From throwing loud parties and causing thousands of dollars in property damages, to refusing to put out his cigarette when asked by the driver, people who have rented their property share their customer horror stories.
[Source can be found at the end of the article]
“I picked up a guy in Hollywood at 1 am who wanted a ride to the Valley. I became increasingly concerned as we drove up into the hills. He told me to turn into a completely dark nature reserve. He told me that his girlfriend was a land-use manager for the park and he was going to stay with her overnight. We drove through the dark winding roads of Fryman Canyon, and I honestly thought he was going to kill me. There was also a car following us.
Turned out, he was right. His girlfriend did live out there, and I wasn’t harassed at all. The car following us was a park ranger wondering what the heck I was doing out there so late.”
PlasticGirl
“This wasn’t me personally, but I helped my boss manage renting out her condo.
First off, she was running it illegally. The city I live in, a lot of apartment buildings don’t allow it. Anyways, this girl rented it out for a week in December last year. My boss is out of the country and gets this call that her fob has been deactivated due to damage to the property and the fact that a brothel was being run out of her apartment.
This woman and her friend were literally bouncing from one guy to the other ALL over this place. One guy got mad, left and punched a picture in the foyer which was caught on camera. I got a call to be on standby, but the police went in and did their thing. There were baby wipes and used condoms everywhere.
She got a pretty hefty fine for the damage and also for the fact she was using an app to rent out her condo.”
coraline4ever
“Last week a woman rented my house for what turned out to be a Halloween party. She lied about her intentions, even when I spoke to her over the phone. In just a few hours, they did over $3,000 in damage, and the police evicted 150 people for my 1200 sq ft (!!) home. It was only broken up by police because there was a shooting that landed somebody in the hospital. All this in a quiet residential neighborhood that is part of a golf resort, in a city that is not especially known for crime. I’m sure the damage would have been far worse if the police hadn’t come because of the shots. Thank God nobody was harmed too seriously.”
Never-On-Reddit
“I work as an independent driver that is associated with two big companies. It is my sole means of income right now. It’s never a dull moment.
Most passengers are awesome. I never have issues, even with drunk people. One night though, this drunk girl and her drunk friends get in the car and are acting really obnoxious. I even joined in the banter a little bit to keep the ride fun. Going down a dangerous road at about 45mph the girl sitting behind me reaches forward and covers my eyes and pulls my head back against the headrest, jokingly saying something about ‘what time is it without looking?’ Game over. I was angry. Lucky for them we weren’t far from their destination otherwise I would have left them on the side of the road. I pulled over after dropping them off and left a lengthy complaint with the company about a dangerous passenger.”
Extrasherman
“I have a rental place in a small ski town. One of our first guests was a single guy who brought his Shih Tzu dog. He stayed for 1 night and left a 1 star review saying there was no silverware in the house (there’s literally like 40 of everything), the power went out across half the mountain due to an ice storm so he was bored most of the time, and finally, that he was disappointed that the fridge wasn’t stocked (clearly says on our listing that food and drink are not provided). Here’s the kicker… the next guests that came in went to clean some “mud” they thought they tracked into the house. Ended up being dog poop from that Shih Tzu.”
ders_wit_a_hard_An
“I rent out a rustic cabin on my property. The setting is really nice and serene beside a creek and there’s a cedar sauna on the property as well. But the cabin is small. There’s a queen bed in the loft and a double futon on the main floor and it’s dimensions are roughly 12′ by 10′ so I tell people the max is 4 people per night. Well, this young guy messages me and asks me if they can have 7, promises they’ll be really respectful and clean, and I work with someone the guy knows so I cave in.
They left the place kind of clean, but burned a hole in the hardwood floor, and broke the handle off the sliding glass door. Turns out, with that many people cooking, the humidity in winter caused some moisture condensation on the track, which subsequently froze, and instead of just leaving it and letting me know, he forced the door closed, breaking the handle in the process. Not an easy feat. He hurt his hand as well. He was sure to let me know, code for ‘don’t take my damage deposit or I’ll sue you.’ You can bet I never let more than 4 in there now.”
WouldHikeThat
“I rented out to a couple. I specifically said, ‘2 persons.’ Well guess what? they had a baby.
They left it while they attended a wedding which was the reason they came into town. Four hours of screaming ensued. I know that because i own the flat next to it as well. It was horrible. I somehow didn’t have the awareness to actually call the police.”
ukulele_joe
“I used to rent a property in Puerto Rico on a year lease basis. My last renters in 2012 left 2 months before their lease was up and took all the appliances. Fridge, stove, microwave, dishwasher, even the ceiling fans!
After a year long case court I won and didn’t get a single penny. They said they were broke, they went to jail and I lost a whole year of rent plus almost 6k in damages.
Never again.”
Clavo_PR
“I used to drive for a cab company in a tourist town. I had a group of 40-year-old men. One night, I was taking them downtown from their place. It was one guy’s birthday and he kept telling me I was ‘cute.’ When we arrived at their destination, he kept asking me for a kiss because it was his birthday. I told him to get out of my car before I kicked him out after the 3rd ‘No.’
I reported the incident to the company but they didn’t seem to care.”
mtnlady
“I picked up five guys who were going bar hopping. The guy sitting in the middle center seat is barely keeping his head up, but we got a party re-deposit bin in the back, so were good.
No were not.
The smell hits me about five minutes out from the bar. His friends immediately diagnose the issue
Lucas! GODDAMMIT, AGAIN?!?!
Lucas had explosively defecated in his pants. We suffered together the final stinky three blocks and I dropped them off. They pulled their buddy out and everyone walked into the bar, seemingly unfazed.
Filed the cleaning and quit the job the next week.”
cheddarfire
“I own a condo that I rent out to tenants. I warned them that it gets really hot in the summer and the air conditioner in the living room won’t send cool air into the bedroom. I said they’d need to get some large fans. They decided to install a second air conditioner that overwhelmed the small panel. A few of the outlets were smoking and the lights wouldn’t turn on. I had to call in an electrician to fix it.”
Madeofmoonlight
“My boss bought the house behind mine and turned it into a rental. Once some people rented it and just gave it to their teenagers who threw a huge party. I started hearing lots of car doors slamming and hearing kids walking right past our windows (20 ft from the sidewalk, so cutting in our yard). It got intense fast and apparently the cops just made all the kids leave and told my boss to throw away all the drugs and alcohol they left behind. I had to clean up a lot from my yard too.
Shortly after that, someone rented it and threw a wedding in the house and basically destroyed it. They dumped pots of food everywhere and he had to spend thousands of dollars cleaning it. They burned carpets and the whole place stank.
Last I heard he was still renting places out.”
eeveefury
“I rented my living room out for the summer in New York City. I had a girl check in for two nights and the first night, I heard the loudest moan coming from the room and thought she was just getting it on by herself since I didnt hear anyone else come in. The next morning, it turns out she was having fun with two other girls. I had to put headphones on in my own home since they were SO LOUD during the night. They left the A/C on with the door open, front door to the apartment unlocked, all hair appliances plugged in, makeup everywhere, and didnt even say anything about the extra people. They ended up not staying the extra night and wanted their money back. I obliged and then stopped renting out my living room.”
tarabithia
“My parents rented out their house when they moved two states away. Everything was fine for a few months until the renter started being late on rent every time, and then eventually not paying. Then they found out utilities hadnt been paid in months and were in the renters dead son’s name. Because of squatters rights, took 5 months and multiple trips in a car back and forth from Oklahoma to Colorado to get the house empty. By the time the renter was finally out we had to rent a huge dumpster for all the contents of the house, replace the stolen appliances, replace all of the carpet and tile, oh and remove all the needles from drug use.”
gatesmeg94
“I have a small home near a nice beach in Australia that I decided to rent out. I planned to meet guests in person, to welcome them in but also to make sure the house wasn’t going to get used as a massive party house (we made it clear in the terms that there was a limit of 7 guests, and neighbors didn’t want big crowds making lots of noise). For the very first booking I met what seemed like two pleasant young women who promised it was only going to be them and four other friends staying. All of their relatives ended up in my house, specifically the jacuzzi, with lots of drunken karaoke until 4am. Cops were called twice.”
rollsyrollsy
My wife and I rent out our in-law’s place. We had a family (dad, mom, late teen, early 20s daughter) stay with us. One day we get home and we enter our home, directly above the in-law. Theres a STRONG smell of gas. I check everything and its normal. I open the window and message the family asking if they smell gas. No response.
I go down and knock on the door. Dad answers smiling and the mom and daughter are laying on the couch about to take a nap. I have to step back from the wave of gas smell from the in-law. I ask them if they smell gas. They just smile. I push my way through and go to check the stove. They did not fully turn off a burner. So gas was pouring out. They thought nothing of it. I tried to inform they could have been killed and would have blown up the building in the process. All I got were smiles.”
swookilla
“One Friday night, I pick up this guy who gets in and lights up a cigarette. I tell him he can’t do that. He then tells me he’s paying for the car so it’s HIS car until he’s done. I said look man, get out of my car before I drag you out. This guy looks at me and says I dare you! I say, alright, and stop in the middle of the road. I grab him by his collar and throw him in the middle of the street. He gets up fast and I punch him in the face and cancel the trip. I still made five bucks from him though.”
MrZacks
“I rented out my place for awhile, mostly for the fun of it. I had a constant flow of good people, some who were just okay with chilling alone, some who wanted to hang out, some who I still call every few weeks and even have visited in my travels.
One time I took a chance on someone who had no reviews but they wanted to stay and the money was nice so I figured why not. They proceeded to leave needles in my back garden, and the bedding was ruined from multiple burns. I kicked them out after I discovered the needles, filed a report with Airbnb and had them pay for the ruined bedding and cleaning. I myself was pricked with a needle and my dog nearly was. I had to get tested for HIV and Hepatitis C. They were banned as far as I remember.
I no longer host people without reviews. “
MeatTornadoLove
“I used to drive for my university’s free sober ride service for students. It was generally a good time because of how overly grateful drunk people are for a free ride.
One day I picked up this kid who was so belligerent. He looked like he was going to puke so I offered him a trash bag. He threw it in my face and yelled at his friend taking him home the whole ride. At this point I’m really annoyed because he threw the bag in my face when I was trying to be nice.
Once we got to their destination, he decided to lay down behind the car and threw a temper tantrum at his friend. It was a dead-end so my only option was to reverse out of the area. Per our rules, we weren’t allowed to get out of the vehicle or have physical contact with the patrons. He kicked and screamed on the ground for about 20 minutes while we tried to convince him to move. He ran in the house the second I picked up my phone to call the cops.”
dhruchainzz
“I used to rent out my place on a famous app and was considered as a super host in San Francisco. I’ve had some interesting ones. A group of guys rented my place at the last minute for a high rate. It turned out they were there for Folsom (fetish festival basically). My boyfriend and I were cleaning up after thinking how unusually clean the place was. Then we walked to the other side the bed… poop, lots of poop. It was horrible.
The other one was weird. I rented to two guys visiting for Dreamforce (huge Salesforce events). They were great, but they left traces of this odd glass / sand stuff EVERYWHERE. I still to this day have no idea what it was, but even after 4 thorough cleanings I was still finding the stuff.
Basically poop and sand suck to deal with.”
cryonine
“I rent our home out in Hawaii. Ive had several very good guests with no issues whatsoever, that is, until our last guests. Some came from another country to meet up with their friends that live in the States. Everything seemed good, they checked in and everyone was happy. When they checked out, we found that they had been smoking cigarettes all over the house, with an extremely strict no-smoking anywhere on the property policy. She tried to make me not report it to the company that manages my guests by saying that her friends didnt know any better. Nope! I filed a claim for $1,750 to get the smell out of the house as well as replace the carpet they managed to burn with cigarette butts. This is our home were taking about, not some motel room.”
duckmuffins
“I worked as an independent (and designated) driver for a while about a year ago. One night I picked these guys up in a local entertainment district. They were drunk and wanted McDonald’s so we went through the drive through. A couple of them argued and got into an all out fist fight in my back seat. I just kind of… Sighed? I was doing the ‘just drive and get yourself together’ thing and basically felt what else could go wrong, you know? So after that they had me park to settle things. One of them just got out to walk, miles from their destination. I drove the other two home, then stopped at the gas station to clean out all the blood everywhere in my back seat with mineral water at 4:30 am.”
Balthactor
“My girlfriend used to rent her apartment. The whole apartment could fit like 11 people. It’s a pretty spacious apartment and located in a pretty isolated community.
Once she got a request from a lady for a night of stay. Generally there is a 2-night minimum but my girlfriend made an exception for the lady and it was a deal.
Next day my girlfriend sent her cleaning lady for regular clean up and in an hour she got a frantic call. We both drove to the apartment next day and let’s say what we saw was a scene right out of a crime-drama set.
The apartment was a mess. There was a weird smell everywhere. The couch was in shambles. One pillow was ripped apart and the stuffing was all over the room.
The living room wall had patches of what looked like bloody prints. As if someone put color on their body parts and rolled over them. The corner of the wall clearly had a breast imprinted on them and someone clearly had body paint all over them.
Also we found a dead crow in the dustbin. Not sure what exactly went on that night.”
coolkarniamit
“As an independent driver, I had a group of guys around midnight who were super drunk going from the bar district back to the student apartments. One guy kept saying he was feeling sick and was going to puke. I offered to stop several times. I didn’t hear the hallmark signs of puking and he kept saying he was fine. I dropped them off and immediately got another call.
I go to pick up the next group and they inform me that the guy on the other side had puked down the passenger side (outside the car, thankfully) while the guy sitting behind me was talking about wanting to puke the entire ride.
I felt horrible. I quickly grabbed my cleaning kit out of the back and wiped it down the best I could with some cleaner and paper towels. Luckily, those folks were super nice and went with it.”
FrankGoreStoleMyBike
“A little backstory: I lived in the state capital while the property is back in my hometown (like 5 hours drive away) and seeing how my hometown has gained attraction as a holiday destination over the years, it has encouraged me to get more extra income by doing the rent listing. My property location was also at a prime beach area.
One time it was rented by a bunch of college fraternity kids, over the span of 1 weekend. The damages they caused was up to 40K; from the banged up walls, and the interiors, to beds and furnitures. They bolted but lucky for me they used the safety box to store half of their valuables (most of the apple product from phones to pads and notebook, passports and ID). So I kept that as a ransom for them to turn themselves over and actually man up to the damages.”
its_batmanbitch
(Source)