Host Threatens to shoot Guest with Gun

[Drew2411]

We currently have a host who seems to be suffering from service related mental illness. After initially stating trash could be tossed at anytime and agreeing in writing laundry could be done on a stated day if asked in advanced, they did not allow us space to adequately complete this task. He proceeded to hide quietly in the basement as we completed the task, did not remove his laundry from the dryer in time for us to finish our one load. The next morning we are up early for work and go to toss dog feces in the garbage can in the basement. We also try to see if we can now change our wash load to the dryer but his items are still inside. I politely ask him if we can change our load later via text as we are heading to work. The host claims he was startled at us being in the basement early and would’ve met us with a loaded pistol had he not realized it was us. My partner and I suffer from severe anxiety, and myself PTSD related to violent trauma. The host did NOT ever make it clear we should not enter the basement before 8AM. He is aware we have dogs and made it explicitly clear to not leave pet waste around the community. To top it off he stated we overreacted to his gun threat after we apologized for startling him and suggested we text before entering the basement to dispose waste. We have been extremely uncomfortable, my partner has been sick and experiencing panic attacks, but with only a few days left of our stay unable to get a full refund. Will AirBnB customer service assist if I send them screenshots of the threatening conversation? I am unsure how to rectify the situation and the host will not give us space alone to isolate. We did not spend close to $2,000 for this stay to assist with our college and work transition to be harassed and demeaned for our disabilities.

[John5097]

@Anonymous 

That's pretty much what I said in my first post. I wasn't talking about the host right to own a gun. 

"Its against ABB policy for host to have a gun at a listing."

That's what it says in the policy.

So ok I should have said "Its against ABB policy for host to have a gun and not disclose it." 

However even if the host had disclosed, and guest just didn't even see it, he still shouldn't have sent a message like that. But if he didn't disclose it, I would agree, just keep it as simple as possible. "Host didn't disclose he had a gun. And sent a message we could have been shot at 7am for using the shared washer and dryer." 

[John5097]

@Anonymous I wanted add that I think this causing the guest anxiety  is relevant. It’s all very simple to me. Although I also recognized you gave good advice to be careful how to phrase this. 

[Sarah977]

I think the title of this post is rather misleading as the guest's actual account of what happened is not, in fact, that the host threatened to shoot the guest. What the host did do is make it known that, as seems to be the case with many Americans, he had a gun and that it is his first go-to if anything freaks him out or sounds suspicious. Which is pretty scary and strange to those of us from outside the US.

This guy shouldn't be hosting any common spaces if there is any possibility that he would shoot a guest simply because the guest failed to announce the exact time they would be using a common area.

If I were the guest, I would certainly report this to Airbnb.

[Liv]

Hi @Drew2411,

I'm really sorry to hear you felt unsafe during your stay. I hope you and your partner are ok.

May I please ask you to get in touch with Support if you haven't already? The team will be able to look into this for you once you reach out to them.

I hope this helps. Please let us know if you have any other concerns.

Thanks,

Liv