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Airbnb Plans to Verify Every Listing

nytimes.com

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Re: Airbnb Plans to Verify Every Listing

#11

Post by mekane8 »

n9 wrote: post #5

Tech company indicates a "plan" to do something that they implicitly assured everyone that they'd be doing from the get go. I question how much effort, cost and what the timeline would be to build the logistics to realize this goal and, given their past performance, how many more vectors for scams they will create along the way. They have profited from the risk that they have pushed out to their customers, I'm not su…

I'll admit that the announcement gave me hope and made me feel positively about AirBnB - I'm sure it was carefully crafted to do just that. But I'm glad I came across your comment because it gave me the cold splash of realism to balance out their PR blast.

Re: Airbnb Plans to Verify Every Listing

#12

Post by ogre_codes »

From the comment in the article it sounds like they are trying to offload the cost/ effort of verifying listings to their customers as well:

"But he said the process would involve asking users whether the information in certain listings turned out to be accurate"

So when he says AirBNB is going to verify every listing, he doesn't actually mean they are paying people to do it...

Re: Airbnb Plans to Verify Every Listing

#13

Post by wuschel »

binarysolo wrote: post #10

This kinda makes sense - esp since housing inventory is a recurring revenue generator. That being said, I am curious how much of the inspection cost they'd pass on to the lister -- it seems like getting a guy out to check each listing is gonna be $25-$100 an inspection depending on how many places you can lump together, so someone's gotta pay the costs there. Maybe the end result will be an "AirBnB-verified" badge an…

> so someone's gotta pay the costs there.

I checked out yesterday from my Airbnb apartment. In addition to the normal host rating questionaire I was sent to a fairly detailed additional set of forms: as the last customer in the apartment I was asked to rate what apartment details I had found to be as advertised. The forms were optional.

Re: Airbnb Plans to Verify Every Listing

#14

Post by umvi »

Would it kill AirBnB to do random (or even algorithmically-determined) audits?

Auditor signs up for a night in your house. Let's say your listing has fake pictures or fake amenities. Or you try to bait and switch the auditor by having them stay in some crappy other property because the main listing "is having plumbing problems".

Bam, audit failed, your account is frozen, your listings are removed, and you are banned from using AirBnB pending investigation.

Re: Airbnb Plans to Verify Every Listing

#15

Post by personlurking »

elvinyung wrote: post #2

In case anyone missed the context, this is probably related to https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/43k7z3/nationwide-fake-ho...

For which this was the HN post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21408178

The service AirBnB offers is rife with problems, as can be gleaned from reading the comments.

Re: Airbnb Plans to Verify Every Listing

#16

Post by duskwuff »

ogre_codes wrote: post #12

From the comment in the article it sounds like they are trying to offload the cost/ effort of verifying listings to their customers as well: " But he said the process would involve asking users whether the information in certain listings turned out to be accurate " So when he says AirBNB is going to verify every listing, he doesn't actually mean they are paying people to do it...

Which is deeply disappointing, and makes me worried that fraudulent hosts will work around the issue by having a co-conspirator book their room to "verify" the listing.

Re: Airbnb Plans to Verify Every Listing

#17

Post by zik »

ogre_codes wrote: post #12

From the comment in the article it sounds like they are trying to offload the cost/ effort of verifying listings to their customers as well: " But he said the process would involve asking users whether the information in certain listings turned out to be accurate " So when he says AirBNB is going to verify every listing, he doesn't actually mean they are paying people to do it...

It also doesn't mean you're safe to use airbnb. If you're the first person to try a given scam listing you'll get scammed. And then airbnb will de-list it, after the fact. And then the scammer will create a new listing presumably to scam the next person.

Re: Airbnb Plans to Verify Every Listing

#18

Post by darkwizard42 »

zik wrote: post #17
ogre_codes wrote: post #12

From the comment in the article it sounds like they are trying to offload the cost/ effort of verifying listings to their customers as well: " But he said the process would involve asking users whether the information in certain listings turned out to be accurate " So when he says AirBNB is going to verify every listing, he doesn't actually mean they are paying people to do it...

It also doesn't mean you're safe to use airbnb. If you're the first person to try a given scam listing you'll get scammed. And then airbnb will de-list it, after the fact. And then the scammer will create a new listing presumably to scam the next person.

For what its worth, Airbnb is pretty upfront about NEW properties in their platform especially those with no reviews yet. Someone always has to give it the first go to know if the hosts are great or not (though acknowledging the property is real shouldn't require a guest to have a bad/potentially bad experience)

Re: Airbnb Plans to Verify Every Listing

#20

Post by pastor_elm »

ogre_codes wrote: post #12

From the comment in the article it sounds like they are trying to offload the cost/ effort of verifying listings to their customers as well: " But he said the process would involve asking users whether the information in certain listings turned out to be accurate " So when he says AirBNB is going to verify every listing, he doesn't actually mean they are paying people to do it...

Well a host can always pull amenities after an initial inspection. You do need constant verification to keep them on their toes.
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