Ontario woman shares warning after a near-miss ceiling collapse at her short-term rental

A woman says AirBNB is refusing to refund her stay after the ceiling of her rental collapsed with her family inside. CTV’s Karis Mapp has the story.

A woman from Ottawa says she was staying at an AirBNB in Kitchener when a section of the ceiling collapsed near her family.

Victoria Nguyen told CTV News she was in the city to introduce her young son to his great-grandparents.

Her brother and father got to the AirBNB first.

“They sent me a picture,” Nguyen recalled. “It was sagging, like the ceiling was sagging.”

She was stunned when she saw it for herself.

“I was just shocked. I just looked at the ceiling. I was like, ‘Oh, man. That looks like it’s going to fall at any time.’”

Nguyen said she was aware there had been water damage to the ceiling a week before her arrival. A text message from the host, which she shared with CTV News, described it as “a small patch (3x4 feet) in the kitchen ceiling that bulged out a little.” She was also assured there was “no safety hazard and the ceiling is intact.”

Then, three days into her stay at the rental, the unthinkable.

“It happened right in front of my eyes because I was feeding my baby,” Nguyen explained. “Suddenly, without any notice at all, [the ceiling] collapsed. It was loud, surprisingly. It was heavy. The drywall went down and it nearly missed my father.”

She said, had the timing been different, someone could have been seriously hurt.

“Me and my son were in the area all morning, so if something had happened to him, I just can’t imagine. It was definitely scary.”

Nguyen tried to contact the host to let him know about the ceiling collapse. After multiple failed attempts, she reached out directly to AirBNB who offered her a 30 per cent refund.

“I think it’s because we stayed there for three days and it happened on our last day there,” she explained. “But, to me, I feel like it doesn’t matter which day it happened on. The point was that this never should have been listed at all.”

CTV News also reached out to the host who denied contacting Nguyen about the damaged ceiling before her stay. He claimed she embellished the story in hopes of getting a full refund.

Nguyen said she was sharing her story because she wanted to warn others.

“I think AirBNB should have higher standards for the safety of their guests and take these situations more seriously. We’re lucky that no one got hurt.”

One expert said it’s not unusual to hear about damage to a short-term rental.

“They’re just trying to make money off of people that will deal with that because they’re just short-term,” said Stefan Juzkiw, the owner and founder of Juzkiw Law in Toronto. “When the owner, or AirBNB host, tells you there’s an issue, you want to be very cautious and try to investigate fully. Ideally, you want places that are reasonably safe.”

CTV News also reached out to AirBNB. A spokesperson from the company said the listing for the Kitchener rental has been suspended until the host confirms the ceiling problem has been addressed. AirBNB also said Nguyen would be issued a full refund.