Family's Bizarre Find After Checking Into Airbnb Is Legit Wild

A lot of unlucky people who've been scammed on Airbnb were deceived by the false promise of what looked like a normal listing. They got lured in by nice looking photos of a great property, only to arrive at the address to find that the real thing was not what was advertised - or worse, didn't even exist at all!

But the bizarre bait-and-switch situation that parents Ty and Kim encountered at their 4th of July Airbnb was a little different from the norm. Technically, the Airbnb they rented was exactly how it appeared in the listing's photos, but... well, I'll let Kim explain what happened.

This is just bizarre! As Kim from @tyandkim explained, they're not Airbnb novices, and they even own an Airbnb property, but they'd never encountered anything like this before. It was just unthinkable for the listing to seemingly advertise all these fancy amenities - an outdoor kitchen , a boat dock, etc.- only for everything to be zip-tied down and unusable when they arrived. And when Kim said everything was inaccessible to them, she meant it: even the kitchen cabinets and closet were off-limits!

Related: 'Coolest' Airbnb in North Carolina Comes with a Natural Waterfall Slide

Undeniable Proof

Most of Kim's followers were immediately shocked on her behalf by just the story alone. This being the internet, though, some skeptics called bull, suspecting that Kim was just making this whole thing up... but Kim was ready with the receipts:

This just keeps getting more outrageous! Obviously, Kim wasn't lying about everything being zip-tied shut inside and out (even the deck furniture), but it only got worse from there. The hosts had cameras everywhere and were clearly watching them like hawks, considering that they knew immediately when the family popped the zip-tie on the grill, and got on them for tying their boat to the boat dock. Oh, and the deck was in shambles and had an ant infestation, too. Wonderful.

Even the spaces that weren't locked shut and camera-monitored were functionally rendered unusable. The guest room closet was completely full of the owners' belongings, and every single shelf of the fridge was packed out with alcohol (real classy stuff, that). Even by Airbnb horror story standards, the whole situation was just ludicrous!

"We own an Airbnb at the beach and would never restrict our guests from using the property," Kim added in her caption.

False Advertising on Airbnb

It's one thing for an Airbnb host to have personal amenities they don't want guests using if they're renting out part of their primary residence (though not allowing guests to even use cabinets, closets, or fridges is just ridiculous). However, it's another thing to photograph and list those off-limits amenities like they're part of the package deal, only for guests to find out they've been basically scammed when they arrive. Though Kim didn't post photos of the listing itself, that appears to be what happened based on her story.

"If they listed the amenities, that means you should be able to use them. I would request a [partial refund] or something," said @cantbeaya, advice that a lot of users echoed.

Checking Airbnb's refund policy , I'd say this is a refund-eligible reservation issue falling under the "accomodations are significantly different than advertised" scenario, considering that the featured amenities "didn't function" as advertised (if they're zip-tied and off-limits, they're functionally non-functional). If I were Kim, I'd try to get at least some of my money back before it's too late to request a refund... and if you ever find yourself in this situation, I'd suggest you do the same!

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