When Lara Davies and her partner stayed at an Airbnb for a few days in October, they had no idea they’d be losing nearly $100,000 dollars.
Ms Davies, a veterinarian, had recently arrived in Collingwood, Victoria from the US: a return trip for Ms Davies, and the chance to migrate for her partner, a software engineer.
A week into their stay, as they were arranging their permanent move to Australia, they left their Airbnb to go out for the evening.
When they returned, their place had been broken into, and tens of thousands of dollars worth of items had been stolen – along with Ms Davies’ car.
“I had packed up my entire life into suitcases to move from America to Australia,” Ms Davies told news.com.au. “And I had five suitcases, and three of them were gone.
“It was an apartment that was on the fifth floor of a building, in which you need a fob to get into the front door [and] to get up the elevator, and then you need a key to get into the front door.
“When we came home, the front door of our ajar, and we saw our apartment had been completely ransacked.”
The two had moved all of their belongings from the US to Australia, and had kept it all in the apartment.
According to their receipts, the items – including several expensive pieces of media equipment — amounted to $99,392.14.
“All of our stuff was in the apartment,” Ms Davies said. “They stole pretty much everything of value.”
According to Ms Davies, police later found her car and several thousand dollars worth of designer clothing inside it.
In the car were also several fobs and keys, which Ms Davies guessed was how the thieves accessed the apartment.
After several days, Ms Davies was given a week’s stay at a different location from Airbnb. They were refunded $1,646 out of the $4,620 they had spent on the trip.
When asked for a full refund, they were directed to MadeComfy, an Airbnb management company that acted as the host for the apartment.
“I really feel strongly that we should get a full refund back because the Airbnb was not safe, and so much of our stuff was stolen,” Ms Davies said.
According to Ms Davies, MadeComfy told them it had conducted an “internal investigation”, and decided not to refund the stay.
She described their customer service as “shocking”.
“When I said to [the MadeComfy rep], ‘You guys just put me on hold for 37 minutes to tell me [the refund] was declined for no reason,’ she actually laughed,” she said.
“The customer service has just been absolutely terrible. At least when I speak to the people at Airbnb, I do feel like there’s a little bit more compassion.”
Ms Davies and her partner separated shortly after, with the theft having put a strain on their relationship. While Ms Davies is remaining in Australia, her partner moved back to the US.
Ms Davies said Airbnb is looking into a possible liability insurance claim on behalf of the couple.
“When I booked an Airbnb, I thought safety and security was just always an assumption,” she said. “Honestly, I just wish we stayed in a hotel.”
Victoria Police said it is aware of the incident and is investigating.
News.com.au has reached out to Airbnb and MadeComfy for comment.