People Are Sharing Their Horrible Airbnb Experiences After A Woman Shared Hers, And Here Are 30 Of Them

Airbnb horror stories have a way of sounding unbelievable until enough people start chiming in with their own. One woman said a stranger showed up at her apartment claiming they had rented it, even though she had never listed it for rent at all.

What followed was a messy mix of confusion, bad customer support, and a scam that seemed to expose just how easily the platform can be abused. Once she shared her experience online, other people quickly jumped in with their own strange, frustrating, and sometimes outrageous Airbnb run-ins.

Here are 30 of the worst ones people shared after that post. ShireenNHeidari

People online rushed to share their own horror stories, and here are some of them:

#1 You can imagine the audacity

e_elenaaaa

#2 Trying to extort $700 from us for a couch

michaela_allen

#3 They refused to accept my service dog

darafieldsTX

That set the tone for the rest of the thread.

#4 Someone is scamming them like they're scamming you

DevidyalG

#5 Needing better customer service and security protocols

feerifer

#6 Someone fraudulently listed the home I booked

ChocoTacos

#7 My house shows up as a long-term rental

jasrussell

#8 Posted an honest review and it was censored

tboynew

People kept adding more examples of how messy these situations can get.

#9 Rented their newly bought house and it foreclosed

manup_us

#10 It happened to me too

JnikolicNikolic

#11 Such a sick thing to do

blevidorfman

#12 Hijacking pictures of a house on sale

brigett66463036

#13 It's good they caught it

ShireenNHeidari

#14 Might still be existing

MsMillanTeaches

#15 Booked a rental but it was a scam

lizzy863

#16 The Airbnb issues never end

doctorjackpine

By this point, the replies were piling up fast.

It’s also like a student refusing to let their parents move into their college dorm for an Airbnb.

#17 Is this the new Nigerian scam?

DJtruthteller16

#18 Me! I didn't get a full refund

Billy_Fran

#19 Some poor family just got scammed

mbtswilson

#20 Airbnb made my life miserable

ExC__Gale

#21 And a lot more people will see this

scboston888

#22 Driving everyone crazy with their constant reports to code enforcement

_SilverScimitar

#23 My own Airbnb story

SPuro88

#24 Thank you for helping

DonnaHMoeller

#25 This has happened to me once

chloemphoto

Some of the replies were just as frustrating as the original story.

#26 Parroting a strange policy that absolved the company

will_novacek

#27 It's between you and your renter

maddpig

#28 The worst scam ever

peachyoneGCD

#29 We all should check our houses

michelefron

#30 Imagine someone entering your home without permission

nkostelic

Wherever there are opportunities and loopholes to make money, whether online or offline, people will want to exploit and profit from them. In fact, some scammers are on the lookout for such opportunities to pounce on, so we ought to be careful of them.

Have you had any experiences related to this? Do share your thoughts in the comments below.

May this kind of scam stay far away from your doorstep.

For a similar family power struggle, read about parents trying to turn a college dorm into an Airbnb against their student’s wishes.