Greetings ~
After today's headlines I feel the need to extend a warning to all AirBnb hosts in New Zealand, Australia and the UK.
A group of ten British tourists have been in the New Zealand news headlines all through January 2018. They have been not paying for meals, trashing hotel rooms and litering during their stay in Auckland and Hamilton. Last night, they turned up in my city of Wellington, and were sighted making trouble a mere 2 minutes drive away from my house.
The damage toll from the group is estimated to run into the hundreds of thousand as they continue a path of destruction through the country, but the Police and politicians can't move fast enough. They are likely to remain at large for several days before action is taken to arrest and deport them all (it seems to react to a situation like this is more than our criminal justice system is designed to cope with). If they leave on their own, they will likely pop up in Australia or the UK.
Here is the series of events as they have unfolded over the past few weeks:
15 January: First they trashed an Auckland beach.
15 January: Then the NZ Police investigated.
15 January: They said they were just here to see the hobbits.
16 January: Then they stole a Christmas tree.
16 January: And pled guilty to two counts of theft.
16 January: So the NZ government issued a deportation notice with 28 days to leave.
17 January: Then the media reported what they are like back in the UK.
17 January: So the NZ Police Minister called for the group to be sent home immediately.
18 January: Then they turned up in MY HOME TOWN!!
Warning: Some of the video footage contained in these news articles could offend.
Here is a map covering the first few days of their damage path:
What AirBnb Hosts Need to know:
The family are known to use information on private accomodation websites (like AirBnb) to make bookings waaay into the future that they never intend to pay for. They do this to immediately gain access to property addresses and use it to locate vacant rental accomodation (i.e. they choose ones with space in their calendar 'now' then make a booking for the 'future'). They then break in and trash it without the owners knowledge. this link describes what they do - I do not have the stomach to re-write it.
If they turn up at your property, do not engage with them. Call the Police immediately (if you are in New Zealand the number is '111').
If they leave New Zealand before the authorities can act, they are likely to turn up in Australia or the UK.
Meanwhile, I'm going to sleep with a crow bar under my pillow until these jerks are out of my country...
~ Ben