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TikTok user, @phoenruber, said she booked a 10-week stay at anAirbnb that had five-star reviews. - She said it turned out to be filled with stuff and didn't have a working shower or air conditioner.
- She said she left after 11 days, and Airbnb confirmed issuing her a refund.
A TikTok user says she ended up in a house filled with stuff after booking an extended stay at what she believed was a five-star Airbnb.
People often turn to Airbnb when booking long-term stays, as the company offers discounts when you book longer visits.
The TikTok user @phoenruber said she booked a 10-week stay in the "Rose Room," a private room in a Pennsylvania home.
As @phoenruber showed in a TikTok posted on June 30, the listing features photos of a quaint home with "1930s decor" and books for $105 a night at the time of writing. That rate is reduced by 70% to a roughly $966 monthly fee when you book a long-term stay.
The listing looked nice to the TikToker online, but, according to her video, when @phoenruber arrived at the home, she found that it was filled to the brim with items.
@phoenruber notice the bed size difference #nightmare #airbnb #help #hotel #hotelnightmare #disaster #hoarder #broken #why #trapped #scary #creepy #fypシ #wtf
♬ original sound - Phoenicopterus Ruber
In the video, the TikTok user said that the home's air conditioner and shower were broken when she arrived, that the bed was smaller than advertised, and that the host repeatedly locked her out of the house when she worked night shifts.
She said the hosts also didn't give her a key to the house so she had to call them to let her in more than once.
"Someone save me from this nightmare," @phoenruber wrote in the caption of the video, which had more than 250,000 views at the time of writing.
The host, Karen, has multiple five-star reviews on Airbnb, as @phoenruber shared in screenshots in a TikTok. The host had only five reviews at the time of writing, however, and the most recent positive review was posted in 2019. Karen did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.
The user @phoenruber posted a TikTok on July 1 to let her followers know she had left the Airbnb to stay in a hotel, and she posted a follow-up video in which she said Airbnb was not offering her a refund at the discounted rate she was promised when she booked her stay.
She said in the video that for the 70 nights she intended to stay at the Airbnb, the cost was set to be $2,000 thanks to the discount. But when she canceled the remainder of the stay, she said Airbnb charged her for the 11 nights she stayed at the full cost.
@phoenruber I'm embarrassed but cashapp and venmo are @phoenruber. #hoarder #airbnb #wtf #update #nightmare #hotel #scam #news #twitter #fypシ #help #refund #pls
♬ original sound - Phoenicopterus Ruber
She said Airbnb was charging her $1,100 for 11 days, which was $300 more than she intended to pay. She included receipts of the charges in the video.
@phoenruber posted again on July 6 to say that Airbnb issued her a refund that honored the discount.
@phoenruber thanks for all your help! ##airbnb ##refund ##hotel ##nightmare ##scam ##hoarder ##fullrefund ##fypシ ##thanks ##thankyou
♬ Steven Universe - L.Dre
"Right before heading into work, I got a call from Airbnb that they will honor the 80% off so I will owe $300~ for time I stayed there," she said in the video. "I still believe I should owe $0 for that mess but it's a start."
"These types of situations are very rare," a representative for Airbnb told Insider when asked for comment on the situation.
"We regret that our original support fell short of our high standards, and we're since worked to provide with our full support, which included a refund," the representative went on to say.
@phoenruber did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.