“You have 48 hours to withdraw your review or I’ll hire a private investigator to get your address, then the fun begins.”
A Vancouver professor has shared a disturbing message he received from a local Airbnb host following a recent stay.
University of British Columbia assistant professor Dr. Alex Moore left a four-star review after staying in an Airbnb listing in Vancouver’s ‘Main Street neighborhood’, adding: ‘I really enjoyed it my stay here and would definitely stay here again if I find myself in Vancouver for a few days.”
As the ratings are out of five stars, Moore called her review “positive”.
But the host didn’t appreciate the criticism and left a threatening message for Moore after receiving it.
In a text, the host wrote, “I have your photo, name and number. You have 48 hours to remove your review or I’ll hire a private investigator to get your address and the party begins.”
In a second post, the irate Airbnb host adds, “You can’t message me at this number.”
On June 18, Moore shared the threatening message on Twitter, in a tweet that has since gone viral with nearly 200,000 likes and more than 25,000 shares.
Airbnb Vancouver: investigation into a disturbing incident
After reporting the incident to Airbnb, Moore wrote in a tweet that the host was still active on the home rental platform. Although Airbnb told her they were sending the “right team” to help her, they advised her to contact local police if she felt unsafe.
The frustrated customer writes: “I have already contacted the local authorities, but beyond protecting myself, [Airbnb] has an obligation to the public to act. Their listing is still active as of this post and should be taken down immediately.”
While hosting was still active, Moore tweeted that the VPD would send an officer “to tell the host to leave me alone ‘otherwise’.”
On June 19, the UBC professor said the listing had been removed from the platform.
Airbnb spokesperson Ben Breit said Vancouver is awesome on Monday (June 20) at 10 a.m. the company had suspended the host while it investigated the incident.
But just after 11 a.m. Monday, Moore wrote in a tweet that “it looks like the list is back and I haven’t heard from you yet. [Airbnb] on what they plan to do (if any).”
In response, Breit wrote in an email that he “just looked again and the listing remains disabled and the host remains suspended.”
VIA has contacted the Vancouver Police Department for further comment.
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