A British family rented a holiday house in Northern Ireland for a week, but when they reached the place, they were met with bloodstained furniture and a room full of sex toys. When they contacted the booking platform Vrbo, they were told that the problem was "minor". 

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A man (name not disclosed for privacy purposes) booked the five bedrooms of the house to stay with his wife and their four children, along with their extended family, The Guardian reported. They paid over $370 per night for the stay. 

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The man claimed he and his family were met with a bloodstained mattress, unsecured medication and a master bedroom full of sex toys and bondage gear. His five-year-old son was the first who, in the excitement of exploration, opened the cabinet in the master bedroom where the sex toys and medication were found. 

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“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 open tubes of lubricant," the man told The Guardian. 

The house was not even cleaned after the previous guest's visit as mouldy food was present there.

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The man sent a mail to Vrbo with an attachment of photographs of the house with pills and sex toys. The platform told him to raise the complaint with the host instead. In a call recording, a customer service agent of the platform claimed the health and safety implications of the incident were "minor", hence the man does not qualify for a refund. 

The man then contacted the host. But instead of acknowledging the issue, the host told the man that he and his family would be accused of damaging the property if he proceeded to obtain a refund. The man then asked about the uncleaned rooms to which the host said the cleaning was not done because the police had shot dead his dog who escaped and bit someone. 

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Vrbo then offered his family a hotel nearby till the house was cleaned, but he refused. He then paid $2,470 for an Airbnb property. 

Vrbo refunded the cost of the original booking a month after the incident but the man claimed the promised compensation was still due and the property is still listed on the platform. 

“Vrbo refused to publish my review, yet allowed the owner to post a zero star rating of me,” the man said, The Guardian reported. 

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“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," he added. 

The platform offered compensation amounting to around $1,230 to the man after being reached by the British newspaper. 

(With inputs from agencies)