The hospitality equivalent of stage 2 cancer.
We were under the impression we were renting the whole place, because that's what the listing said. The host and his assistant kindly let us check in early, however, but once I realised we were going to be staying in a tiny little flat in the back, my heart sank.
There was an overwhelming smell of paint. Apparently the flat had been painted throughout and the parquet floors varnished in the two days before our check-in.
There was also a couple of flies in the main room (which is advertised as the open-plan kitchen/lounge area. The 'lounge' is in fact two small beanbag chairs stacked on top of each other next to the washing machine.
I immediately told Paul's assistant I was concerned - I was supposed to stay here with my mom and two dogs for the next two weeks. She told me to take it but with him, and I messaged him. He was not amenable to discussing it via text, but advised me that he would be returning home the following day and we could discuss it then. I now understand the main house that was advertised is, in fact, Paul's primary residence, and he was away on a business trip.
I immediately started looking for alternative accommodation, which was extremely scarce at this point. I found another listing in Blouberg, however, I would only be able to check in two days later, in which time I would have to stick it out here.
The following day, Paul never showed up and made no attempts to contact me, and all the while, we were becoming aware of more and more problems with the place. These included (but are not limited to), a dead mouse above the outside seating area roof (the roof is transparent), mouse droppings behind the washing machine, the bathroom not having a light switch, the kitchen tap not having been installed properly... The list goes on.
All the while, the paint and varnish fumes were becoming a big problem for me health-wise, and the flies kept multiplying.
The host's dog was also quite noisy, but I can't blame the poor thing. While I believe Paul's assistant came in periodically to feed it, I imagine it was bored, frustrated and lonely.
As soon as my other accommodation was ready, I dropped off the keys with the host's assistant and bailed. Again, Paul was not amenable to even a partial refund and Airbnb support had to get involved. While they investigated, Paul was sending me belligerent messages, claiming I ruined his floors and plants, and sent photos of the abominable state I left his flat in. The photos were of a dish, a cup and a bowl I left in the kitchen sink, two crumbs in the microwave (I'm not embellishing here, literally two crumbs and three items in the sink was for some reason majorly upsetting to him), and his newly-varnished floors which now had scuff marks from my suitcases. I had to ask Airbnb support to block him from harassing me while they investigated.
Eventually, they did confirm that my experience qualified for Aircover, and gave me back most of my money, as well as a voucher. They also made him fix the listing inaccuracies. I really appreciate the way Airbnb handled it.
I thought that was the end of my saga, however, now Paul is asking me to reimburse him for his floors. The amount he wants is eerily similar to the amount I received back from AirBnb support, who are now trying to get Paul to agree to show me the invoice for the work he had to get done to his floors. Based on the amount he wants, I'm assuming he had the floors replaced with some rare exotic material that somebody died to procure.
As I explained to Airbnb, these floors had been varnished in the two days prior to my check-in. The fumes were also a big giveaway that the varnish had not dried, and so I'm not surprised there are marks on the floor.
I used to live in a house with similar floors, and the scuffing would occur as time went on. Every couple of months, I'd buff them out with some olive oil and baking soda,. Also, immediately prior to checking in to this listing, I had stayed in a nearby listing with parquet floors for an entire month with my mom and dogs, and the owner noted no damage. In fact, he left me a lovely review saying I was welcome back any time.
This has been my first negative experience and review on Airbnb.
Anyway, AirBnb support are involved again in Paul's exorbitant claim. We'll see how it turns out.
Sadly, Paul has not been very receptive to criticism. Negative reviews of this listing have been met with hostility and what I assume are more outlandish claims. I've seen Paul call other unhappy guests mentally ill, racist, liars, disgusting...
I can't wait to see what he calls me.