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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Chiara Fiorillo

Wedding guests furious after finding out Airbnb property is empty and under construction

Wedding guests in Australia were left furious after finding out the Airbnb property they had booked was under construction.

A family booked a villa in the beachside town of Byron Bay and were disappointed to find the property was empty when they arrived.

Renee Menzies posted a video on TikTok last Wednesday to share her family's experience and the clip has been watched more than 237,000 times.

She said the "completely vacant home" was "in the middle of a massive renovation" - but her relatives had received no warning from the host or Airbnb.

The woman claimed her family of 12 - with three toddlers - was "left stranded on the side of the road" with "nowhere to go".

A family said their Airbnb hosts left them stranded (@reneescbfs / TikTok)
The property was under construction (@reneescbfs / TikTok)

Clips posted on TikTok showed rooms stripped bare with no flooring, an empty kitchen and a cooker waiting to be installed.

Cables can be seen coming out of the partially-painted walls as the refurbishment is ongoing.

Ms Menzies criticised the vacation rental company for initially failing to help, as she wrote: "No warning, and when they rang you for help you accused them of lying, wouldn't help find somewhere else to stay and wouldn't provide them a refund.

"You left 12 people and 3 kids under 3 literally standing on the side of the road."

The cooker was not installed (@reneescbfs / TikTok)
Wedding guests had paid in advance for the booking (@reneescbfs / TikTok)

The following day, she posted another clip in which she declared: "Hey @airbnb still no communication from you after our family turned up to this yesterday. Left stranded on the side of the road, literally, with 3 toddlers and nowhere to go."

The TikTok user continued to post clips on the social media app and said her relatives were forced to pay more for a different property.

Eventually, Airbnb refunded the cost and also reimbursed the customers for the alternative reservation.

A spokesperson for Airbnb told The Mirror they "fully refunded the guest and provided rebooking assistance".

The company - which has seven million listings worldwide - added it had "taken appropriate action on the Host".

The videos shared by the woman on TikTok went viral and many people commented, with one saying: "You just convinced me to never Airbnb again. Ever."

Another added: "Airbnb has lost its spark. Hotels all the way."

Airbnb refunded the cost and provided rebooking assistance (@reneescbfs / TikTok)

Airbnb said in a statement: "We were disappointed to learn about this experience, and fully refunded the guest and provided rebooking assistance.

"We have taken appropriate action on the Host while we investigate further, and reached out to the guest to provide further support. In the rare event something isn't as expected on arrival for a stay, our Community Support team is on hand 24/7 to help.

"Our team is very much focused on ensuring each stay is a positive experience for guests, Hosts and the wider community. That's why this year we introduced AirCover for guests, the most comprehensive protection in travel, included for free with every stay.

"AirCover is designed directly into the Airbnb app and website, allowing guests to contact an agent and raise issues for our team to investigate."

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