A woman has detailed her Airbnb nightmare after arriving at a filthy apartment riddled with ‘mouse droppings’ and cockroaches.
Melanie Rio, from Washington, D.C., took to X – formerly known as Twitter – to expose the rental scam.
The writer revealed that she had reserved the third-floor walkup for a month at a cost of $2,500 but was stunned to discover it was plagued with issues.
She explained how she got caught up in an exhausting discussion with Airbnb representatives before finally being offered a refund.
Melanie Rio, from Washington, D.C., took to X – formerly known as Twitter – to expose the rental scam
The writer revealed that she had reserved the third-floor walkup for a month at a cost of $2,500 but was stunned to discover it was plagued with issues
In a lengthy thread about her experience, which was littered with photos and videos of the property, Melanie began: ‘For a fun game, let’s do a tour of the unit Airbnb refuses to give me a refund for!
‘I’m sure they’d hate if you liked it shared this, which seems to be the only way to get their attention. Let’s start with the entryway. Not off to a great start re: cleanliness.
‘But wait, Airbnb! There’s more: when I left today I locked the door. When I got back it was unlocked and one of the screws was missing from the deadbolt.
‘The host is, naturally, suggesting that I am too stupid to lock a door properly despite locking it ten times before.’
Sharing a clip of a bug scuttling across the wall, she continued: ‘When I first got here, there was a small cockroach in the kitchen. I killed it, which was evidently my mistake, because Airbnb Help wanted proof.
‘Since then I’ve killed two more and one got away, but here’s your proof!
‘But it’s not just roaches. We also have rodents. Mouse droppings and general filth between the fridge and the cabinets. In case you think there’s a chance it could be anything else, think again.’
Melanie then shared snippets of the exchange she had with Airbnb customer support where advisors asked her to provide proof of all the issues – including her lack of hot water – before initially refusing her a refund over lack of evidence.
Melanie claimed the ceiling was leaking and that she was forced to place a cup underneath the problem area to collect the water
She wrote: ‘We also have rodents. Mouse droppings and general filth between the fridge and the cabinets’
Melanie then shared snippets of the exchange she had with Airbnb customer support where advisors asked her to provide proof of all the issues
The writer then took a moment to take readers back to the start of her experience as she explained: ‘I check in. Immediately notice the furniture is different from the pictures (no couch, but a crappy futon instead).
‘Willing to give it the benefit of the doubt because I try not to be an a**hole, usually. Naïve, clearly. But then I notice the heat doesn’t seem to be working.
‘I reach out to the host, who sends a handyman. He removes an HVAC filter that is BLACK. Like the cancerous lung of a lifelong chain-smoker. Feeling more uneasy but thinking, okay, maybe it’s just been a while since they had a guest.
‘I haven’t seen the roaches yet. I decided to make dinner. (I should mention I have booked this place for A MONTH.) The stove has four mismatched knobs, none of which are pointing the same way. They turn the gas on, but don’t turn it off so easy!’
Further still Melanie continued: ‘I contact the host again in a bit of a panic. The gas is off, I think, but the place sure smells like gas.
‘So they send the property manager over. He tries and fails to fix the stove then asks me to come downstairs and look at a different unit with a working stove. Sus? Yes.’
She said she went back into the apartment with her ‘guard up’ but there were further problems still.
‘When the first roach shows itself I smash it and toss it, since that’s what a sane person does with a roach, right? Wrong! Obviously you stop to take pictures first, or at least you do according to Airbnb.
She explained how she got caught up in an exhausting discussion with Airbnb representatives before finally being offered a refund
The writer explained how the dirt and grime around the apartment was actually the least of her issues
Melanie explained: ‘When I left today I locked the door. When I got back it was unlocked and one of the screws was missing from the deadbolt’
Airbnb initially refused the traveler a refund and cited the claim did not have ‘enough evidence’
‘So at about 7.30pm I reach out to Airbnb. Explain the issues. They tell me they need to reach out to the host first and they’ll be back in touch within the hour. They’re not.
‘I wait. Decide to take a shower. Wrong move. There’s a roach waiting for me in the tub. I drown him.’
Melanie delved further still into the seemingly relentless back-and-forth exchange she had with a range of Airbnb representatives.
She said that she eventually became so fed up that she packed up before her partner came to collect her.
The weary traveler revealed that she was finally issued a refund after her story gained so much online traction.
She concluded: ‘Thanks again for everyone who helped get this seen and shake some things loose.
‘Hugely grateful to everyone. Wow, it has been the weirdest 18 hours.
‘Not to be too after-school special about it but this really is an object lesson in why empathy matters. I’ll be paying your goodness forward as best I can.’
A spokesperson for Airbnb told DailyMail.com: ‘We were sorry to hear about our guest’s experience, and our team has fully refunded them and offered further support through our AirCover protection for guests.
‘We enforce quality standards for listings, and have suspended this listing from the platform.’
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