Possible scam help! Not sure how to approach this.

Joel239
Level 2
Brownsville, TX

Possible scam help! Not sure how to approach this.

So im not sure how to approach this but i need some advice on what to do, if anything. So for the first time i booked an airbnb from Wednesday, June 27th to Saturday, June 30th in Austin, Texas. I booked a month in advance and this host had good reviews and was verified. We get to the airbnb and immediately notice that the flat screen TV and large dresser from the pictures of the airbnb that was upstairs in the master bedroom were gone. I was confused and a little annoyed, so i take a picture of the missing items and send them to her asking if she knew about them being missing (she says she didnt know they were gone, along with a "thank you for letting me know"). So i stay the rest of my time in Austin with no further problems and drive back home. On July 4th i find out via email that she filed a claim to Airbnb saying that i stole the TV and dresser upstairs (that I made her aware of), another large TV downstairs, a coffee table, a mini fridge, and a printer worth a total of 3000+ dollars! In the claim she took pictures of the rooms empty without any furniture and submitted them, making it seem like i stripped the airbnb of all expensive items. I also get word that the case has been closed so we do not owe her any money, thank god, but my problem is the fact that it seems highly unlikely all of those items went missing conveniently before, and AFTER we check out. This lady didnt even message me to ask any questions, just went straight to trying to get me to pay 3000 dollars. it seems to be she is trying to scam into me paying her for stolen items that i obviously did not steal.  how do i get her properly reported/ what should i do? this is not right and i want to prevent her from hurting other people that might not be vigilant. 

2 Replies 2
Letti0
Level 10
Atascosa, TX

@Joel239  First thing is report the listing and the hosts profile using the flag on each to do so. I am gonna need to mull this one over before I can say what after that other than a really bad review. What has me a little concerned is if she did file a police report which would be required to get compenstated from AIrBnB, they may come knocking on your door. Make sure to copy any texts you sent regarding this issue and the photos you took to both your computer and the AirBnB messaging system. That's all I got at the moment, but I will keep thinking on this one. Maybe some of the other hosts will have better suggestions. 

when she made the claim she also included pictures of the police report case number and the officer involved and his badge number and contact information, so i will be contacting the officer. She seems like she is pretty confident if she is willing to open up a case to the police even knowing our airbnb messages invalides her claim. Also, unfortunetly i cannot leave a bad review anymore.. i left one before this happened and it was fairly nice even though the place itself was ugly and dirty ( i know how much of an effect a bad review has on a host), so the most i could do is delete my review.