When you become an Airbnb host, you are welcoming strangers into your home and you never know what kind of people will be arriving. On the other hand, as a guest, you never know what kind of home you are entering and despite good reviews, it’s smart to be cautious either way.
So this woman was quite scared when she checked into an Airbnb and the next morning got a message from the company saying to leave immediately and not tell the host about it. It got more confusing when the host also messaged her saying not to listen to Airbnb if they sent any messages for her.
Woman came to her Airbnb in the evening and after spending the night, she was asked by the company to leave as soon as she could and hide the fact from the host
Image credits: _spookytooth
The TikTok user, who goes by _spookytooth on the app, usually shares makeup looks and tattoo content as she is a manager at a tattoo shop and shares some snippets from her life. When Bored Panda contacted Casper, we found out that she is a 25-year-old from New York.
She went on a vacation in the Philly area from October 6th to October 9th for an exciting trip to look around haunted houses in the area which are Bates Motel in, Field Of Screams, Penshurst Asylum and Eastern State Penitentiary if you need some inspiration for the spooky season entertainment yourself.
Casper and her boyfriend rented an Airbnb. It was "a room in a large home that the hoist also lived inside of and was home the entire time." But not long after settling into it, they both needed to leave.
It started on Thursday when Casper and her boyfriend checked in early in the evening and went to sleep. While they were asleep, Airbnb messaged the couple telling them to check out as soon as possible and not inform the host about it. What they also missed was a message a bit later from the host of the house who told them to ignore any messages that Airbnb might.
As Airbnb hasn't received a response at 7am they called Casper’s phone, but she was asleep so she didn’t pick up. When she finally woke up, the woman saw all the messages and missed calls which alerted her so both she and her boyfriend started packing.
Image credits: _spookytooth
She packed her bags and left, deciding to ask questions later, as it's not that usual to get contacted by Airbnb
Image credits: _spookytooth
Casper gathered that it must be important, so she didn’t ask questions and left the house with her boyfriend. Casper described to us what was going through her mind at that moment, "When we first saw the message from Airbnb I instantly pictured the Netflix documentary on our disappearance."
It was only then that woman checked her phone again and noticed that her host had contacted her the previous evening as well, telling the guest to ignore Airbnb if they sent her weird messages. In this situation, Casper decided to trust the company and didn’t go back to the house.
But that wasn’t the end of it. The host called the woman later in the day because they thought she was still in the house and found out she left only after seeing the original TikTok video, as it went pretty viral with 12.5 million views.
When the woman and her boyfriend left, she saw that the host had contacted her as well the night before, asking her to ignore anything Airbnb may say about the house
Image credits: _spookytooth
Image credits: _spookytooth
Turns out, Airbnb was alerted by the previous guests who had said "dangerous" things. The company itself didn’t go into much detail but explained that the host violated the terms of service and guidelines. Casper herself is still confused about everything and the experience scared her.
Although people had their own theories, "The most common theory in my comments is that there were hidden cameras. I have no comment on this because I have no proof in either direction. I also would love to believe that this is not the case. The woman also added, "At this point I am not sure on what to believe, I’m just happy that we are safe."
Luckily, the story has a happy ending and Casper and her boyfriend were provided a hotel room by Airbnb. The TikToker told us that "Airbnb sent the information for multiple local hotels in the area and let [her] choose one and put [her] up for free." Airbnb also provided Casper a refund, so this is one of the rarer stories of the company actually caring for their customers and quickly solving their issues.
The host also called the woman explaining that the previous guests lied about their stay and that was what was happening
Image credits: _spookytooth
Image credits: _spookytooth
It is possible that the host was telling the truth that the previous guests came up with things that were not true and their house was safe to stay in. But when Airbnb contacts you first and tells you to get out, you get a bit suspicious.
People in the comments were speculating that the host must have done something serious if Airbnb went behind his back asking the guests to leave. Also, they found it weird that the host knew Airbnb would contact the guests, which may indicate that this was not the first time he had been in a similar situation.
Casper also noticed that people "found it very strange about his request to disregard the messages from Airbnb and let [them] stay there since if [they] stayed, [they] would be refunded and stayed there for free."
Airbnb didn't give a better explanation either, but it seems that the host violated their policy
Image credits: _spookytooth
Many people were also pointing out that this is only an Airbnb problem and you don’t have similar issues when you are staying at a hotel. When Airbnb first launched, people thought it was a breath of fresh air because not only were they cheaper, but they provided a sense of home and offered a bigger variety of locations.
Staying at an Airbnb is still quite popular, as a survey conducted by Clever Real Estate shows that 60 percent of tourists still prefer Airbnbs over hotels after having stayed at both. Although business travelers have a different opinion and 68 percent of them find hotels provide a more pleasant experience.
Casper doesn't know for sure what was the reason for the commotion and was frightened by the situation
Image credits: _spookytooth
With more of similar stories like these surfacing, with guests finding hidden cameras and being asked to clean up after themselves but being charged enormous cleaning fees anyway, it would seem logical that Airbnb’s popularity would decline.
But actually, it is doing as well as ever and got back on its feet after being heavily affected by strike lockdown rules. According to Business of Apps, Airbnb is doing better in terms of revenue in the second quarter of 2022 than they did the same time in 2019, which was even before there was a hint of COVID-19.
But at least Airbnb fully refunded her and paid for her stay in a hotel
Image credits: _spookytooth
Airbnb still remains cheaper for many tourists, especially when you compare the size of a house or apartment to a hotel room with the price. They also have more variety in type of lodging, size, room amount, the view, interior and location. It allows tourists to feel like locals because they aren’t necessarily living in the tourist areas where hotels usually are. And despite all the problems and safety issues, they are considered to be a trustworthy business.
For Casper this was was quite a stay and she told us that "My future on using Airbnb is iffy. While this whole situation was crazy I deeply respect and appreciate the way that Airbnb handled the situation. Very quick communication and a nice hotel room so it didn’t ruin our vacation. Is it worth the risk again? Probably not."
You can watch Casper explaining the story in the video below
Do you think there are more reasons why Airbnb is so popular despite the negative experiences people share online? Why do you think Casper was told by Airbnb to leave the property and not tell the host? Have you ever had that happen to you? We are curious to hear your thoughts and similar stories in the comments!
People in the comments believed that Airbnb wouldn't act like this if it wasn't serious and found the host's message about disregarding Airbnb's messages suspicious
