the bathroom light go off. Then I saw the person who had used the bathroom coming towards the living room where I was lying on the couch for bed. As he got nearer, I was surprised that he was approaching me and asked, in a normal speaking voice, “What do you want?”

That’s when I realized it was Sean and he was either nude or wearing “barely there” underpants. I couldn’t tell which it was in the room, which was only illuminated by streetlight and the light from my computer and other electronics. In response to my question, Sean said something like, “My bad. I sleepwalk,” and returned to his private room near the back of the house. Alone, with three men in the house – one of them just having gotten very close to me while naked, or nearly so, and while I was lying in bed – I was too afraid to go back to sleep. So I called Airbnb and they gave me $100 to book a hotel, which I did. I spent the rest of the night there.

I returned well after the time Sean had told me his group would leave. They were indeed gone and had left my exit doors and windows open and, therefore, unlocked, which was against my house rules. However, given the whole naked sleepwalking thing, that was the least of my concerns. Because of what happened with Sean, I looked up sleepwalking on the National Sleep Foundation website. According to the researchers there, a sleepwalker is not easily awakened and, when they are, they are confused and disoriented. Sean using the bathroom without stumbling or being confused about where he was – just as normally as an awakened person would – as well as responding to me coherently and, it seemed to me, with full alertness, when I asked him, without raising my voice to get his attention, what he wanted was not typical of a sleepwalker, according to research.

In addition, if he is aware that he sleep walks, why would he choose to sleep naked, or practically so, while in another person’s home – especially the one of a total stranger and a female at that? He also should have informed me before he booked my space that he was a sleep walker. The Airbnb representative told me she had “educated” Sean about the fact that he should let hosts know he sleepwalks. In my review, I informed Airbnb that, in my opinion, Sean should be barred from being a guest before he rapes somebody. As an Airbnb host, this was the first time I felt like my safety was threatened. This experience has made me rethink how I will proceed as a host going forward. In the attached photo, Sean is wearing pink.

Sexually Harassed by Host, Shameful Airbnb Response!!

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I was sexually harassed and assaulted by a host I found on airbnb.  After the main incident, I escaped to my room, but I couldn’t immediately leave the house because it was late at night and I had nowhere to go at that time, so I spent a terrifying night wondering if he would try to assault me again. Airbnb’s response was so confused and shambolic that the story gets quite long, I have written a blog post here to explain in full: becauseiwishtoforget.blogspot.com/2016/02/why-airbnb-is-both-unsafe-and-dishonest.html But the key points are: – Throughout the whole process Airbnb would not keep me informed of what actions they were taking, and when they did, they lied about it!  Airbnb twice removed the profile, so that I thought the matter was dealt with, but then they restored it again without informing me (the second time, after they had promised in writing that it had been removed) – Because it was restored this second time without my knowledge, at least 2 other women stayed there without any warning that I had reported this man for sexual harassment! – Airbnb only deleted it eventually more than 2 months after the incident, and only then because I kept contacting them to insist they take action. This prolonged my trauma unnecessarily. – Either Airbnb has no protocol for dealing with these incidents, or their staff are wholly unaware of them. Their whole response was a mess of contradictions. I hope now that the profile has been deleted permanently, but since they promised that and lied about it before, I can’t exactly rely on it. The host’s name is Branko Kozakejevic, the flat is in Belgrade. This man more than twice my age tried to get me to drink more than I wanted and made forceful sexual advances to me while I was a guest in his house. Airbnb didn’t think this was grounds to remove him from their site.

Guest attacked by Host, Airbnb does nothing!

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I sensed something strange when I arrived. The hostess was a middle aged Italian woman called Floriana. She seemed nice at first, but immediately told me she has a cat that is very unfriendly and attacks people, so I need to shut the door wherever I go. Also, her son is staying there. None of these were mentioned in the airbnb description. Though I felt strange, I thought I could live with that. So I continued to smile brightly to her and tried to be nice to her.  At the first breakfast the following morning, she came into the kitchen, saw I was having coffee and tea in the same time. She told me I cannot have tea or coffee anytime after breakfast. Because only breakfast is included. Then she screamed at the little bit of water I just spilled on the table, not knowing how to work the kettle. She screamed to me with a very loud voice,”ah!!! Look at this! What you have done! You have to clean everything you use, ok?!” So I said I’m sorry, cleaned everything immediately. She then said “You are not allowed to be in the kitchen after 10:30am, because I have to cook for my son. You can only stay in the kitchen from 8am-10:30am, you understand?” Even though none of this was mentioned at the listing, and I would have never booked the stay if there were such restrictions, as a long term practitioner of Byron Katie’s Love and Peace belief and the philosophy of Taoism, I said to myself, it was all just me, in my own head, that I am projecting this. She is a nice person and I don’t need to pick a fight with her to ruin my stay. And so, I didn’t have more tea or coffee after breakfast, and didn’t set my foot into the kitchen after 10:30 am for the rest of my stay there.

Then on the day of my departure, my flight was at 3:30pm and I planned to leave the apt. at 1:30pm. Since she asked me about my arrival time, but never the departure time, I assumed it was quite flexible. I walked out of the apt. around 11:30, sitting at a cafe quite far from the apt. I texted her just to inform her and ask her if it’s OK that I check out at 1:30pm? She said “no, the check out time is at 11.” I wrote back, “I’m sorry, I didn’t see that earlier and normally, all the hosts on airbnb have asked me before I leave to arrange the departure.” She wrote, “It’s written on the side of your bed. How could you have not seen it? You need to come back and get your luggage.” I said, “OK, I’m sorry I didn’t see it. I’ll need 20 minutes to come back and pack my luggage. Or…I’ve already packed my luggage, you can take it out of my room and leave it in the living room. Please let me know what you prefer to do.” She wrote back. “I will move your luggage.”

When I went back, she immediately fired at me, screaming at me hysterically. Calling me blind, I don’t have eyes, i don’t say thank you, (which is really not true. I feel I’ve said the most thank you and I’m sorry in my life in these three days, also a few of them recorded on my sms exchanges with her.) She called me a bad person, and many ugly names, and did not seem to want to stop after more than 10 minutes of screaming at me. Meanwhile, her grownup son was at the apt., which added more to my fear. At first, I was stunned by the violence and anger coming from this woman, then I thought about an earlier news on NYTimes about an Airbnb user raped by his host. I realised how helpless I was in that situation. Being in a foreign country without speaking the language. Even if she doesn’t physically attack me, though it felt she could any moment, she could have called the police and accused me of some crime. And I would have no way to defend myself in a place most people didn’t speak English at all. Being a 5’3 tall, rather petite Asian-American woman, I never felt unsafe traveling the world. It is what my professional and life requires, and I was proud I didn’t have problems with it. But this time, for the first time, I was seriously scared. The best I could do was to take some short videos of her screaming at me. I think every time I raised my phone, she saw it and would quiet down a bit, walk away. You can view one of the videos here https://www.facebook.com/jenny.q.chai/posts/573688777541.   As soon as I put down my phone, she would come back and scream at me again. This went on for a few times for another while. At some point, I told her I have to use the bathroom before going on the long ride to the airport. She said “no, this is not your time anymore. You cannot use my bathroom.” I said, “I can’t even use your bathroom? I really need to go!” She then screamed to me with this abusive attitude, “say ‘thank you!’” I was too afraid that time, thought the best way would be to comply to her craziness. So I said “thank you.” She seemed to be pleased a little, so I used the bathroom. As soon as I came out of the bathroom, she started firing at me again. At a certain point she went into the kitchen, I thought I saw her coming out from there grabbing something in her hands. I grabbed my things and ran out of her apt.as fast as I could I got on a cab and was still worried that she could call the police to accuse me or harm me somehow. I called the Emergency help line of Airbnb on the cab. Broke down to tears as I was describing the situation to them. I told the representative I was so traumatised. The person was very nice. Said he will wait for me to upload my videos, meanwhile, he’ll cut the contact from that host, because for me, to hear or receive anything more from this person would add more to the trauma. Even though I appreciated the empathy I received from Airbnb, I now feel, what can they really do if terrible things happened to me in that apartment in Bari, Italy? If I were in U.S. or even China, where I speak the language, I could have called the police immediately. I would also like to take legal action to the abusiveness this person demonstrated on me. But in a foreign country, without speaking the language, and Airbnb being the official party, who operates all the way on the east coast in the U.S. while real trauma was happening to me, what could they have done?

Now Airbnb does nothing after even receiving the video.