A doorbell camera caught our Airbnb host's "move out" cleaning scandal

We just got back from a trip to Florida with our 2-year-old, where we stayed at an Airbnb for a week.<br><br>As soon as we got home, I got a message from our host saying that we trashed her house, and that her cleaning service was going to cost $250 instead of the $65 we prepaid.<br><br>I was confused - we're not messy people at all, and we spent some time cleaning up after ourselves before we left, including wiping down the counters, sweeping and mopping the floors, and taking out the trash. <br><br>I asked for some proof that we'd left the house in disarray, and she sent me a few grainy cellphone photos of dirty dishes and some toys scattered around the living room.<br><br>I still wasn't buying it - those pictures didn't look that bad to me, plus we'd already washed all of our dishes and put the toys away in the closet before we left. <br><br>We went back and forth until I asked if she'd taken any videos or photos when we first arrived, to prove that the house was clean beforehand.<br><br>That's when she got weirdly defensive and told me that she didn't need to send me that kind of proof, and that she'd already talked to Airbnb and they were going to force us to pay the $250.<br><br>At that point, I was fed up and decided to call Airbnb. I don't usually like to get third parties involved in disputes, but something about this lady's tone put me off.<br><br>I explained the situation to Airbnb, and they told me that they'd already talked to my host, but that she hadn't sent them any kind of evidence of the damage we'd supposedly done.<br><br>I asked if they could look into it because her behavior was shady as hell, and that's when the agent told me that she'd already tried to submit a claim for the cleaning service... 2 days BEFORE we even moved in.<br><br>It turns out that our host had recently installed a doorbell camera at the house, and it had caught her and her cleaner completely trashing the house after the previous guests left and before we moved in.<br><br>According to the Airbnb agent, the camera caught them:<br><br>* Dumping dirty laundry from the closet onto the bedroom floor<br><br>* Leaving dirty dishes and food all over the kitchen counters<br><br>* Moving our toys out of the closet and into the living room<br><br>* Smearing shit all over the bathroom sink after they "cleaned" it<br><br>* Bringing their own dogs into the house even though pets weren't allowed<br><br>It was fucking insane.<br><br>The agent said that our host had tried to use the grainy photos she'd sent me as "proof" that we'd done all of that, but that the doorbell camera was "concrete evidence" that she'd faked the whole thing.<br><br>Our host's account was suspended and we got a full refund, but I'm still furious that she tried to scam us in the first place.<br><br>Has anyone else ever had something like this happen to them?<br><br>&#x200B;<br><br>EDIT: Holy shit this blew up.<br><br>Just to clarify a few things that were asked in the comments: <br><br>1. I'm not the person who installed the doorbell camera - it was our host, probably as a way to spy on her guests. In this case it backfired and caught her in the act,lol.<br><br>2. I didn't call the police. As some people pointed out, it's not actually illegal to be a piece of shit, so while I found her behavior absolutely deplorable, I think "illegal" might be taking it too far. Plus, we live on the other side of the country and can't exactly press charges from over there. <br><br>3. Yes, I think this host absolutely should have been banned and possibly even investigated further, but I have no idea how to make that happen. This was my first time using Airbnb and I don't want to become a litigious bitch who tries to get everyone fired and/or sued. I did tell the Airbnb rep that I thought she should be banned, but I have no idea what happened after that. <br><br>Thank you all so much for the feedback! I'm going to stop checking the comments now because I have to get back to work.