The chilling encounter of a group of friends in a Airbnb went viral after one of the friends posted a video of the incident on TikTok.
The video, posted by Jennifer Enriquez or @glammedbyjenny_ on TikTok, has received over 1.8 million views and 800 comments since it was posted less than a week ago. The images are from July 2020, according to an Airbnb spokesperson.
In the video, Enriquez showed a group of people huddled together outside the kitchen window watching a stranger walk over to their Airbnb.
“Scary airbnb experience,” read the video’s caption.
As strange music plays in the background, the man heads for the garage. One of the friends in the group then contacts the Airbnb host.
“Hello, someone came and said they were renting the garage?” a message from 6:41 p.m. read.
The host then replied that he was not sure of the identity of the man and that he “was kind enough to ask them” to message the person they had booked with because “the garage is not a rented place”.
One of the friends replied to the host that the man had a key, but the host replied that he wished the friends had “contacted us before letting them in”. The host also asked for a description and the name of the man and said it might be the cleaner.
“Ask them to call me immediately,” the host said.
The friend replied that he did not want to talk to the man and that he did not feel safe.
“We don’t feel safe, especially if you don’t know who’s in the house,” they told the host.
They also said the man parked his car in the driveway and brought groceries to the garage, but the host replied that there was no car in the driveway.
” I am watching him ! they wrote to the host. “Honestly, I don’t feel safe anymore, we want our money back, we’re leaving.”
In the comments to the video, Enriquez said there was an additional room in the back of the Airbnb that was not disclosed to them.
She explained that the host never told them that someone else would be staying in the back room and there was no mention of it in the description of the house on the booking page.
Although Enriquez said the host didn’t mention the extra room in the back, the Airbnb spokesperson said Newsweek the listing said there was a separate guest suite at the back of the house.
Many users said that the host did not act appropriately. A user claiming to have worked for Airbnb said the host went against company policy.
“I worked for Airbnb as a resolutions officer and girl who is against their policy,” the comment read. “I hope this host got their strikes on their account and your money refunded.”
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The user also explained that after three or four warnings, an ad is removed from the Airbnb website.
According to Airbnb’s guest policy, hosts are responsible for accurately describing the listing in the description and for making themselves available to deal with any issues that may arise with guests.
Hosts are also required to reimburse Airbnb for any amounts paid for a guest’s move or reimbursement.
In other viewer comments, one user said a similar situation happened to them while they were staying at an Airbnb.
“We were going out to get food and our only friend stayed but this guy came ‘grabbing a ladder’ and we changed our minds so quickly,” the user shared of their experience.
Another user said he was staying at an Airbnb and was never told another person lived in the basement. One user even said he thought he was standing there and was told not to go into the garage. When they asked if the Airbnb was in Redding, California, Enriquez confirmed that it was.
Newsweek contacted Enriquez for comment but did not hear back in time for publication.
Update 01/21/2022, 9:40 a.m. ET: This story has been updated with comments from an Airbnb spokesperson.
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