Emily J, San Francisco
Emily J’s story is actually the one that started all the Airbnb woes. In 2011, Emily had chosen to rent out her apartment to one DJ Patterson when she went on a 3-week business trip. But when she got back home, she couldn’t believe the kind of damage that would be done to her lovely apartment. Not only had her apartment been trashed, she had lost jewelry and other valuables, her Social Security card was gone, as well as her birth certificate. Plus, there was an unbelievably putrid smell coming from her bathroom, and an astonishing amount of dirty dishes left in the sink.
The One That Started It All
Emily contacted Airbnb management to help her with her situation, but they only came to her aid when she posted about it on her personal blog. After this horrifying event, the CEO of Airbnb, Brian Chesky, began a new policy of providing a $50,000 guarantee fee to protect the hosts from possible damage. Emily shared, “I do believe that maybe 97% of Airbnb.com’s users are good and honest people. Unfortunately, I got the other 3%. Someone was bound to eventually, I suppose, and there will be others.” And from the number of stories here, we know this to be true.
