Over the years, many Airbnb horror stories have gone viral. For example, there was an incident in which someone claimed to have found a man hiding under their bed. A second said that they were being harassed by a host after leaving the property an “honest” review.
A prominent theme of these stories is getting stuck outside of the rental and finding few if any resources for resolving the issue. One user alleged they had to break back into their rental after getting locked out; another claimed that their host locked them out in the middle of the night.
Now, an additional “locked out of an Airbnb” story has sparked discussion on TikTok. In a series of several videos, TikTok user Ginaa (@ginaadouglas) says that she and her family returned to their Airbnb at around 10:30 PM, only to find that the codebox used to enter the property was no longer functional.
After their host failed to answer, Ginaa reached out to Airbnb directly. Their response, she says, was unsatisfactory.
“Support’s suggestion to me was, to take me, my husband, and my four children to go to a coffee shop, and they’ll reimburse us up to $50,” she shares.
Later, she adds, “There’s no way you’re telling that we’re locked out of our Airbnb going on an hour now, it’s 12 o’clock at night almost, and you’re telling me to go to a coffee shop with my 4 children to buy something and you would reimburse us. Are y’all nuts?”
@ginaadouglas Airbnb can count their days cause no way!! #florida #airbnb #viral #foryou #foryoupage #viralvideo #viraltiktok #fyp ♬ original sound – Keeping Up W/The Pierce's 🖤
Eventually, it seems that Airbnb was able to put the family in a hotel room for the night, though this did not come until around 1 a.m.
In a video taken the following morning, Ginaa says that the Airbnb host was still not responding. While Ginaa expresses gratitude that Airbnb is trying to place her in another property, she notes that her family’s items are still located in the original Airbnb. This means that several aspects of their vacation, such as a planned beach day, are no longer possible.
@ginaadouglas They finally put us in a hotel 3 hours later 😩 Airbnb then blew it for the year!! @airbnb #viralvideo #foryou #florida #viraltiktok #fypシ ♬ original sound – Keeping Up W/The Pierce's 🖤
@ginaadouglas Not much of an update but yeap it’s 40 minutes until check out at this hotel & our host is still NOT responding 😩 theyre now talking about putting us in a THIRD listing! Not to mention we have came out of a ton of money on (parking,breakfast,deposits). I was trying to be lenient, but Airbnb will definitely have to give us a FULL refund! Ill keep youll updated from here #airbnbhost #Florida #airbnb#viralvideo #foryou #vacation #ruined ♬ original sound – Keeping Up W/The Pierce's 🖤
Upon returning to the property, Ginaa says they were able to enter the property through a window. She further states that Airbnb promised to provide her with a refund for her Airbnb rental and the additional costs incurred by the circumstances surrounding the hotel stay.
Airbnb finally secured a replacement rental for Ginaa and her family. While she is again thankful for the move, she expresses frustration that a significant portion of her vacation was taken up by dealing with issues surrounding their rental.
@ginaadouglas Dont mind my face when he got through the window 😂 yall they had me crying cause if yk me yk i need everything to go PERFECT & this was a nightmare & we still have to look for another listing wen we are suppose to be at the beach right now! As long as they refund my $950 expeditiously & get us in another airbnb ASAP we might be alright! #foryourpage #foryou #airbnb #viral #viralvideo #florida #vaca #viraltiktok ♬ original sound – Keeping Up W/The Pierce's 🖤
@ginaadouglas Last Update Hopefully 😩 We were able to get into a 3rd airbnb listing free of charge (3 beds & 3baths) 🥳🌴 the devil tried it! Let me finish making my babies trip memorable. Thanks for all the support & suggestions now dont forget to like our Beach video 😂🎉🌴 #fyp #viral #florida #foryourpage #airbnb ♬ original sound – Keeping Up W/The Pierce's 🖤
In the comments section, users shared their own thoughts on utilizing Airbnb rentals.
“We had an Airbnb nightmare too!! Found out home was illegal on Airbnb and I was taped showering,” alleged a commenter.
“Thanksgiving holiday they put my family in a home with no ac in south Florida. According to the neighbor airbnb is aware ac has never worked properly,” recounted another. “Only refunded me $100. My review was never posted.”
“The same thing happened with my family,” stated a third. “Finally found a place at 3:00 am.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Airbnb via email and Ginaa via TikTok direct message.
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