This happened while I was bicycling across the US after graduating from college. I had booked an AirBnb in a small town. This was one of those listings where you share the common areas with the hosts, but have a private bedroom and bathroom.
I arrived around 6pm, but no one was home. I knocked several times, called the host three times, texted, and left a voicemail. Nothing. I even knocked on three neighbors’ doors to ask if anyone knew him, but nobody did.
While I was at the 3rd neighbor’s doorstep, the host finally texted. He explained he had a family emergency out of town, and would be driving back shortly. I asked when he’d be back, but I knew he was at least an hour away. A moment later, he changed his mind saying he’ll be gone overnight. Confused, I asked where that left me, and whether I’d be refunded. He didn’t reply for another hour.
Meanwhile, I desperately needed to use the bathroom. I started riding to the nearest motel just so I can use a bathroom. On the way, I found a supermarket and used their bathroom instead. After that, I devised a plan: I was exhausted from biking all day, and felt too exhausted to look for a stealth camp spot. I also didn’t want to pay for a motel without confirmation about the refund. So I’ll quietly camp in the host’s front yard, leave by 5:30am, and be gone before he returns.
I biked back, and pitched my tent at around 7pm. It was when I finished pitching the tent, the host finally replied saying yes, I’d be refunded, but also “You can’t camp out in front of the house". Reading that made my stomach sank. I knew I shouldn’t stay, but I was so drained that the idea of moving again felt impossible. I decided to risk it and set my alarm.
Around midnight, I was awakened by a car pulling into the driveway. It was the host. He had came home after all. I heard him mutter, frustrated, "This guy is f-cking camping in my yard". I braced myself thinking he’ll confront me or pry my tent open. But he left me alone. He also left a message on Airbnb saying he didn’t understand why I thought camping in someone’s yard was acceptable, that he already told me not to, and that anyone else would have contacted the authorities. He added while the cancellation had inconvenienced the both of us, it didn’t justify pitching a tent after being refunded.
That message made me feel awful, but at that point it was the middle of the night, so I stayed put until my alarm went off.
At 5:30 I started packing. At the same time, the host stepped outside to walk his dog. He didn’t say anything. He stood in the doorway giving me a death stare. When I finished packing, I said, “Sorry for the inconvenience”. He didn’t respond. He never left a negative review, and I never left one either.
I don’t feel proud of doing this. I didn’t want to camp there; I just felt stuck and exhausted. What would you have done in my situation?
NTA. What a horrible situation to be left in . He should have just let you in the house at midnight when he got home . He was happy for you to be homeless for the night . What if you didn’t have a tent or couldn’t find somewhere else . This sort of behaviour should get him kicked off air BnB
NTA
Leave a bad review. He broke the agreement, left you stranded and offered no help in finding an alternative. People need to know the kind of host he is.
Not at all,how can he do something like that
Do leave a bad review,so that no one in future face such horrible situation.
Feel free to leave a review. If he canceled last minute he should have paid for a cheap hotelroom as well. I would be so embaressed, that I even contacted friends so you would have had a place to stay, that would be the bare minimum.
NTA, but I do have to ask why you didn’t contact Airbnb for some help?
If the host cancels within 30 days of your check-in, Airbnb is supposed to find you an alternative lodging.
[If your host cancels your home reservation – Airbnb Help Center](https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/170)
To be fair most stories you hear about things like this Airbnb does nothing or at the very least can only sort it during business hours, so it was too late for OP.
NTA. He may have had an emergency, but you only found out last minute. You can’t just magic a place to stay. You did what you had to.
NTA, I would have a good look through the Ts and Cs for AirBnb, specifically regarding cancellation periods by the host, as I’m pretty sure it’s not allowed for him to cancel on you when you’re on his doorstep, with no prior warning (if he’d already had time to drive to his “emergency”, he had time to message you about it), and not even provide and prompt response about a refund. There’s no way he didn’t violate some kind of policy.
Emergencies obviously happen, but his attitude towards you suggests to me that he forgot you were coming, so hadn’t prepared your room (hence why he didn’t let you in at midnight), and had made other plans for the night, then made excuses when you started messaging/calling.
Either way, you’re definitely not in the wrong for thinking on your feet and finding an affordable, practical solution, especially given that he hadn’t yet informed you of any refund and so you’d paid to be on his property at the point that you pitched your tent – albeit, in a different part!
Info: how did the host knew you planned to camp there after you had just thought of it?
NTA what possible inconvenience did his cancellation cause him
He lied multiple times, changed his mind few times too, left you stranded and didn’t respond timely to communication. Don’t feel bad.
I love that you pitched a tent in his yard in response to him cancelling on you wayyyyyyyyy too late for you to rebook anywhere else. And after not offering you any other accommodations, and not refunding you, rather, promising one vaguely in the future. He didn’t leave a negative review because he was the one in the wrong, and would have been roasted.
Feel free to do so yourself.
NTA and you should’ve left a bad review.
This is why I think hotels are superior. They actually have to practice hospitality. They clean up after you. They attend to you. They provide what you need and don’t make you feel like an imposition for booking and staying with them. Fuck AirBNB and their miserable “hosts”.
NTA but you’re a doormat. Why on earth did YOU apologise to HIM?!?
You had no reason to feel guilty at any point.