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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

#391

Post by abecedarius »

laGrenouille wrote: post #205
dboreham wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having a fixed cleaning fee and a per-night charge actually reflects the property owner's costs. They have to pay someone to clean, do laundry, re-stock the crackers and cheap wine. Of course this can be taken too far, but I actually prefer this cost structure because I get a price break if I have a long stay vs an average flat fee per night. Source: I know several Airbnb owners, and the people who clean their proper…

I think the point is less about the existence of the cleaning fee and the fact that the site doesn't include the fee in the mapping UI. It makes it very difficult to compare properties when there are large fee differences that you cannot see until clicking through.

I usually search with specific dates for a stay, so it's weird that they don't summarize the listings by total cost instead of the nightly rate leaving out the fixed costs. That'd fix the problem, right? (Of course they could divide that total cost by the night count if they can't let go of normalizing to nightly rate. The point is to not incentivize accounting shenanigans.)

Overall I've been happy with airbnb as a traveler, but if they don't step up their game it's going to be like having been happy with the early web, or Amazon reviews in the early days when it was easy to ignore a few fakes. That general problem of evolving predators is hard, but this particular change seems easy.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#392

Post by lammalamma25 »

bluetidepro wrote: post #20

Mentioned this in another comment, but it blows my mind that the author ends with: > "Even after a month of digging through public records, scouring the internet for clues, repeatedly calling Airbnb and confronting the man who called himself Patrick, I can’t say I’ll be leaving the platform, either. Dealing with Airbnb’s easily exploitable and occasionally crazy-making system is still just a bit cheaper than renting…

Its a reasonable risk/reward calculation. If this is your only 2 week vacation for the year, having a bad experience is a huge cost in time and probably money. If you're traveling regularly and save $X 95% of the time by using airbnb. That occasional bad experience is pretty bad, but more tolerable.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#393

Post by CamperBob2 »

nathancahill wrote: post #267
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…

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…

Sleeps 16, but there are only 3 or 4 real beds.

And then they have the nerve to complain to AirBnB if you hold an all-night drug-fueled orgy.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#394

Post by jorathexploruh1 »

NilsIRL wrote: post #372
jancsika wrote: post #366

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is such an elegant scam. It's like a magic trick complete with misdirection. Is there market where HN-type people come up with these and sell them to people to implement?

I doubt it because people are ethical (I hope). But this is so true. I feel like I always come up with so many loopholes but because of their nature of being "scams" I obviously don't do them.

You realize you just “hoped” people are ethical as a reply to a post describing a way in which at least one person was claimed to be unethical

If you can use a pattern to grift off the system someone is using it. What’s most likely you’re not aware or emotionally predisposed to avoid connecting those dots

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#395

Post by Fomite »

kieckerjan wrote: post #368
tasssko wrote: post #363

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

So what kind of plan B are you talking about?

I often have a cancelable hotel reservation on hand.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#396

Post by dreamcompiler »

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…

Exactly this. For one or two people, Airbnb isn't lot cheaper than hotels. The big win is when the traveling group is more than two people. That gets very expensive at hotels because you usually have to book more than one room.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#397

Post by 01010001 »

> In 2015, Airbnb spent at least $8 million on lobbying efforts to fight back an ordinance in San Francisco that required all Airbnb hosts to register their units with the city in a lengthy process. The ordinance passed anyway, severely reducing the number of properties available. But not all cities have San Francisco’s budgetary resources. When New Orleans overhauled their short-term rental laws in August, for example, the budget-strapped city mostly left oversight of the new rules in the hands of Airbnb.

> “If I had another choice, I would not use Airbnb again,” he told me. “I was very put off by getting scammed. But at this point, I feel like if I want to travel, there’s not really much else I can do.”

> I can’t say I’ll be leaving the platform, either...is still just a bit cheaper than renting a hotel.

This blows my mind. I had a terrible experience when Airbnb took over the top floor flat when I used to live on the ground floor, so I decided to never use them, I travel regularly and always use a mix of hotels and vacation homes depending of the destination and I never needed Airbnb.

But even after being scammed and spending their holiday time moving around and being shafted then spending time after the holiday fighting for a refund and losing money these people still find value in the service, mind blowing.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#398

Post by PopeDotNinja »

gesman wrote: post #74
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…

>> 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…

> 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 apparent even before you are given the keys

Sadly that sounds like mort advertising of everything, so I can't say I'm surprised.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#399

Post by vpEfljFL »

bluedevil2k wrote: post #121

I've run into a scam recently on AirBNB and several situations that ended up screwing me over. The scam was after booking a nice place in Orlando, Florida for a week through my wife's AirBNB account. The day after booking, the "owner" sent an email saying that they required a photograph of the front and back of her credit card, drivers license picture and full name. Not even a subtle scam, but that would probably foo…

What bugs me in this thread is that the whole idea of airbnb is cheaply stay in someone's property with "air bed and breakfast" (of course some properties are pricey but in genereal it just another category of bookings than general airbnb hosts).

Air bad and breakfast type of hosts could not be reliable by definition. If you want a predictable experience you will get a better luck working with professionals (either hotel chains or high end local hotels). It is a solved problem.

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