Guest swaps artwork in home, baffled Airbnb owner says. TikTok is asking ‘why?’
An Airbnb owner in Virginia surveyed the walls of her rental after a guest had checked out — but something was missing.
“The weirdest thing a guest has ever done,” Amy Corbett, the co-founder of an Airbnb hosting company in Lynchburg, Virginia, said on her TikTok.
Before the guest stayed at the property, a black-and-white picture of a world map hung above the couch. When Corbett checked, the map photo was gone — and replaced with a rustic painting of an airplane propeller.
“I have never seen this picture before in my life,” Corbett said. “I don’t know where it came from…I gotta say, I was a little creeped out.”
@allbelongco The weirdest thing a guest has ever done. #airbnb #airbnbstory #airbnbguest #airbnbthief #crazystory #story #fyp ♬ original sound - allbelong.co
Her story quickly captivated millions of viewers on TikTok, many who had the same question as Corbett: Why?
Corbett debunked some theories TikTok had about why the guest swapped the paintings. Was it his artwork? Nope, Corbett said. The airplane canvas painting can be bought in a bunch of places online. He didn’t swap it to cover up a hole or any damage, she added — the wall behind the painting was perfect. She doubted that he broke the first painting, either, because it was so durable.
Security footage showed the suspected guest carrying the airplane photo into the Airbnb and then later carrying out a painting-like shape wrapped in blankets to the car, which Corbett said she could only assume was her missing picture.
@allbelongco Replying to @exploration_of_love Let’s debunk some theories while we wait to hear from Airbnb… #airbnb #airbnbguest #fyp ♬ original sound - allbelong.co
After filing a claim with Airbnb, the guest paid $25 toward damages and didn’t explain anything about the situation, Corbett said in a follow-up video.
Many comments on Corbett’s page said they actually liked the new photo better and encouraged her to keep it — but the Airbnb owner was determined to get to the bottom of it, especially since she heard from previous hosts that the guests had damaged their property.
Other hosts told Corbett that the same guest had put things in their home without approval and left the space dirty, as she showed in another video. When Corbett confronted the guest as to why he took the artwork, he simply asked why she was making a claim with Airbnb.
“It’s bizarre but I thought his artwork really worked with your decor,” one viewer said.
“It does not matter if you think it looks better, he stole her property, and has a bad reputation with other hosts,” another person commented. “She’s not being a Karen.”
In the end, Corbett was reimbursed for her stolen property through Airbnb and the guest was removed from the platform, she said in a TikTok.
@allbelongco Airbnb’s response… #airbnbstory #fyp #airbnb #airbnbthief ♬ original sound - allbelong.co
Dozens of viewers encouraged Corbett to keep the mysterious plane picture, but she decided to put the strange situation to good use and launched a charity raffle to help raise money for affordable housing, she told her viewers.
Tickets were $2 and gave participants a chance to win a $250 gift card to Corbett’s company properties and the strange plane picture.
So now what hangs inside the River House Airbnb? Corbett hired an artist to paint a custom scene of the waterfall just outside the home.
@allbelongco What’s going back on the wall? #allbelongco #fyp #airbnbthief #airbnb #riverhouse #paintings #jamesriver #lynchburgva ♬ original sound - allbelong.co
“Now, chain it to the wall with a cable and padlock!” one viewer joked.
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