Dan Vespa, AirBNB Host Scam.
378 Queens Street. Essex, Ontario.
Over the holidays my family booked a weekend stay at Dan Vespas 5 Bedroom Home in Essex Ontario (Windsor).
We were excited to have a big house to accommodate our family this year as the kids get older and the pool area was meant to be a fun surprise for the young ones.
Upon our arrival there were garbage containers on the front yard that were overflowing with garbage and mixed recycling. The backyard blue bins were full and we found drug paraphernalia and open alcohol beverage containers scattered throughout the house. We found a small baggie with a white crystal substance that needed to be safely discarded.
The house was not cleaned very well, if at all as we've stayed at several AirBNBs in the past and all of them were IMMACULATE upon arrival.
There was dirt and grime on the kitchen counters and appliances, the blender and some utensils had mold on them and were unusable when preparing food. The fridge and freezer had old food left inside and just seemed gross.
We had to purchase some of our own items, plates, glasses, cups and utensils just to be sure that were weren't putting ourselves at risk of getting sick.
Overall the house is pretty nice looking and is large but the images on the AirBNB listing are quite misleading.
There are many health and safety violations that exist within this house, primarily in the pool area, so it's crucial to be aware.
Indoor pool was poorly maintained and the water PH levels were not maintained properly which led to some guests experiencing irritation and sensitive eyes.
When entering the house, you can smell the moisture and chlorine all throughout and even after leaving you could smell it on your clothes.
There was also visible mold and mildew on the walls of pool area and a deep freeze could have come in handy but was unusuable as it's completely covered in mold.
The latch in the door to the pool room was damaged, sharp and rusted which made it difficult and unsafe to use.
The walk way surrounding the pool was cluttered with dead plants and was unsafe to navigate. There were also open beer cans and used drug paraphernalia found in the pool area.
When turning on the lights in the pool area, only some worked which lead to poorly visibility and one of the fans above the poor sent sparks flying when turning it on (it appeared to be hanging from a wire and our kids were worried that it would fall in the pool or on them).
After our stay, Dan Vespa quickly accused us of damaging not 1, but 2 recliners in the main living room. He added an additional $1100 to our bill plus another $300 for cleaning fees.
It is apparent from looking at the advert that the recliners have been used and you can see visible damage on the armrests already.
When trying to resolve the issue, Dan Vespas response was that he was on holidays and was unable to respond.
Funny how that happened when he was clearly aware of the "damages".
It quickly became clear to us that Dan Vespa was trying to get money for previously damaged, or used furniture.
He also added additional cleaning fees as we brought our dog with us, even though the listing clearly states that it's pet friendly.
Vespa then accused us of bringing pets without permission, but he never clarified and protocols ahead of time.
When we left we made sure to clean and leave things better than we found it. This also included cleaning up after our dog in the backyard... And some of what we cleaned WAS NOT from our dog as the backyard was poorly maintained.
Just understand that the review system on AirBNB works in the favor of the host. The advert is missing many reviews over the past several months whichs just goes to show that there have been unhappy guests prior the us.
Claimed loss: $1400 in damages that we did not do.
Desired outcome: Fees waived.
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