Airbnb horror story

Airbnb is becoming a popular option for travellers looking for cheaper/homier places to stay and owners/renters to make a little dough on the side. But when you're dealing with people that you don't know staying in your house, things can sometimes go awry. Or very crazy:

They smashed a hole through a locked closet door, and found the passport, cash, credit card and grandmother's jewelry I had hidden inside. They took my camera, my iPod, an old laptop, and my external backup drive filled with photos, journals... my entire life. They found my birth certificate and social security card, which I believe they photocopied - using the printer/copier I kindly left out for my guests' use. They rifled through all my drawers, wore my shoes and clothes, and left my clothing crumpled up in a pile of wet, mildewing towels on the closet floor. They found my coupons for Bed Bath & Beyond and used the discount, along with my Mastercard, to shop online. Despite the heat wave, they used my fireplace and multiple Duraflame logs to reduce mounds of stuff (my stuff??) to ash - including, I believe, the missing set of guest sheets I left carefully folded for their comfort. Yet they were stupid and careless enough to leave the flue closed; dirty gray ash now covered every surface inside.

According to the CEO of Airbnb, they have been working with the police and supposedly a suspect is in custody.

(via kottke)

I am all but shocked to have read this. I was planning to post my room at that website to rent out my room at the end of this summer. In the end, I got lazy and decided just to post on the usual sites: Columbia Housing, Yahoo Columbia Group, and craigslist.

I am not sure what the procedure for subletting your place should be, but I have found very useful to have a skype conversation or at least a phone call. People can reveal a lot of themselves when talking to them, especially face to face (i.e. email is definitely NOT enough). Security deposits also help, but come on... there is no security deposit that will replace all the losses of that poor person above... Oh well, it's always a gamble with these things...