UK family share nightmare of bloodstained, sex toy-filled holiday rental | UK news

A family who arrived at their rented holiday house to find bloodstained furniture and a room full of sex toys were told the problem was “minor” by the booking platform Vrbo.

Paul Norris [not his real name] and his wife had booked the five-bedroom, £300-a-night house in Northern Ireland for a week’s holiday for their extended family, including four young children.

Norris said they were met by a bloodstained mattress, unsecured medication and a master bedroom full of sex toys and bondage gear.

His five-year-old son, excitedly exploring, was the first to open a bedside cabinet in the main bedroom to find the toys and medication, said Norris.

“We quickly moved the children into the kitchen, where we found an open bottle of nicotine vape liquid on a worktop, and checked the other bedside cabinet and wardrobe. These contained even more items including ropes, whips, penis enlargers, handcuffs and opened tubes of lubricant.”

The house had not been cleaned and contained soiled upholstery and mouldy food.

Norris emailed photographs of the pills and sex toys to Vrbo, part of Expedia Group, which insisted that he complain instead to the host. A customer services agent, in a recorded call obtained by the Guardian, repeatedly claimed that the health and safety implications were “minor” and that he did not therefore qualify for a refund.

Norris contacted the host who, he said, suggested he would be accused of damaging the property if he pursued a refund. He said he claimed he hadn’t got round to cleaning the place because police had shot his dog after it escaped and bit someone.

Norris said Vrbo eventually offered to put the family up in a hotel while the property was cleaned. The family declined and Norris paid £2,000 for a nearby Airbnb property.

Vrbo refunded him the cost of the original booking the following month but Norris said the promised compensation has not been paid and the property is still listed on its website.

“Vrbo refused to publish my review, yet allowed the owner to post a zero star rating of me,” he said. “The extent of what we found in that house was surreal and we felt trapped by the lack of support. I was forced to spend hours during the first three days of the holiday stuck on the phone – mostly on hold – to Vrbo, the host and my bank. The experience completely ruined our trip.”

After the Guardian got in touch Vrbo offered £1,000 in compensation. A spokesperson said: “We take the health and safety of our Vrbo guests very seriously and we are sorry Mr Norris had this experience.

“As discussed, we have now provided Mr Norris with compensation in addition to refunding his full booking and service fee, totalling over £3,000. Additionally, we arranged and paid for alternative accommodation. We also contacted the property host regarding cleanliness and safety issues. We regularly assess our policies and our health and safety team is currently re-investigating this case.”