I owned an Airbnb house for several years I stopped due to the stress of keeping up with it as well as maintaining my actual job the benefits of using Airbnb instead of renting the place out like you normally would is that you would have the chance to make a lot more money if your house gets booked a lot being in a relatively high traffic area for vacations Airbnb was a great option for us my wife and I were excited in the beginning but it got more demanding as more people booked the house we needed to
keep everything on schedule and hire cleaning services after the first customers left and before the next ones came as well as be sure to respond to their messages and emails in a timely manner but things were going well for a couple years before we had what we thought was a young couple staying at the house just like every other time when they arrived I texted them the unlock code for the door I almost never actually see the customers after they let me know that they were inside and everything was good I sat back and relaxed
for the rest of my day off I should also mention that I almost never even talked to the customers more than just a couple texts usually they text me when they get there and when they leave and sometimes an occasional question about the house but that's usually it but as nine o'clock came around and I was just about to get ready for bed I got a text from the young man staying at the house it was short saying he was going to call me in a minute and then a minute later he called I already
had a bad feeling when I saw the text but what he said still surprised me he said that the water wasn't working in the house of course I apologized though I didn't understand how that could be possible but living in a house without water is unacceptable so I knew I had to get it fixed immediately I asked if I could come check it out really quick so that I could have someone come in the morning to fix it he agreed being very polite about the whole thing and I drove over there a few minutes later
pulling into the driveway I noticed two cars at the time this wasn't necessarily a red flag but more just an odd thing I noticed because they were apparently a young couple on vacation for a single night so I didn't understand why they would rent two separate cars I thought someone must be visiting them which actually isn't allowed but I didn't mind so much I walked up to the front door and knocked before entering the code and walking inside [Music] it was very quiet I expected them to be waiting for me but they weren't anywhere that
I could see I probably should have looked around for them first but I was tired and just wanted to get this over with the first thing I wanted to check was the main water valve to make sure there wasn't a leak or a flood so I went down to the basement and over to the valve everything seemed normal no water anywhere or signs of damage I was confused but then I fiddled with the valve and immediately heard water start rushing again I turned it more realizing it had been completely shut off manually I stayed in
the basement for another minute trying to understand why this was done before I started to get a really uncomfortable feeling especially since I didn't even see the people when I walked inside I just couldn't see how it could have been anyone other than them who turned off the water which meant they were trying to get me to come over on purpose or maybe give them a discount on their stay for the inconvenience I decided I was going to leave and get my car then try calling them back just to be safe I got up and
started walking towards the stairs until I heard the basement door open followed by multiple sets of footsteps walking down when they got to the bottom three men stood there is it fixed one of them said sounding like the same man I talked to on the phone though all of these men were much older than the young man that I thought was staying at the house I told him it should be working now and that the valve must have just tightened on its own I was trying not to point any blame since the whole thing was
making me so uncomfortable I just wanted to get out of that basement and away from these guys they all just kind of stood there looking at me not saying anything after that well let me know if you need anything else I said walking between them trying to get to the stairs they still just stood there watching me walk around them but as I went past the third guy closest to the stairs I spotted a gun shoved in the back of his pants it made me freak out a little and I rushed a bit quicker up
the stairs but they didn't follow they stayed in the basement as I quickly walked out the door and drove away when I got home I woke up my wife and told her what had happened she convinced me to call the police to check up on them they weren't the people we thought were staying there and the situation was strange so it felt Justified I think we waited 20 minutes before A call came from an officer claiming nobody seemed to be home and that he may need me to open the door I gave him the code
instead and he called back another 20 minutes later saying that there was no signs of anyone still being there the next day we found out the card the man paid with was stolen and after looking around the house they had stolen some expensive decorations and appliances as well I guess there never actually was a young couple either the one thing that was left unexplained was their whole plan with the water not working I think they either wanted me to not charge them for their stay so that hopefully they could use the stolen card for longer
or they were planning on robbing me at gunpoint but then that makes me question why they didn't three dangerous unidentified men blocking my exit in the basement after leading me into a trap and they just let me go it doesn't make sense to me but after that I never went to the house while customers were home and a few months later we stopped using Airbnb and just put the house up for rent I was taking a solo trip to Salt Lake City last year I'd never actually had the chance to go on many vacations before
and when I did it was always with my family this was the first time I was finally going to get to enjoy my time somewhere else all by myself I know it sounds a bit weird but being alone is fine with me this especially since I'd never get to be alone anyway I looked up both hotels and airbnbs in the area and surprisingly the airbnbs were a lot nicer and less pricey however all the cheaper ones were a bit further away from the city I was driving my own car though so I didn't care too
much about having to travel a bit to the city and went with a nicely sized Airbnb it was small but the kitchen and bedroom were nice which was all I really cared about I got there at six on Sunday morning the owner texted me the password and I brought all of my stuff inside it was really nice much better than the small apartment I shared with my roommate once I got everything inside and set up I hopped on the couch and turned on the TV it was a 10 hour drive so I was looking forward
to chilling for the night and enjoying the silence I fell asleep pretty quickly but it was only around seven o'clock so my body woke me up a few hours later the time was just past 10 and the TV was still on I grabbed the remote and turned it off then got up to get a glass of water before going to the bedroom as I walked from the living room to the kitchen I felt a strong cold breeze brush against me with my tired eyes I looked to my right and saw the front door was fully
open my eyes shot open and my heart pounded I stared at the door for a moment then looked around the room I knew I had closed it and locked it so this was really freaking me out I walked over to the door and closed it softly listening intently for any sounds of someone being inside for reference I'm not the biggest guy in the world but I am fairly tall and in shape so unless an intruder had a gun I felt confident I could force them away I grabbed a kitchen knife still being quiet and walked
room to room checking every inch of the house nobody was there this only confused me more and I sent a text to the homeowner asking if someone was supposed to come over tonight or something explaining what happened it was late though so I didn't expect a response right away I went around to every door locking each one then quickly checked the house again while more awake than I was before I was still really tired I went to bed and fell asleep with no trouble when I woke up though I was much less calm than I
was before I heard something from outside not outside the house but outside my bedroom door I didn't know what to do and kind of just froze waiting for whoever was outside the room to do something first as I sat there in bed I thought about how the person could have possibly gotten in the only person who would have the password to the door was the homeowner so honestly in that moment I was sure it was him this gave me more courage thinking it must be some creepy guy who likes to spy on the people who
stay at his Airbnb I got out of bed still not having heard anything else and grabbed my phone from the nightstand to call the cops I must have made too much noise though because almost right away someone started running away from the door and toward the front of the house that only frightened me more knowing the Intruder was standing right next to the bedroom door the entire time I dialed 9-1-1 but during the time it took for the cops to arrive nothing else happened the person had left I found a hotel to stay at for
the rest of the vacation but what's crazy is that the owner of the Airbnb gave me a refund as he was able to prove it wasn't him he was very concerned about it and he was actually a really nice old man it was already creepy enough when I thought it was the owner but knowing that it was just some random guy makes it even worse I don't know how he was able to get in or why he was stalking me but it still gives me chills thinking about it the part I think about the most
is waking up and seeing the front door open now that I know that someone was actually in the house that meant that whoever it was came in and saw me asleep on the couch then proceeded to do whatever it was they came there to do it's just really unnerving and creepy and makes me never want to be at an Airbnb alone I was staying at a small two-bedroom Airbnb during a vacation I took last year this place was on the way to another Airbnb that I was going to stay at for the main portion of
the vacation but this was more of just a rest stop for the night the place was clean and empty just as expected when I arrived I walked around the whole house to check it out before bringing in my luggage and sitting on the couch it was probably 8 PM by this time of night as I sat dozing off a little the doorbell ringing made me jolt awake I looked over at the front door confused and alarmed I was a pretty small young girl so it's safe to say I'm often scared easily and don't like talking
to strangers especially at night when I'm alone I got up and walked over to the door hearing two men whispering to each other on the other side the door didn't have a safety lock or anything so I just kept the door shut and called out to them hello hey we're here for the Airbnb can you open the door a man called out I loudly asked what they meant not understanding what being here for the Airbnb was supposed to mean he responded saying that he had the place booked for the night I knew there had to
be some sort of mistake so I told him still yelling through the door that I had it booked as well and that he needed to contact the owner the man didn't seem happy about that although if I were in his position I'd be pretty upset too I heard one pair of footsteps walk away from the door while the other man asked again if I could open the door so that we could talk about it I was about to give in putting my hand on the doorknob thinking that he seemed believable but something came over me
telling me to just play it safe I said my husband would be down to figure it out in a few minutes I didn't want them to think I was alone so I was hoping that would catch him off guard if something was bad the man didn't respond though I waited for another minute because I didn't hear any footsteps leaving but then I moved the short curtain to the side and looked out the small window the man I'd seemingly been talking to was facing towards his car parked in the driveway and passed him was one of
the most terrifying things I've ever seen a group of maybe five people was standing further down the driveway kind of hiding as if waiting for a signal they all had some form of face coverings and I couldn't see the other side of the door but I assumed there were even more people over there knowing that this was very likely a gang due to the city I was staying in I was completely horrified I backed away from the door fully panicked and tried not to hyperventilate I then went to the bedroom to get my phone and
call the police and I could hear more footsteps all around the house it was like I was surrounded by a pack of wolves who at any minute could crush the windows and break inside I took my phone into the bathroom with me and called 9-1-1 trying to remain calm the operator also told me to be quiet and stay calm as they were sending a group my way it would be there in just a few minutes I stayed on the line still hearing footsteps walking around outside the place until the horrible sound of wood bending and
then snapping came from the front door I was crying profusely now trying to muffle my mouth with my hand I listened as a whole group of people ran inside opening doors and cabinets before one approached the bathroom door and tried the handle here he yelled then walked away the group continued looting the house before Sirens were heard in the distance and they began to scatter out of the place they had all left by the time the police got inside and all of my luggage was gone and my car had its window shattered and was looted
as well one of the officers sat with me to discuss some details and he informed me that they've been having problems with large groups or gangs breaking into homes recently they don't think the main goal is to hurt the residents at all but rather to just Rob them of everything so that's likely why they left me alone in the bathroom knowing I wasn't a threat whether their intentions were to harm me or not it was still terrifying I know it likely had little to do with me staying at the Airbnb that night but it has
still made me really anxious every single time I stay at an Airbnb now [Music] foreign
