Airbnb host called woman ‘fatso’ for complaining about pet rats and ‘awful smell’
A mum who complained to an Airbnb owner about mess and pet rats in her accommodation was told: ‘F**k off fatso.’
Lianna Bartle who says she ‘struggles’ with her weight, had booked a weekend away for her 35th birthday with her eight-year-old daughter, Lily.
They chose a room in the village of Endon, Staffordshire, marketed by host Matthew Tolley as ‘Luxury Endon House Share’.
But Lianna said the offering – located half-an-hour’s drive from Alton Towers, was ‘anything but luxury’.
Matthew claims the mum is on a ‘hate campaign’ against him but admitted sending her a WhatsApp message saying: ‘No you were rude and wrong. F*** off fatso.’
The host, who lists his property on Booking.com, Airbnb, and A-Hotel, also wrote that Lianna ‘doesn’t cook and lives on junk food and crisps.’
He currently has a rating of 4.81 on Airbnb with 59 reviews. Lianna, from Bradford, arrived at the home on May 12 for her three-night stay after using Booking.com.
As Matthew showed his guests around, the host asked Lily if she’d like to play with his pet rats.
Lianna was shocked to learn there were animals in the property and watched in a daze as Matthew took her daughter to a utility room where the rats were kept in a cage.
She said: ‘I was watching, mortified. He should have disclosed there were rats in the house in his listing. Even though they were hidden away, they were still in the house.
‘The smell throughout the house was awful. I don’t know how many there were but there were a few, maybe three or four. They smelt really bad, like rats’ wee and poo.’
Matthew opened the cage and let Lily play with them but then one of the rodents bit the girl’s hand, her mum claimed.
Lianna said: ‘She was a bit shocked, she didn’t touch the rats again after that. Definitely not. It was only a light bite.’
Pictures of the house taken by Lianna appear to show discarded clothes, mess and dirty in the property.
Lianna said she kept tight-lipped during her stay as she felt ‘intimidated by her host.
But afterwards she outlined her concerns in a review on Booking.com which has since been taken off the site.
She did add that the view from the room was ‘stunning’ and the bedroom was ‘immaculate’.
Refuting all the complaints, Matthew wrote that Lianna had contradicted every other guest who had left a review.
‘The house was spotlessly clean (it always is) and photos are taken regularly to prove the fact,’ he added.
‘There was no smell – this is simply a complete fiction – unless she’s complaining about cooking smells, which are NORMAL in most homes at mealtimes.
‘Unfortunately Lianna doesn’t know what these are because she doesn’t cook and lives on junk food and crisps.
‘She wanted new towels every night which were provided without complaint, even though no other guest has ever asked for this.’
Matthew claims Lianna left a used hairbrush behind and a ‘whole bunch of hairs everywhere’.
He added: ‘The guest has left a completely false review and will not be welcome back. Frankly, I’m disgusted by her behaviour.’
Lianna was shocked by the comments Matthew made about her ‘living off junk food’ and said at most she’d shared a Pringles can with her daughter.
She claims the hairbrush was in the room when she arrived and she bagged up her rubbish for him to collect because she didn’t want to ‘walk past the disgusting smell of rats to get to the bin’.
Shocked by Matthew’s response to her review, she messaged him on Whatsapp to inform him that she had reported him to Booking.com.
Lianna told him she’d been ‘honest’ and that the house, apart from the guest room, was ‘filthy’ and that she had photos to prove it.
She said she used her towels twice and then wanted new ones because she is a ‘clean person and not a tramp’.
The unhappy customer added: ‘As for saying I live on junk food and crisps??? I cook home cooked food every night. Can’t wait to share this with the local papers.’
Lianna then sent what appeared to be dirty photos of the property, and wrote: ‘Filthy and cluttered…. your reply was completely rude after I sent an honest review!! Maybe you should inform people you are living with rats !!!’
Matthew replied: ‘No you were rude and wrong. F**k off fatso.’
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‘I am overweight. It was only last year that I paid money to work with a binge eating coach I have struggled with my weight for a lot of years,’ said Lianna.
‘So for someone to say that to me, it hurt big time. It was just so personal.’
Matthew said: ‘The individual in question has made a series of false claims about her stay, she filed unfavourable feedback as she was entitled to do.
‘I responded as I was entitled to do and she began, subsequent to that, to send me a series of unsolicited messages which resulted in me having to block contact with her.
‘Having seen her social media posts, I now believe she is engaged in hate campaign against me, encouraging her friends to contact me, file complaints and to contact the media and to harass me by using and abusing conventional media.
‘This in my view is unacceptable and may constitute illegal harassment which will result in me making a complaint to the police.’
Booking.com rejected Lianna’s request for a refund.
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