A GROUP of unsuspecting women on a bachelorette trip felt the need to flee their Vrbo rental in the middle of the night after numerous red flags popped up around their space.
Callie Bryant, one of the women on the outing, spoke up about the incident online and revealed they felt they were being “set up” to get robbed.
Bryant originally posted a video of her and her friends evacuating the Austin, Texas residence on TikTok on April 3.
In text placed over the video, she claimed: “Emergency evacuating our Vrbo in the middle of the night, cause we realized we were set up to be robbed and/or worse when the doors didn’t lock, alarm system was dead, owner didn’t respond & Vrbo listing had been taken down.”
The video has since garnered 3 million views, and Bryant posted a five-part video series on her account to explain exactly what went down for people wanting to know more about the uncomfortable situation.
Bryant claimed she and her friends grew warier and warier of the Vrbo rental between 10pm and 12am the first night they arrived.
Read more in lifestyle
The first red flag, she said, occurred at check-in when the owner took the main key to the home and requested they use the back door.
Then, around 10pm that night, they discovered that not a single door would lock, even after all nine women attempted to get the job done.
She added that while the doors would seem to lock from the inside, someone on the outside could open them right up, even with a deadbolt in place.
Bryant said the third red flag was the lack of timely response from the owner, while the fourth worrisome factor was the fact that the alarm system did not work.
Bryant claimed that when the owner did eventually answer, they were “defensive” and made them feel stupid.
“[They] implied that we were dumb, that we could have easily locked the doors ourselves, that our safety was not compromised, just a very odd response,” she recalled, adding that if people felt unsafe on her property, she would immediately want to help.
Finally, the fifth factor in their decision to flee was that the listing had been taken down at some point during their short stay.
Bryant said they ultimately decided to leave the Vrbo once her brother, who is a police officer in Arkansas, said it would be best for their safety to do so.
“We totally understand that something could have not happened but given all of the information we have and facts and things that were happening it would have been silly for us to stay,” she noted.
To make things worse, when she and a few women went back the next day to collect the rest of their items, she said they learned that the front gate with a padlock could be opened even if it was locked.
At that point, they knew they made the right decision.
Bryant said that she and her friend are now working with Vrbo to get their money back and simply hopes her experience can be a warning for others.
“I hope that everybody else who’s watched these videos now knows and sees the same thing that, you know, you need to listen to your intuition and if you see a red flag, trust it and just don’t put yourself at risk if you don’t have to,” she concluded.
Thousands of viewers have commented on Bryant’s videos to offer their support and sympathy, while others claimed they had been or knew people who had been in similar situations.
“I literally had police show up in the middle of the night to ours looking for the owner … they told us it wasn’t safe to be there lol,” one person wrote.
“My husband is a cop and this happened to a group of girls in LA.
“Got robbed and their car getting stolen.
“Glad you guys left before anything happened!” another person recalled.
Read More on The US Sun
A third person added that they only use hotels because there are “too many security risks” with such rentals and a “crazy” amount of rules.
The Sun reached out to Vrbo via email in a request for comment on Bryant’s claims, but the company did not immediately reply.
Do you have a story for The US Sun team?
Email us at exclusive@the-sun.com or call 212 416 4552.
Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TheSunUS and follow us from our main Twitter account at @TheSunUS