I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb • Hacker News Board

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#221

Post by dragonwriter » Thu, Oct 31, 2019, 5:13 PM UTC

dfxm12 wrote: post #102

gesman wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> The main downside for me concerning AirBnb is it takes a long time to analyze the listings to find quality accommodations. In my view this is major. To describe it better - need to read "between the lines" of misleading representations of properties. Lots of property owners goes to great extends to make property look way better, bigger, nicer than it really is and to conceal obvious negative points that become app…

How is this different from a hotel? From rentals in general? I guess you know what you're going to get if you're staying at a national chain that you've stayed at before, but there's not always one available or in your budget.

> How is this different from a hotel?

It's a lot easier to get an idea of what to expect from a given hotel (especially chains) because they have more volume than any single AirBnB, and you get more value out of that knowledge about one hotel (or especially chain) because it applies to more than one unit (and for chains, in more than one location) so it's not only applicable to travel in one place when one unit is available.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#222

Post by ipython » Thu, Oct 31, 2019, 5:13 PM UTC

moftz wrote: post #94

thatfrenchguy wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well you’re not getting paid more when it’s on your free time.

There is an opportunity cost. There are plenty of gig-type jobs that could be performed in your spare time.

I'd rather track down and expose a scam for free than to get paid $5 from TaskRabbit to put someone's IKEA furniture together. Sometimes it's about more than money...

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#223

Post by MrQuincle » Thu, Oct 31, 2019, 5:15 PM UTC

dfxm12 wrote: post #102

gesman wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> The main downside for me concerning AirBnb is it takes a long time to analyze the listings to find quality accommodations. In my view this is major. To describe it better - need to read "between the lines" of misleading representations of properties. Lots of property owners goes to great extends to make property look way better, bigger, nicer than it really is and to conceal obvious negative points that become app…

How is this different from a hotel? From rentals in general? I guess you know what you're going to get if you're staying at a national chain that you've stayed at before, but there's not always one available or in your budget.

Note also that if a host cancels on you at the last moment, you can't give a negative review at all.

That would never happen with a hotel.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#224

Post by noodle » Thu, Oct 31, 2019, 5:15 PM UTC

mattrp wrote: post #85

julienchastang wrote: post #51

There have been a few threads about AirBnb lately with a lot of people reporting negative experiences so I will add my own $0.02. I have stayed in many AirBnbs. The reason is, I find it is the only way to have a tolerable family vacation is when everyone has their own sleeping quarters. When we are all piled into one (often overpriced and not so clean) hotel room, it makes for less than ideal sleep and everyone ends…

I would second this experience. We travel with our five kids and its sometimes impossible to find a hotel that can accommodate us. That said, I did experience a switcheroo in Chicago similar to the article. However that’s where the similarities end. The place was in the same neighborhood, it was comparable to the listing but the only catch was we were told not say Airbnb to anyone in the building but to say guests of…

Sounds like they did the switch to avoid getting caught running an illegal or otherwise somehow contract-breaching Airbnb. If they used their correct address, their building would figure it out and shut them down.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#225

Post by imglorp » Thu, Oct 31, 2019, 5:15 PM UTC

oarsinsync wrote: post #182

bonestamp2 wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also avoid tiny rental car companies for this same reason. You'll find them listed on the major travel booking websites and they'll have names that you've never heard of. They often appear to be cheaper than the large rental companies, but they frequently have a chipped windshield or a tiny dent in a body panel. Even if you point it out during the pre-rental walkaround, they won't mark it on the contract. That's the…

Take a slow motion video inspecting the car at the start of the rental. I've supplied screenshots from the video, along with the full video itself, to my credit card company when disputing charges from the rental company. Took about an hour of my time, and a few weeks later the charge was reversed. > you're on the hook for the charge for that time I'm not really sure I consider having some of my credit blocked out wh…

So is that what it's come down to for ABnB users? Record everything and CYA for an adversarial relationship?

Corporate really needs to step up here and enforce its rules and empower its rating system to drive this out. Otherwise it's not worth my energy to use the platform.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#226

Post by jandrese » Thu, Oct 31, 2019, 5:16 PM UTC

bemmu wrote: post #99

chadlavi wrote: post #21

There are also some smaller-time scams hosts run. I was forced to pay a three-figure cleaning fee by an AirBnB in DC earlier this year because they claimed I left a stain on their couch -- which I never even sat on (also, I was by myself, so it's not as though another one of my guests did something to it). I appealed and asked for photos of the supposed stain, but they ghosted me and in the end AirBnB ruled in their…

Had the same happen to us, host inventing damage and trying to force a fee through AirBnB. However we disagreed with the fee and AirBnB never charged it.

I have to think that the hosts have their own trustworthiness rating in AirBNB's system. One guest disputes a charge after you've rented dozens of times? Probably the guest's fault. Every other guest disputes the charge? Almost certainly the host is doing something scammy.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#227

Post by iamaelephant » Thu, Oct 31, 2019, 5:16 PM UTC

saturdaysaint wrote: post #138

julienchastang wrote: post #51

There have been a few threads about AirBnb lately with a lot of people reporting negative experiences so I will add my own $0.02. I have stayed in many AirBnbs. The reason is, I find it is the only way to have a tolerable family vacation is when everyone has their own sleeping quarters. When we are all piled into one (often overpriced and not so clean) hotel room, it makes for less than ideal sleep and everyone ends…

Funny, having young kids is what has sent me back to hotels (at least for the time being), simply because they are mostly designed with accessibility and some level of child-proofing. Also, the long corridors, lobbies and elevators in hotels are great outlets for toddlers to burn energy and curiosity. Cooping the kids up in a grown-up oriented space with fragile table decorations they can't touch can be exhausting.

> Also, the long corridors, lobbies and elevators in hotels are great outlets for toddlers to burn energy and curiosity.

Please, PLEASE don't do this. You don't know what time people are trying to get some sleep in their rooms. Not everyone keeps your schedule.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#228

Post by tempsy » Thu, Oct 31, 2019, 5:17 PM UTC

I find it pretty crazy that AirBnB's tech never really evolved on the host or guest side at all. The experience is still basically like a pretty Craigslist with payment processing. I sometimes wonder what an engineer there even does other than maintain a CRUD app.

For example, why isn't there an Alexa-like concierge device in every AirBnB that answers guest questions by now? Why aren't there smart locks on every home that unlocks with the app? Etc etc.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#229

Post by thecouve » Thu, Oct 31, 2019, 5:17 PM UTC

I fell for probably the early version of this back in 2015. Google fi number with a non-existent property in LA. Host confirms, emails photos, minimal back and forth about check in.

We show up at the property and it clearly doesn't exist, lucky for us the number is disconnected now and he won't answer us. This is clearly a scam. Though it's Airbnb's policy to give the hosts an hour to respond to a complaint even though it's obviously a scam. We then have to wait in the ghetto of LA for an hour so the host can respond, he never does. Finally Airbnb agrees that it's a scam and that the property doesn't exist, the address is dead center in a industrial park. I then have to go book a hotel on my card that Airbnb will refund at a later date that is equivalent to what we booked, nearly impossible for booking on day of. So going forward we spent 1.5hrs driving to the fake property, 1hr waiting for the fake host to respond, 1hr to confirm over phone how to proceed with Airbnb, then another 2hrs going to a hotel and checking in. All in all it wasted over half a day of our vacation, gas money, and frustration, over an obviously fake posting.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#230

Post by CPLX » Thu, Oct 31, 2019, 5:18 PM UTC

swozey wrote: post #73

julienchastang wrote: post #51

There have been a few threads about AirBnb lately with a lot of people reporting negative experiences so I will add my own $0.02. I have stayed in many AirBnbs. The reason is, I find it is the only way to have a tolerable family vacation is when everyone has their own sleeping quarters. When we are all piled into one (often overpriced and not so clean) hotel room, it makes for less than ideal sleep and everyone ends…

Yeah I've stayed at lot of airbnbs (20-30 a year) and only had good to great experiences. I've met a lot of hosts that I specifically look up when I visit their city again. I've had plenty where they weren't exactly what I expected, like thinking a cabin I was renting was in the woods from the pictures but it was on a gravel driveway with trees in the background, but my trip wasn't ruined or anything. I've unfortunat…

I used to be an active Airbnb host for a vacation house I own. For reference it was a 4 bedroom Victorian.

I had to pay $150 to clean the house each time I had a booking, that's what it cost me. I passed it along to guests at exactly that cost.

Not sure if it was "worth it" for some guests, or people staying only one night. But that's what I had to pay, it wasn't part of any nefarious strategy. In developed countries it's going to cost to clean that place, that's just the way it is. You don't have the economies of scale that a hotel has with a team of maids.