A woman’s father tragically passed away, so she booked an Airbnb at Fort Walton Beach, Florida, where her dad lived. Expecting her family to stay together through this difficult time, she instead arrived to find the place under construction.
Sarah James, the woman in question, shared her story on TikTok. She shares lifestyle content on her account, mostly around her life in Hawaii. The clip attached above, however, became one of her most popular videos, garnering 177,000 views, 26,700 likes, and more than 1,300 comments.
Sarah detailed that she booked the Florida Airbnb the week that her father passed away. It is a six-bedroom property in Fort Walton Beach on Okeechobee Island, and, judging by the pictures, it looked appropriate for Sarah and her family, she said.
“I have a lot of siblings, and we all have a lot of kids,” she explained. “So, we needed a really big property where we could all gather to make arrangements, go to his funeral service, and say goodbye.”
An Airbnb Nightmare
However, when Sarah and her family arrived at the Airbnb, they came across something entirely different. Clips of the property showed that it was in a terrible state, with wires everywhere, an uninstalled oven, owner manuals everywhere, no smoke detectors, no AC, and even a camera pointing at the hot tub.
“This property had a hot tub and a cold plunge pool,” Sarah continued. “The cold plunge pool was not grounded correctly, so if you put your hand in it, you got a little shock, which was not great.”
The family decided they were leaving the Florida Airbnb the next morning. The owner then called Sarah, according to her, and begged her not to get Airbnb involved, promising to give her a full refund if she signed a non-disclosure agreement.
Sarah did get Airbnb involved, but for three weeks, all she was offered was a “$200 coupon as a sign of goodwill,” and even telling her that, despite the overwhelming evidence, she hadn’t delivered “enough documentation.”
Furious, she said, “If you are thinking about staying with Airbnb, I would rethink that. They are for the owners and not for the guests.”
Outrage Follows
Many viewers blasted Airbnb for how it allegedly handled Sarah’s situation. One said, “Airbnb is such a great advertisement for hotels.” Another one commented, “This is so appalling,” to which Sarah responded, “We thought so, too.”
Other viewers chose to focus their attention on the Airbnb’s owner, urging Sarah to take action. One user wrote, “Call the fire department and code compliance for the city.” Another one added, “I’d report it to the county code enforcement and fire department.”
A day after the clip was posted, Sarah announced that Airbnb reached out to her. She will now receive a full refund. Meanwhile, she is also planning on formally reporting Airbnb and its owner.
