An Ottawa woman says she has repeatedly found deluded tourists on her doorstep who believed they had rented her house on Airbnb, and never received an answer as to how it happened.
Strangers who insist they rented her home through the popular online platform first knocked on Camille Sue’s door about two months ago, although the new mother says she doesn’t even have an Airbnb account, let alone list her house.
When CBC contacted the company, Airbnb said a series of unwanted visits were caused by a typo.
“Repeat the mistake four times? I think it’s kind of ridiculous, “Xu said, adding that the strange and annoying visits made her consider leaving the neighborhood.
Xu, who lives in the southern suburbs of Ottawa, Baravan, says she will find passengers with tow suitcases and will have to convince them that her home is not available.
Each time the passengers tried to prove that they had legally booked her house. Each time Xu was forced to take the awkward and annoying position of having to close the door to complete strangers who had already paid a non-refundable fee.
“Strangers are approaching who want to move into your house,” said Sue, who eventually placed a handwritten sign on her front door to discourage visits.
Camille Sue, the new mother, has lived with her family in the Ottawa suburb of Baraven for seven years. (Stu Mills / CBC)
Typo for rent nearby
Xu said she had contacted Airbnb twice and each time she was told a special team would be assigned to respond. They never did.
“They continue to impose responsibility on you instead of understanding what is happening. Why is no one solving the problem?
Xu did learn from unwanted visitors that the host offering his home for rent was called a Book. Eventually, she downloaded the Airbnb app so she could check the availability schedule in the ads on that account.
“It drives me crazy,” she said.
Airbnb declined to be interviewed about the case, but told CBC that a legitimate user made a typographical error while entering an address to indicate a new lease in the same neighborhood.
The company said that to prevent misrepresentation, only Airbnb could change the address of the accommodation after the ad was released live.
The sign Camille Sue put on her door tells people that her home is not an Airbnb ad. (Stu Mills / CBC)
Visitors kept coming
Although Xu contacted the company for unwanted visitors for several weeks, the list continued to direct passengers to her house.
In a statement from CBC, an Airbnb Book user disputed that there had ever been a problem.
“I do not know if anyone went to the wrong address. Be careful, “the user replied before blocking the reporter from further messages.
Xu said she wonders why the ads on the account cost about a third of the price of similar homes in her area.
Visitors to Camille Sue’s door showed her that they had booked with a host named “Book”, although this user denied that there was any confusion about the address of the ad. (Stu Mills / CBC)
The woman’s experience is “fishy,” the expert said
The CBC was unable to track any of the four groups arriving at Xu’s home because they never complained to Book that they had been sent to the wrong address.
Xu says she began worrying about the security of her Barrhaven neighborhood during a month of visiting strangers. (Stu Mills / CBC)
Asher Ferguson, a travel researcher who has been investigating complaints against Airbnb for several years, believes the bills may have been complained about. He called Xu’s experiences “fishy” and reminiscent of the 2017 meeting that inspired him to begin his research.
In this case, Ferguson and his young family were challenged to find their ad on Airbnb. They were redirected once and then told that they would have to pay in cash due to a “payment processing problem” with the platform.
Ferguson continues to urge Airbnb to do more to confirm that the listed properties are where they say they are and to ensure that there is greater security when verifying host identification.
The hosts continue to advertise non-existent properties or create several ads for the same place at different prices and then cancel for guests who have booked at lower prices, he said.
Ferguson suggests that passengers avoid ads with reviews below 4.85 / 5 and those with less than 30 reviews.
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