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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

#381

Post by saghm »

yason wrote: post #335

The late cancellation by host without no specific penalties seems to be one of the most prevalent yet disturbing elements in this. The one who's travelling has the weakest odds of all. The traveler will be in a foreign place with no place to stay. In contrast, the host has no losing cards except some income. The rules should, thus, have been written to protect the traveler at the expense of the host because the host…

> If the host really needs to cancel they should have to put the traveler in a real hotel as an upgrade to remove all doubt of the traveler getting into a place that could be worse. They have already received the money from the traveler so they only need to pay for the difference.

New scam: post a listing for a very high-end place you don't own, cancel the booking once you've been paid and book the client a cheap hotel, and pocket the difference

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#382

Post by taormina »

afjl wrote: post #283
pentae wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah when i'm travelling the last thing I want is surprises with the place i'm staying, but people are so price sensitive they will put up with a lot. One common thing I see in this thread is people act like theres only two choices: Hotels or Airbnb. I've never had a booking on HomeAway that wasn't on par or exceeding expectations.

This is actually the first time I've heard of HomeAway, thanks. The only short term rental company I've ever used or heard of was Airbnb. I'll probably be shopping around the next time I travel.

FYI, their consumer name is VRBO. The HomeAway office is here in Austin, but the actual app you use is called VRBO (and I think all the offices are getting new signs soon?).

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#383

Post by athenot »

dawnerd wrote: post #374
nathancahill wrote: post #267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. I'm in charge of booking a ski trip for ~15 friends each year, and the amount of reading between the lines I have to do to make sure everyone has a comfortable place to sleep is crazy. Tons of places count sofas/pullouts/day beds in the "Sleeps # of People", and they often count the temporary beds as space for 2. So you'll see places that say, Sleeps 16, but there are only 3 or 4 real beds. Hotels have it right…

What ridiculous is when you try searching for 'whole homes' and you end up getting 'apartments' which are nothing more than someones basement. Airbnb seems to encourage this too by letting people put whatever tags they want. It's kind of a joke. In addition, hiding the address makes it hard to double check on google street view. Edit: My workaround is selecting super hosts only, 3-4 bedrooms, 1+ bathroom. Seems to fi…

I get that they want to hide the address to total strangers, but I'm sure it would be easy for Airbnb themselves to pull up the google streetview and have it as a static image on the listing.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#384

Post by nkrisc »

JamesBarney wrote: post #354
axaxs wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's essentially what I was thinking even when reading the article. Get a good credit card company that's on your side (Amex has been best for me, Discover too), and let them deal with it. They absolutely will not screw around with stuff like this.

If you do this be prepared to not use the service you do this to ever again.

It's probably best to not use a service that fraudulently charges your credit card anyway.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#385

Post by Groxx »

tasssko wrote: post #363
yason wrote: post #335

The late cancellation by host without no specific penalties seems to be one of the most prevalent yet disturbing elements in this. The one who's travelling has the weakest odds of all. The traveler will be in a foreign place with no place to stay. In contrast, the host has no losing cards except some income. The rules should, thus, have been written to protect the traveler at the expense of the host because the host…

I wouldn’t want anyone picking a hotel for me. I might appreciate if the host calls a few hotels to see which ones have space but I want the final say. My perspective has been that “when I use Airbnb I always have a plan b”. I do. I don’t negotiate, if the listing has issues or was miss-sold I walk out and activate my plan b. Airbnb will always refund if you do it like that.

Seems like there might be ways to combat this with proper incentives though.

Say: refund + 50%, or a hotel you both agree on at cost + 25%. It's in the host's best interest to find a replacement, and they're locals so they're likely to be more capable than the visitor. Either way the host is penalized for late changes, and the visitor gets to choose which deal they think is better.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#386

Post by throwaway35784 »

apacheCamel wrote: post #288
throwaway35784 wrote: post #271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am not shocked. Ate you shocked that fb profits from mayhem? No because we know the character of the founder. Airbnb also has no moral character thus it's users also know they can profit from morally corrupt practices. Just as you said, the whole stack is corrupt. There will be more of this to come. They profit by knowingly breaking the law. They are criminals. It is appalling that this can happen in a country buil…

I guess I can still be shocked because I still want and believe people can do the "good thing", whatever that good thing is. I can be pessimistic about a lot of things, but sometimes I just want things to be better. I don't know, I want to help fix things but I feel pretty helpless sometimes.

I feel you. Deeply. Some people can do the good thing: good people. And they do all the time. Surround yourself by them. The bad things they do are mistakes. They fix those or try. They apologize.

Bad people only do good things as a means to an end. Usually that end, they believe, will benefit them, and sometimes it does in the short term, but long term, no. The bad things they do are intentional. You can only predict their behavior with statistics. It's not worth it. They never apologize. They say, "You are too sensitive. It's just a joke." But it's not.

Stay good, my friend. Good people will find you. You will find them. They are out there, but they, like me, hide.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#387

Post by gmanley »

chippy wrote: post #338
ses1984 wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because the expected value of using the platform is still greater despite the known risks?

over $1000 lost is still greater value?

Where are you getting $1000 from? He says 3 figure so it's in the hundreds, I'm assuming lower. Everyone has there point where they'd be fine burning the bridge. To me the ability to get a place quickly with an app from anywhere has a good amount of value, but I'd have trouble putting an exact price on it.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#388

Post by 01010001 »

afjl wrote: post #283
pentae wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah when i'm travelling the last thing I want is surprises with the place i'm staying, but people are so price sensitive they will put up with a lot. One common thing I see in this thread is people act like theres only two choices: Hotels or Airbnb. I've never had a booking on HomeAway that wasn't on par or exceeding expectations.

This is actually the first time I've heard of HomeAway, thanks. The only short term rental company I've ever used or heard of was Airbnb. I'll probably be shopping around the next time I travel.

How ironic to be reading this on HN of all places, it’s almost impossible to say this without sounding patronising but the thought of inserting ‘house for rental in destination’ or ‘destination holiday rental’ on any search engine never crossed your mind?

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#389

Post by Groxx »

cwkoss wrote: post #378
mortenjorck wrote: post #325

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just be aware that a chargeback is an instant bridge-igniter with the company or platform you’re filing it against, most considering it a breach of the TOS and banning your account.

They don't have controls to notice if you sign up with a different email and use a different card.

As proof, just look at how many fraudsters do so.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#390

Post by CamperBob2 »

saghm wrote: post #381
yason wrote: post #335

The late cancellation by host without no specific penalties seems to be one of the most prevalent yet disturbing elements in this. The one who's travelling has the weakest odds of all. The traveler will be in a foreign place with no place to stay. In contrast, the host has no losing cards except some income. The rules should, thus, have been written to protect the traveler at the expense of the host because the host…

> If the host really needs to cancel they should have to put the traveler in a real hotel as an upgrade to remove all doubt of the traveler getting into a place that could be worse. They have already received the money from the traveler so they only need to pay for the difference. New scam: post a listing for a very high-end place you don't own, cancel the booking once you've been paid and book the client a cheap hot…

Oh, and receive kickbacks from the hotel. Don't forget that part.
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