A video has gone viral on TikTok after a woman said she and her friends were “catfished” by their Airbnb during a recent trip to Miami.
In the video, now viewed over 800,000 times, TikToker @jennialli shares images that appear to be from the original Airbnb listing, then shows a series of clips from the actual rental. Worldwide, there are more than 2.9 million Airbnb hosts and 14,000 new hosts are expected to be added each month this year, according to Stratos.
“[W]Watch us get caught by our [Airbnb]“, wrote @jennialli, whose first name is Jen, in text superimposed on images of the group of women on a boat.
The clips that follow feature various things on the house that are broken, dirty, disheveled, or just don’t appear to match the listing photos.
“[S]o do bed bugs pay rent too???”, Jen captioned the video with the hashtags #springbreak and #miami.
In a statement provided to NewsweekAirbnb said it was made aware of the situation and has taken care of it.
“We were disappointed to learn of this experience, we have refunded the guest in full and are taking appropriate action with the host. With over a billion guest arrivals on Airbnb to date, Isolated issues are incredibly rare and our Community Support team is available 24/7 to help,” the statement read.
Airbnb also said the issue was only reported on check-out day and guests had already completed their stay.
Gabriele Maltinti/Getty Images
The company says it asks guests who encounter issues to contact the host and give them time to resolve the issue as well as contact Airbnb within 24 hours of noticing.
According to the company’s “Guest Refund Policy,” if a guest checks into a rental that does not meet the company’s accuracy or quality standards, Airbnb will rebook the guest in a new listing. of equal or greater value or will offer a full refund. .
In December, another woman took to TikTok to share her “catfish” experience with Airbnb when she moved into a rental in New York that she thought was complete with a view of the waterline. horizon to find it was inside a restaurant, Newsweek reported.
In the video posted by Jen, she shows various discrepancies between the actual rental and the apparent listing images. A clip shows that two of the beds appear to be smaller than in the photo. Another shows a bunk bed appearing unstable as a woman is seen clutching the railing and shaking the bed back and forth. Another clip shows a sliding closet door that appears to be skidding.
Commenters had mixed feelings about what was depicted in the video.
“This is not catfishing,” wrote one commenter. “[T]It’s just false advertising.”
A reviewer seemed to recognize the rental, claiming to have stayed there as well.
“OMG WE STAYED HERE AND IT WAS SO DIRTY! Airbnb would not refund us,” the reviewer wrote.
Another commenter warned: “If this looks like a stock photo on the internet, BEWARE.”
Some commentators, however, did not dispute that the photos were from the same location, just that some things had changed since they were taken.
“It looked like this at first you can tell it’s the same apartment but only used as heck hahah,” one commenter wrote.
“It’s more like a before/after they started letting the kids stay home[sic] and party,” wrote another.
One person said that at first they thought the TikToker was “overreacting”, but then “it got worse…much worse”.
Newsweek contacted Jen for a comment but she did not respond in time for publication.
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