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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

#341

Post by puranjay »

throwaway35784 wrote: post #263
greggman2 wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've stayed at 22 airbnb's 11 were fine. 11 had issues most with false advertising in some form or another. One listed the wrong location and if they had listed the correct location I would not have rented even though the room's interior matched. A few claimed to include onsite parking but didn't which of course is very inconvenient. The last one that did that claimed "Easy Street Parking" as AirBnb's blatant lie. I…

Compare that to 100% of My priceline bids being accepted by hotels that were much better than expected and at rates about half what you'd book directly. I'm so glad now after years of never booking an airbnb I can say that with pride. I never gave this scummy company a single dollar. I knew who they were from the first experience.

I've gone 100% Booking.com/Agoda and been really happy with all my bookings, and I've traveled at least 4-6 weeks every year for the last 3 years. I like being able to read 100s of reviews and not just relying on owner provided information.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#342

Post by elchupanebre »

Here is another scam that someone tried to pull on me.

I booked a place in Reno a week in advance. On the night before check-in at about 2am I got a text from the host asking me to increase the price of stay by $20. That was small and I did not want the hassle of arguing but just decided to leave it till morning. In the morning I looked at it again on computer (as opposed to the phone) and saw something odd: the dates of stay we crossed and replaced by the exact same dates. Then I saw that weekdays were off. Then it dawned on me that the scammer changed the dates of stay to the next year and added $20 just to distract me.

The scam is simple. The scammer lists the same property twice with ~30% difference in price using slightly different photos and descriptions. The cheaper one goes first. If he books it at the higher price he kicks out the first renters with the "next year booking" scam. Reading reviews made it quite clear.

I reported the scammer to AirBnB, got a refund + $100 but they did not do anything other than $100 fine to the scammer. The crook makes more than that from a single scam. AirBnB just does not care.

Pecunia non olet.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#343

Post by harryh »

goatinaboat wrote: post #339
harryh wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

YC owns a tiny tiny piece of AirBnB. They definitely do not have any sort of power over the issues that you bring up.

The value of YC as an investor is not the cash they offer but the advice and guidance. As such their influence is disproportionate to their investment.

Maybe back with AirBnB was just getting started. But not anymore.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#344

Post by jonlucc »

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…

This isn't foolproof either, though. I booked a hotel for 2 people in Chicago for an anniversary trip. We arrived to find the hotel had 4 very narrow and short bunkbeds. I checked the booking and it makes no mention of this.

The only reason we think of a hotel booking as being up front is that there is a standard observed across the industry: either 1 king or 2 queens. There's no similar standard for AirBnBs.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#345

Post by puranjay »

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…

If I had to fix a bathroom fixture on my own on a vacation, it would definitely piss me off enough to never use the service again. I'm surprised that you're so nonchalant about it

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#346

Post by puranjay »

jandrese wrote: post #212
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've definitely had that "If anybody asks you are guests of Tiffany" from the bearded guy doing the checkin. Apparently the building management was hostile to AirBNB, but the funny thing is that we saw the occupants of two other apartments on the same floor that were clearly people on vacation just like us. I had a strong suspicion that most of the building was bought up by foreign investors and turned into AirBNB re…

The place is cheaper precisely because it is sketchy as hell and doesn't have to spend to meet any of the requirements and regulations hotels are subject to.

Its only a matter of time before authorities catch on and it isn't so cheap anymore

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#347

Post by spraak »

weberc2 wrote: post #176
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…

> need to read "between the lines" of misleading representations of properties. I've never had a problem with this, but I also don't bother staying anywhere that doesn't have a 4-star or better average. If you just set your filter at >= 4 stars, then these problems go away, and we also comb through the reviews of our top picks to make sure there's nothing unexpected. Consequently, we've had nothing but good experienc…

What you described sounds exactly like "reading between the lines"

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#349

Post by OnlineGladiator »

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 agree with a lot of what you say, but

> And if the host's place did burn down for real then a few hundred extra to pay for the guest's hotel for a few nights will surely be a negligent cost.

is a very narrow view of someone who just lost their house to a fire. Even assuming nothing irreplaceable was lost, I feel my upcoming AirBnB guest might not be my top priority.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#350

Post by calmworm »

herodotus wrote: post #327

There is a larger problem here: there seems to be no way to hold these big internet companies to account for misrepresenting their product offerings. For example, some time ago, someone on HN reported on a plagiarized Python book for sale on Amazon. ( https://www.amazon.com/Python-Programming-Beginner-Intermedi... ). I emailed the author of the original book,(October 4) because Amazon have a form that allows authors…

Amazon is one of the worst offenders for facilitating scams and doing nothing about it.
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