Andreas Chiou, the president of the association of property managers, recounted an incident with a Chinese customer who rented an apartment through Airbnb and incurred €3,500 in phone charges from calls made via the internet. Speaking to ERT, Chiou explained that the client was an employee of a construction company and likely needed the phone for meetings.

Chiou revealed, “We discovered the issue 1.5 months later when the phone bill arrived. The client had connected a fixed device to the router and made extensive calls to China. He either brought or purchased the device and used it to make calls.”

Upon receiving the €3,500 bill, Chiou requested a detailed list from the phone provider. He noted, “The list showed a company that communicates in Chinese. I haven’t found anyone who speaks English.”

“We were asked to pay the amount because we realized it after the client left,” said the owner of the property who, when asked if he would take legal action to reclaim his money from the Chinese debtor, replied “to get the money back you have to get a lawyer in China and you will be in worse trouble.”

Mr Chiou also said he tried to claim the money through AirBnb to which he sent the details of the case “but at the moment there has been no response”. According to him, properties through Airbnb “are insured up to the amount of 1 million euros. Because the phone calls are probably a service and not a product, it does not pass the guarantee.”

Asked how property ownerscan be protected from similar debts, Chiou replied “what the provider told me is to call directly to the company we work with and ask by phone to block outgoing calls”.

As for what are the main problems property owners face from short-term rental tenants, Chiou said “there have been a lot of problems especially with streaming. Especially with the air conditioner and the heater that is left on 24 hours a day.”

According to him, a settlement was eventually reached with the provider for the 3,500 fess that “dropped below half and I’m paying it in instalments.”