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I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

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Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#311

Post by dotancohen »

MrQuincle wrote: post #223
dfxm12 wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

This does happen with hotels, in fact a few posts up someone does mention this happening to them.

That said, in December my ex wife had an Airbnb cancel just before her trip. She had to find another place in a hurry at twice the price.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#313

Post by floren »

zachkatz wrote: post #60
coldcode wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AIRBNB doesn't care a bit, since there are many more people out there who don't hear anything negative. I prefer to stay at real BnBs or hotels less likely to be scams. I moved into an apartment complex a few years ago and wondered why the apartment down the hall had cleaners almost every day. It was an illegal rental. In fact I found a couple more on the AIRBNB site with my identical kitchen countertops. The apartme…

Out of curiosity, why did you capitalize Airbnb like that? I see people capitalizing random stuff sometimes and don’t understand why.

It's some sort of weird brain tic some people have. I've seen it with MAC (referring to Apple computers), HAM (as in ham radio), and now AIRBNB.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#314

Post by volkk »

Mediterraneo10 wrote: post #301
tempsy wrote: post #228

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…

> Why aren't there smart locks on every home that unlocks with the app? AirBnB is reportedly pressuring hosts to install smart locks, but they are getting pushback from hosts who like socializing with the people who come to stay at their property. Yes, a huge amount of AirBnB listings are faceless property developers now, but there is still a good slice of individual families renting out a spare flat. Sometimes the h…

Okay but what's to stop at the very least an "opt in/out" feature?

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#315

Post by volkk »

apacheCamel wrote: post #281
munificent wrote: post #269

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a weird fundamental flaw in social groups which is this: 1. Trusting trustworthy people increases efficiency. The less checking and verification you have to do, the less redundant work there is and the more easily things go. 2. As the number of trustworthy people in a group increases, the value of choosing to trust a random person increases. The odds get greater that they will be trustworthy, letting you reap…

That makes sense but I guess the question is why? If things work and people are happy with a system, why do the opposite and ruin it? I know it isn't an easy question to answer and could really be anything, but sometimes I really just want to sit down with them and find out why. It is fascinating stuff, but it hurts to think about sometimes. Just because the value of becoming a scammer goes up, doesn't mean we should…

I think this question essentially boils down to: "why do people commit crimes" and that's not something that has one easy answer

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#316

Post by BeetleB »

jschwartzi wrote: post #270
lb1lf wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Try to get refund from AirBnb for misprepresentation or deliberate omissions of negative points. -I don’t know whether their policy differs from country to country, but after using AirBnb 30+ times traveling with wife and three kids in Northern/Central Europe, I’ve only had two issues - once the place we were to stay was double-booked (and we arrived last!); the other it turned out what was described as a ‘bedroom’…

When my fiance and I stayed at a place in Paia on Maui, the place looked immaculate from the pictures. But when we got there it was full of cockroaches. We had literally just gotten in at like 4 pm, put groceries down on the counter, and the little buggers were on them almost immediately. We were exhausted and didn't have the energy to really do anything after our 6 hour plane flight. The hosts came in and tried to r…

I had a similar experience in Honolulu. AirBnB with baby German cockroaches.

I was not happy but at some point reality has to set in. Cockroaches are somewhat normal in tropical zones. I Googled around and found several tourists advising others that cockroaches are a reality in these locations. Even proper hotels had quite a few reviews involving cockroaches.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#317

Post by mattrp »

Phillips126 wrote: post #110
mattrp wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I'm surprised you still seem to recommend AirBnb despite these experiences. As a family of 5 (3 kids) I know it can be frustrating and expensive to find hotel accommodations that work. But the strange (switcheroo, don't mention AirBnb to anyone!) to downright disturbing (cameras above the bed?!) experiences would never have me using AirBnb again. Maybe I just have issues trusting people... I'm sure there are great ho…

I don’t think I endorsed Airbnb as much as just tried to relate my experiences. In both cases I was traveling alone or sans kids and didn’t give either situation much thought. That said we’ve had many delightful experiences and have come to get to know real people who are sharing their homes. At the same time I don’t buy the story that Airbnb is going to upend the industry. Hotel chains have gotten pretty good about adding properties with suites / extra room at reasonable prices. So I tend to see Airbnb as filling a property category rather than a industry disruptor. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them start to book traditional hotel properties as more and more communities and hoa’s regulate the home sharing business. I can also see where they might branch into fractional ownership for customers that need to live in multiple cities and don’t want to have to lease/own a property they aren’t going to use full time. Right now both cases can be achieved with some workarounds but I can see maybe a class/designation within the system emerging over time. But as I read through the comments the real issue is trust and I would agree that there’s probably more work to be done there - I’ve seen recently a new category for homes that have been verified... so all in all I’m not ready to dismiss the platform but I would agree there are some issues.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#318

Post by tamalpais »

A solution to this problem, which seems common to many large platform companies, could be third-party verification.

A trusted third-party could subject hosts and guests according to a more stringent vetting process. It could even scan listings for guests eager to book in the same way Fakespot, et al., do for Amazon product listings. [0]

For those interested in online trust in marketplaces, I recommend Planet Money's episode on the subject. [1]

[0] https://www.fakespot.com/

[1] https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2018/06/27/623990036/epis...

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#319

Post by phipples »

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…

I try not to be too paranoid a person, but whenever I get into and leave an AirBnB (or rental car for that matter) I walk through and take a video of everything using my phone. Takes a minute, I've never needed it, but it may save my ass some day.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#320

Post by yardie »

jschwartzi wrote: post #270
lb1lf wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Try to get refund from AirBnb for misprepresentation or deliberate omissions of negative points. -I don’t know whether their policy differs from country to country, but after using AirBnb 30+ times traveling with wife and three kids in Northern/Central Europe, I’ve only had two issues - once the place we were to stay was double-booked (and we arrived last!); the other it turned out what was described as a ‘bedroom’…

When my fiance and I stayed at a place in Paia on Maui, the place looked immaculate from the pictures. But when we got there it was full of cockroaches. We had literally just gotten in at like 4 pm, put groceries down on the counter, and the little buggers were on them almost immediately. We were exhausted and didn't have the energy to really do anything after our 6 hour plane flight. The hosts came in and tried to r…

> Their day shift CSRs actually seemed to care about the problem. But their night shift appears to be an overseas call center, and they treated me like shit.

This was my experience as well. Called in the evening about the listing not being described. The CSR was pretty useless. Called the next morning and got someone from California who was far more helpful.

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