The man’s taken his host to court.
An Airbnb host allegedly sent a guest’s wife footage of him with another woman after he left her a bad review.
Shawn Mackey rented the house which had been promoted as a “Little Bit More Country” in Memphis in the autumn of 2022.
He booked to stay in the house from September 9 til the 11 with three other guests, old friends, who had tickets to see a football game together.
Mackey notified the host that he might have a few more friends over for dinner, reports the Daily Mail.
Mackey paid $567 dollars per night for the house, but refused to pay an additional $960 fee that was issued when the host, Pamela Fohler, claimed he’d broken two house rules and invited more guests than allowed.
When he refused to make the payment, Fohler retaliated against Mackey by reportedly emailing his wife security camera footage of him with another woman, according to a lawsuit filed in a Mississippi District Court.
Fohler told Mackey to ‘register’ anybody who might show up that weekend, whether they were planning to spend the night or not, which Mackey agreed to, with Fohler saying she could update the guest registry anytime.
Fohler has also sent him a list of demands prior to his stay, which included no smoking or vaping, excessive noise, un-registered guests, parking in front of garage doors and several other asks.
She also warned Mackey of the security cameras outside the premises.
Prior to his stay, Mackey emailed Fohler saying: “Rest assured, we will take great care of your home.”
When Mackey arrived on September 9, he offered Fohler a list of dinner guests, a total of nine plus ‘maybe a few more,’ four or five of whom would stay overnight.
Fohler wrote back 10 minutes later saying: “Hello Shawn, we will be able to accommodate a max of 8 guests. This is due to the city restrictions and capacity at our home. I apologize we had not discuss [sic] the guest count tripling.”
She added that there would be ‘a cost to each guest’ regardless of whether they stay the night or not.
Fohler then reached out to Mackey again reiterating her point writing: “Hello Shawn, I am asking you to either add the extra guests now or have them leave immediately. We have also gotten complaints of disturbances, yelling and profanity in the parking area. Our home is in a quiet neighbourhood and we need to maintain that.”
15 minutes later she wrote to him again writing: “I am very sorry but you have violated the no party rule, disturbed my neighbours by cursing and yelling in the parking lot, and have unauthorised guests. I am asking you to leave now. I can’t allow you to stay, I am sorry.”
Mackey claims that none of this was true. He states that only one extra guest shown up meaning there was five people in Fohler’s home and that there was no party or cursing.
Mackey then called Fohler and her husband picked up the phone. He allegedly told Mackey that it was okay for him to stay.
After checking out the following day, Mackey left Fohler a bad review and asked for a $502 refund which was refused.
The ongoing lawsuit claims that Fohler began harrassing Mackey following the review as she was concerned it would affect her Superhost status.
Mackey then claims that Fohler text him on September 17 with photos of him and another woman.
She allegedly wrote: “Hello Shawn, hope you are well. Sorry it took so long to get the photos you requested together to show your stay at our home. But I had faith, was driven by integrity, so I committed to get these posted for you and Airbnb.
“Photo at 3:16 AM is especially notable. Should I forward the photos and videos to [Mackey’s wife] Teresa, or will you?’.”
Fohler denied sending the email and said she’s never corresponded with Mackey’s wife in a counterclaim filed in December.
Neither Mackey’s lawyers nor Fohler’s attorney have publicly commented beyond their court claims.
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