A London family paid £2,290 for Airbnb with ‘mildew, dampness and nails sticking out of the walls’
A London family said they lost £7,000 out of pocket after the Airbnb they moved into was covered in mold and damp. They paid over £2,290 and claim that on arrival they also faced a number of security issues including exposed cables and nails sticking out of the walls.
Family member Jamie told MyLondon there was an ‘almost endless list of issues’ with the house. He says these became evident as soon as they moved in, as a bin bag and ‘poor quality plumbing’ around the front door indicated the property was not what it seemed on his Airbnb SEO.
READ MORE: ‘My family moved 200 miles away because the house was too dirty for 2 cleaning companies’
(Picture: Jamie)
The young family relied on Airbnb to bridge the gap between selling their old apartment and buying a home. Jamie said: “Instead we had three miserable days frantically looking for another place to live that was commutable to my daughter’s school.”
He described exposed cables on and near the stairs that were a tripping hazard for his children.
On the Airbnb listing, photos show a large bathroom with a feature window, but Jamie says he found the bathroom in poor condition, with a faulty doorknob and significant mold on the window.
(Picture: Jamie)
He claims the bathroom taps were also faulty, meaning the family could only use the shower and could not run water from the bath taps.
Pictures online also show a TV attached to the living room wall. But when the family entered the property, they said they found several sets of unfilled holes and the television thrown into one of the bedrooms.
(Picture: Jamie)
Jamie told MyLondon: “My kids could have easily knocked it over. The property is totally unrecognizable from the photos posted on Airbnb.”
The family say there is evidence of damp “in all the bedrooms and the bathroom which in some cases they have tried to repaint”. Jamie thinks dampness and mold are a real health hazard for his family.
He also said the kitchen had a broken board and loose floor that he said could pose a tripping hazard. The family say they also found other unfilled holes in the walls.
(Picture: Jamie)
MyLondon also saw evidence of several metal nails sticking out of a bedroom table.
The family left the Airbnb this morning (Wednesday March 2) after having to rent somewhere through Rightmove which cost around £5,000. The family said they were offered $300 (about £224) as a resolution from Airbnb, which they say does not begin to cover the money they spent.
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Jamie raised his issues with the Airbnb support team and said that despite repeated requests for updates, he had received no response. Jamie claims that at one point the team went almost 18 hours without contacting him, despite sending them five messages, including the image of the moldy bathroom window.
MyLondon has contacted Airbnb for comment.
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