My friend and I travelled to Peru in September 2014 (forgot the exact date now). I posted a public request on CS and Jhon (CS name F3rnando Rivero) invited us to stay with him for 2 days.
We arrived early in the morning on an overnight bus. Jhon wanted to take us to a hotspring after breakfast. But we were cold and tired, also having problems with the altitude in Huaraz, so we preferred to rest a bit before going out. Jhon insisted, so we went. Instead of going to the public pool, he took us to a private bath without asking. There the two of us gotta share a small tub with him. We told him we felt uncomfortable but he said it's Peruvian culture and made jokes about Asians being too conservative. Then he made us pay for his entrance fee, the private bath session, tips and all other spending he made during our stay (meals, entertainment, transport, tips etc). Other than meals we had together, when showing us around and we weren't hungry, he would order food for himself and asked us to pay. I considered it as a way to thank his hospitality, and it wasn't much money so we simply paid.
The other day, we wanted to take a day tour to the nearby sights. Jhon took us to a travel agent, claiming that he knew the owner so he can give us good discount. But we soon found that agency charged twice the price of the others on the same street. After the tour, Jhon waited for us at the busstop drunk (or pretending to be drunk). All the way back to the house, he kept trying to hug us. Since the guest room we were sleeping in was actually a small partition inside his bedroom without door, we were quite worried that night. I was so glad that nothing bad happened.
On the last day, when we were about to leave, he stood at the partition door with arms crossed, and demanded further payment (30S) for our stay. I asked why didn't he told us before. Still blocking the door, he said that the room is free but the water supply and electricity isn't. We've got a bus to catch so we paid to avoid trouble. I told him he should have mentioned it before, advised him to update his profile or be honest to future guest, but he ignored. So I wrote a neutral reference mentioning the cost of staying with Jhon.
He then sent me many Facebook messages demanding me to remove it. He even try to bribe by pretending that he want to sent the money back to us. I refused to remove the reference and he said "Ok, hope you enjoy my reference". Then he wrote me a negative reference accusing me to be a money lover.
We later know his home is actually a hostel. He use CS as a way to find customers so he can get 10-15S per night from the CS guest, as well as free food and entertainment during the guests' stay. I don't know why he didn't list his place on other Hostel/B&B websites instead. Anyway, since this was actually a "hostel", I'd be glad to share the facilities offered. The room was a partition inside his bedroom without proper door or lock. In the room there was one single bed for the 2 of us to share, no electricity other than a dim bulb. No hot water or internet, the toilet couldn't flush. If it is real CS, I'm totally fine with it. I've seen hosts with similar living conditions and I really appreciate their hospitality. But from Jhon's demeanor and the way he hide all the charges till the end, I do not consider it as CS hospitality.
So I updated his reference mentioning him trying to bribe or threaten me to remove the reference and ignored his further messages in Facebook.
More than a year later, he left me another negative reference:
this person speaks false things, I now live in Chile and says I have a crazy hotel in Peru, I think Asians are very concerned about their money, she feels that this site functions as public charities, usually do not need to talk bad people for money, but it was the worst experience and I think the people receiving believe that this person thinks well, because then you claimed if they spend a dollar and leave them a negative recommendation, for wanting to help
From his profile, he has now moved to Chile and trying to deny having ever charged CS guests in Peru. I am surprised about how dishonest a person can be. Have a look in his references and you'd know he used to charge CS-ers for their stay in Huaraz, Peru before. I'm not the only one.
Think twice before you decide to stay with Jhon.
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