Post by High Priestess on Jan 7, 2016 16:23:44 GMT
Airbnb racks up damage bills after New Year's Eve parties, orgy
In Oakland, it was a 200-person rager. In Montreal, it was a drug-fueled orgy in the living room. In London, it was a raucous party that ended with a punch.
Around the world on New Year's Eve, what looks to be a handful of Airbnb users were trashing their host's homes.
The disgruntled homeowners have received promises of support and monetary aid from Airbnb, which has banned the partying guests. But the hosts are upset nonetheless, with one vowing to stop using the short-term rental platform.
More than 1 million guests used Airbnb on New Year's Eve, an Airbnb spokesman said, but the exact number of damage complaints is unclear. Airbnb was unable to provide that data — nor could a spokesperson divulge how much the short-term rental site had agreed to pay out to unhappy hosts— in time for publication. The spokesperson could also not provide an estimated time frame for how long it would take to do so, although they did say such damage complaints are rare. Airbnb reimburses hosts for up to $1 million for damage.
Last year, Airbnb had 540 reports of "significant property damage," which cost more than $1,000 Last year, Airbnb had 540 reports of "significant property damage," which cost more than $1,000, according to the Guardian. It had roughly 35 million guests during that time period.
Some of the hosts who found their homes destroyed on New Year's Eve had their own shortcomings. One admits to not properly screening the guest and another rented out a room even though they didn't really want to because the inquirer was "desperate."
The Oakland rager
Reshma Vasanwala thought she had rented her home in the East Bay to an older man from Chicago. She was wrong. Rather, it was an 18-year-old who threw a 200-person party filled with cigarettes, booze and destructive guests.
Vasanwala, who was out of town, was told about the rager by a worried neighbor, according to ABC 7. When she got home, the party was over and the guest was gone. He was later arrested for vandalism by police when he returned to the home after Vasanwala called him.
Vasanwala said she won't be listing her house on Airbnb again, and admits she didn't screen the guest as much as she should have. For its part, Airbnb says it's working with Vasanwala under its insurance policy, according to ABC 7.
In the days since the bash, some partygoers have been showing up to Vasanwala's house looking for their lost stuff.
"The audacity was beyond me," Jim Santi Owen, Vasanwala's partner, said. "Like really, you've done this to our home and you're concerned we're not giving you your sweat jacket right away?"
Sassy party host in London
Christina McQuillan's London apartment suffered a similar fate as Vasanwala's. The magazine designer also got a call from an upset neighbor after dozens of people were heard partying on New Year's Eve, with even more revelers seen out on the street. McQuillan found trash—and joints—strewn about her apartment.
McQuillan, who called police after she was allegedly punched by a man when she tried to break up the party, said when she told the guest renting her apartment to go, she got a sassy response.
"This girl just laughed and said ‘No, I’m holding a party,'”
Initially, the guest said she wanted to rent the apartment solely to sleep there for the night, McQuillan said—although the guest has disputed that in the press. Airbnb has offered to pay for damage.
Cocaine and an orgy in Montreal
The damage at a Montreal apartment after a New Year's Eve surprise wasn't as extensive as that following the Oakland and London parties, but the Airbnb hosts were just as disturbed.
Justine Smith and her husband Francisco Peres rented out two of the three bedrooms in their apartment—on their wedding night, nonetheless. They rented one room to a single guest and the other to a couple. They had used Airbnb about 50 times prior to rent out one of the rooms in the apartment since spring 2015 with no problems, according to CBC.
In the middle of the night this time, the newlyweds heard the couple snorting cocaine in the living room. Then around 5 a.m. they heard people having sex in the living room.
"They weren't very loud. They weren't screaming. Am I really going to get up at 5 a.m. and tell them to stop?" Smith told the CBC.
The other single guest told Smith that when he got up to go to the bathroom he saw five people having sex on the carpet, Smith wrote in a post for Vice. He went back to his room and didn't say anything.
Smith tweeted at Airbnb the next morning and described the company as helpful. Airbnb offered to pay for a soiled rug that Smith tossed — it was just too tainted by the orgy. The cocaine-snorting guests meanwhile left a note the next morning apologizing.
"We were honestly just fucked up," the note read.
How to prevent this from happening to you
Airbnb is built on trust, the spokesperson told Mashable, encouraging hosts to protect themselves from deceitful guests. Check if a guest has a verified ID, which connects a person's driver’s license or passport with the online profile, or deliver the key in person. In addition, read reviews on guests' profiles to learn more about their history.