Photo via YouTube
While lodging website Airbnb continues to simplify the accommodation booking process for many and benefit the trustful property owners who use it, it seems the concept is not without a degree of risk.
An unsuspecting Canadian couple's most recent experience with Airbnb resulted in more than $50,000 in damage. In addition to broken glass, ruined floors and furniture and damaged walls, Mark and Star King returned to their Sage Hill, Calgary home to find mayonnaise on sofa cushions, barbeque sauce on the ceiling and clogged toilets.
The couple rented their home out for an extended weekend (Sunday through Tuesday) to a group of four people supposedly attending a wedding. However, the guest number quickly skyrocketed.
"The neighbours report a party bus and upwards of 100 people in our house and after two days of this, we were unaware, finally a neighbour texts me," said Mark via the Globe and Mail.
"The police were here before we got here," he added. "They had been here seven times, with no co-operation from the people that were in here that had had a party for two nights and all day in between."
After begging the people to leave the house, the couple was able to get inside and survey the damage. "When we came in, one of the police said this isn't a party, this was a drug-induced orgy," said Mark, who noted they were "almost knocked over by the fumes."
What's more, the Kings will need a hazmat crew to sweep through the house before they can return.
The brief walk through video below shows the severity of the damage:
Airbnb spokesman Jakob Kerr said the company has banned the guest from booking on Airbnb again, and rightfully so.
"We have zero tolerance for this kind of behavior and our team is working quickly to make this right," Kerr wrote in an email statement via CBC News. "Over 35 million guests have stayed on Airbnb, and property damage is extremely rare."
The police will continue their investigation, but in the meantime, CBC News reports that Airbnb plans to reimburse the couple through its Host Guarantee insurance policy.
If authorities are able to locate the man who booked the property, he could face a charge of mischief to property of over $5,000.
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