Speaker 1: I owned an Airbnb house for several years. I stopped
due to the stress of keeping up with it as
well as maintaining my actual job. The benefit of using
Airbnb instead of renting the place out like you normally
would is that you would have the chance to make
a lot more money if your house gets booked a lot.
Being in a relatively high traffic area for vacations, Airbnb
was a great option for us. My wife and I
were excited in the beginning, but it got more demanding
as more people booked the house. We needed to keep
everything on schedule and higher cleaning services after the first
customers left and before the next ones came, as well
as be sure to respond to their messages and emails
in a timely manner. But things were going well for
a couple of years before we had what we thought
was a young couple staying at the house. Just like
every other time, when they arrived, at them the unlock
code for the door. I almost never actually see the customers.
After they let me know that they were inside and
everything was good, I sat back and relaxed for the
rest of my day off. I should also mention that
I almost never even talked to the customers more than
just a couple texts. Usually they text me when they
get there and when they leave, and sometimes an occasional
question about the house. But that's usually it. But as
nine o'clock came around and I was just about to
get ready for bed, I got a text from the
young man staying at the house. It was short, saying
he was going to call me in a minute, and
then a minute later he called. I already had a
bad feeling when I saw the text, but what he
said still surprised me. He said that the water wasn't
working in the house. Of course, I apologized, though I
didn't understand how that could be possible, But living in
a house without water is unacceptable, so I knew I
had to get it fixed immediately. I asked if I
could come check it out really quick so that I
could have someone come in the morning to fix it.
He agreed, being very polite about the whole thing, and
I drove over there a few minutes later. Pulling into
the driveway, I noticed two cars. At the time, this
wasn't necessarily a red flag, but more just an odd
thing I noticed because they were apparently a young couple
on vacation for a single night, so I didn't understand
why they would rent two separate cars. I thought someone
must be visiting them, which actually isn't allowed, but I
didn't mind so much. I walked up to the front
door and knocked before entering the code and walking inside.
It was very quiet. I expected them to be waiting
for me, but they weren't anywhere that I could see.
I probably should have looked around for them first, but
I was tired and just wanted to get this over with.
The first thing I wanted to check was the main
water valve to make sure there was a leak or
a flood. So I went down to the basement and
over to the valve. Everything seemed normal, no water anywhere
or signs of damage. I was confused, but then I
fiddled with the valve and immediately heard water start rushing again.
I turned it more, realizing it had been completely shut
off manually. I stayed in the basement for another minute,
trying to understand why this was done before I started
to get a really uncomfortable feeling, especially since I didn't
even see the people when I walked inside. I just
couldn't see how it could have been anyone other than
them who turned off the water, which meant they were
trying to get me to come over on purpose, or
maybe give them a discount on their stay for the inconvenience.
I decided I was going to leave and get my car,
then try calling them back. Just to be safe. I
got up and started walking towards the stairs until I
heard the basement door open, followed by multiple sets of
footsteps walking down. When they got to the bottom, three
men stood there. Is it fixed, one of them said,
sounding like the same man I talked to on the phone,
though all of these men were much older than the
young man that I thought was staying at the house.
I told him it should be working now, and that
the valve must have just tightened on its own. I
was trying not to point any blame, since the whole
thing was making me so uncomfortable. I just wanted to
get out of that basement and away from these guys.
They all just kind of stood there looking at me,
not saying anything. After that, Well, let me know if
you need anything else, I said, walking between them trying
to get to the stairs. They still just stood there
watching me walk around them. But as I went past
the third guy closest to the stairs, I spotted a
gun shoved in the back of his pants. It made
me freak out a little, and I rushed a bit
quicker up the stairs, but they didn't follow. They stayed
in the basement as I quickly walked out the door
and drove away. When I got home, I woke up
my wife and told her what had happened. She convinced
me to call the police to check up on them.
They weren't the people we thought were staying there, and
the situation was strange, so it felt justified. I think
we waited twenty minutes before a call came from an
officer claiming nobody seemed to be home and that he
may need me to open the door. I gave him
the code instead, and he called back another twenty minutes later,
saying that there was no signs of anyone still being there.
The next day we found out the card the man
paid with was stolen, and after looking around the house,
they had stolen some expensive decorations and appliances as well.
I guess there never actually was a young couple either.
The one thing that was left unexplained was their whole
plan with the water not working. I think they either
wanted me to not charge them for their stay so
that hopefully they could use the stolen car for longer,
or they were planning on robbing me at gunpoint. But
then that makes me question why they didn't. Three dangerous
unidentified men blocking my exit in the basement after leading
me into a trap, and they just let me go.
It doesn't make sense to me. But after that, I
never went to the house while customers were home, and
a few months later we stopped using Airbnb and just
put the house up for rent. I was taking a
solo trip to Salt Lake City last year. I'd never
actually had the chance to go on many vacations before,
and when I did, it was always with my family.
This was the first time I was finally going to
get to enjoy my time somewhere else all by myself.
I know it sounds a bit weird, but being alone
is fine with me, especially since I'd never get to
be alone anyway. I looked up both hot tells in
airbnbs in the area, and surprisingly the airbnbs were a
lot nicer and less pricey. However, all the cheaper ones
were a bit further away from the city, I was
driving my own car, though, so I didn't care too
much about having to travel a bit to the city
and went with a nicely sized airbnb. It was small,
but the kitchen and bedroom were nice, which was all
I really cared about. I got there at six on
Sunday morning. The owner texted me the password and I
brought all of my stuff inside. It was really nice,
much better than the small apartment I shared with my roommate.
Once I got everything inside and set up, I hopped
on the couch and turned on the TV. It was
a ten hour drive, so I was looking forward to
chilling for the night and enjoying the silence. I fell
asleep pretty quickly, but it was only around seven o'clock,
so my body woke me up a few hours later.
The time was just past ten and the TV was
still on. I grabbed the remote and turned it off,
then got up to get a glass of water before
going to the bedroom. As I walked from the living
room to the kitchen, I felt a strong cold breeze
brush against me. With my tired eyes, I looked to
my right and saw the front door was fully open.
My eyes shot open and my heart pounded. I stared
at the door for a moment, then looked around the room.
I knew I had closed it and locked it, so
this was really freaking me out. I walked over to
the door and closed it softly, listening intently for any
sounds of someone being inside. For reference. I'm not the
biggest guy in the world, but I am fairly tall
and in shape, so unless an intruder had a gun,
I felt confident I could force them away. I grabbed
a kitchen knife, still being quiet, and walked room to room,
checking every inch of the house. Nobody was there. This
only confused me more, and I sent a text to
the homeowner asking if someone was supposed to come over
tonight or something, explaining what happened. It was late, though,
so I didn't expect a response right away. I went
around to every door, locking each one, then quickly checked
the house again. While more awake than I was before,
I was still really tired. I went to bed and
fell asleep with no trouble. When I woke up, though,
I was much less calm than I was before. I
heard something from outside, not outside the house, but outside
my bedroom door. I didn't know what to do and
kind of just froze, waiting for whoever was outside the
room to do something first. As I sat there in bed,
I thought about how the person could have possibly gotten in.
The only person who would have the password to the
door was the homeowner, so honestly, in that moment, I
was sure it was him. This gave me more courage,
thinking it must be some creepy guy who likes the
spy on the people who stay at his airbnb. I
got out of bed, still not having heard anything else,
and grabbed my phone from the nightstand to call the cops.
I must have made too much noise, though, because almost
right away someone started running away from the door and
toward the front of the house. That only frightened me more,
knowing the intruder was standing right next to the bedroom
door the entire time I dialed nine one one, But
during the time it took for the cops to arrive,
nothing else happened. The person had left. I found a
hotel to stay at for the rest of the vacation.
But what's crazy is that the owner of the airbnb
gave me a refund as he was able to prove
it wasn't him. He was very concerned about it and
he was actually a really nice old man. It was
already creepy enough when I thought it was the owner,
but knowing that it was just some random guy makes
it even worse. I don't know how he was able
to get in or why he was stalking me, but
it still gives me chills thinking about it. The part
I think about the most is waking up and seeing
the front door open. Now that I know that someone
was actually in the house, that meant that whoever it
was came in and saw me asleep on the couch,
then proceeded to do whatever it was they came there
to do. It's just really unnerving and creepy and makes
me never want to be at an airbnb alone. I
was staying at a small, two bedroom Airbnb during a
vacation I took last year. This place was on the
way to another airbnb that I was going to stay
at for the main portion of the vacation, but this
was more of just a rest for the night. The
place was clean and empty, just as expected. When I arrived,
I walked around the whole house to check it out
before bringing in my luggage and sitting on the couch.
It was probably eight pm by this time of night.
As I sat dozing off a little, the doorbell ringing
made me jolt awake. I looked over at the front door,
confused and alarmed. I was a pretty small young girl,
so it's safe to say I'm often scared easily and
don't like talking the strangers, especially at night when I'm alone.
I got up and walked over to the door, hearing
two men whispering to each other on the other side.
The door didn't have a safety lock or anything, so
I just kept the door shut and called out to them. Hello, Hey,
we're here for the Airbnb. Can you open the door?
A man called out. I loudly asked what they meant,
not understanding what being here for the Airbnb be was
supposed to mean. He responded saying that he had the
place booked for the night. I knew there had to
be some sort of mistake, so I told him, still
yelling through the door, that I had it booked as well,
and that he needed to contact the owner. The man
didn't seem happy about that, although if I were in
his position, I'd be pretty upset too. I heard one
pair of footsteps walk away from the door while the
other man asked again if I could open the door
so that we could talk about it. I was about
to give in, putting my hand on the doorknob, thinking
that he seemed believable, but something came over me, telling
me to just play it safe. I said my husband
would be down to figure it out in a few minutes.
I didn't want them to think I was alone, so
I was hoping that I would catch him off guard
if something was bad. The man didn't respond, though, I
waited for another minute because I didn't hear any footsteps leaving,
but then I moved the show curtained to the side
and looked out the small window. The man I'd seemingly
been talking to was facing towards his car parked in
the driveway, and passed him. Was one of the most
terrifying things I've ever seen. A group of maybe five
people was standing further down the driveway, kind of hiding,
as if waiting for a signal. They all had some
form of face coverings, and I couldn't see the other
side of the door, but I assumed there were even
more people over there. Knowing that this was very likely
a gang. Due to the city I was staying in,
I was completely horrified. I backed away from the door,
fully panicked and trying not to hyperventilate. I then went
to the bedroom to get my phone and call the police,
and I could hear more footsteps all around the house.
It was like I was surrounded by a pack of
wolves who at any minute could crush the windows and
break inside. I took my phone into the bathroom with
me and nine, trying to remain calm. The operator also
told me to be quiet and stay calm, as they
were sending a group my way and would be there
in just a few minutes. I stayed on the line,
still hearing footsteps walking around outside the place, until the
horrible sound of wood bending and then snapping came from
the front door. I was crying profusely, now trying to
muffle my mouth with my hand. I listened as a
whole group of people ran inside, opening doors and cabinets.
Before one approached the bathroom door and tried the handle. Here,
he yelled, then walked away. The group continued looting the
house before sirens were heard in the distance and they
began to scatter out of the place. They had all
left by the time the police got inside, and all
of my luggage was gone, and my car had its
windows shattered and was looted as well. One of the
off sat with me to discuss some details, and he
informed me that they've been having problems with large groups
or gangs breaking into homes recently. They don't think the
main goal is to hurt the residents at all, but
rather to just rob them of everything, so that's likely
why they left me alone in the bathroom, knowing I
wasn't a threat. Whether their intentions were to harm me
or not, it was still terrifying. I know it likely
had little to do with me staying at the airbnb
that night, but it has still made me really anxious
every single time I stay at an Airbnb now