A UK family who arrived at their Northern Ireland holiday rental to find bloodstained furniture, bondage and sex toys were told by Vrbo that the problems were “minor”.
Paul Norris (a pseudonym) told The Guardian he had booked the five-bedroom house in Northern Ireland for a week-long family holiday including four young children.
The family claims to have found a bloodstained mattress, loose medication and sex toys in the master bedroom on arrival at the rental.
According to Norris, an “open bottle of nicotine vape liquid” sat on the kitchen worktop with “ropes, whips, penis enlargers, handcuffs and opened tubes of lubricant” in bedside cabinets and the wardrobe.
The group had paid £300 a night for the house with mouldy food and dirty furniture.
After sending an email complaint to Vrbo, a customer services agent said that the health and safety issues were “minor” and to contact the property host as a refund would not be issued, reports The Guardian.
The host allegedly threatened to accuse the family of damage if they pursued a refund and said the rental condition was because “the police had shot his dog after it escaped and bit someone”.
Vrbo, in the Expedia group, offered to host the family in a hotel before Norris decided to spend £2,000 to stay in a nearby Airbnb.
Norris said that the experience “completely ruined” the family trip.
“Vrbo refused to publish my review, yet allowed the owner to post a zero star rating of me,” he said.
“The extent of what we found in that house was surreal, and we felt trapped by the lack of support. I was forced to spend hours during the first three days of the holiday stuck on the phone – mostly on hold – to Vrbo, the host and my bank,” Norris added.
The rental platform has since offered £1,000 in compensation and refunded the cost of the original booking. However, the property is still listed on its website.
A spokesperson for Vrbo told The Independent: “We take the health and safety of our Vrbo guests very seriously and we are sorry Mr. Norris had this experience.
“We have now provided Mr. Norris with compensation in addition to refunding his full booking and service fee, totalling over £3,000. Additionally, we arranged and paid for alternative accommodation.
“We also contacted the property host regarding cleanliness and safety issues. We regularly assess our policies and our Health and Safety team is currently re-investigating this case.”
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