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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

#91

Post by mattrp »

jancsika wrote: post #76
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. How do you corroborate the information on those properties? The clean, affordable, well-placed hotels I've stayed in had reams of reviews and news articles from various sources to confirm they were indeed clean, affordable, and well-placed. The cost of faking all those sources must be orders of…

You use common sense - I have been a host of properties and I would say Airbnb does not go to any lengths to encourage you to misrepresent. In fact they do the opposite - with your listing you are building a contract so they encourage you to be as specific as possible and accurately describe the guest experience and your expectations as much as possible. They also strictly govern guest interactions so you can’t provide a phone number or email address during negotiations to side step the system. Overall I think the people who are saying it’s a scam are amplifying a bad experience to suggest that it represents the whole system. It clearly doesn’t and I say that as having seen how it works both as a host and a user.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#92

Post by esoterica »

ceejayoz wrote: post #33

I wonder why AirBnB doesn't pay people Uber-style to inspect properties. $5-10 to go to an address and check that it can be accessed and matches the photos as an unannounced spot check? Send someone out on first listing, periodically, and every time a host cancels for a "maintenance issue" to verify the claim.

Who would do all that travel and work for $5? That’s a small fraction of minimum wage.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#93

Post by baobabKoodaa »

jbverschoor wrote: post #59

Yeah, I stopped using Airbnb a loooooong time ago, and only use it when the price diff is something like 4 fold. Too many bad experiences. Yay booking.com and normal hotels

I have the opposite experience. After several bad experiences with hotels I 'm mostly using Airbnb. Fewer issues.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#94

Post by moftz »

thatfrenchguy wrote: post #83
joezydeco wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even after a >>>month of digging through public records...Dealing with Airbnb’s easily exploitable and occasionally crazy-making system is still just a bit cheaper than renting a hotel." It's constantly amazing to see how little people value their time when it comes to stuff like this. Maybe when we're getting yearly salaries we don't compute out the hourly cost but, man, do the math once in a while.

Well you’re not getting paid more when it’s on your free time.

There is an opportunity cost. There are plenty of gig-type jobs that could be performed in your spare time.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#95

Post by wrboyce »

swozey wrote: post #73
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…

Yeah I've stayed at lot of airbnbs (20-30 a year) and only had good to great experiences. I've met a lot of hosts that I specifically look up when I visit their city again. I've had plenty where they weren't exactly what I expected, like thinking a cabin I was renting was in the woods from the pictures but it was on a gravel driveway with trees in the background, but my trip wasn't ruined or anything. I've unfortunat…

Nothing about what you describe sounds like it falls into the "good to great experience" category to me.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#96

Post by Phillips126 »

I've never used AirBnb. However, when making online purchases (even for physical items) I don't have a lot of trust. Many systems (reviews, ratings, etc) are all too easily exploited. While the thought of staying at a stylish house is more appealing than a room at a hotel chain, I at least know what I am getting myself into. I've had my share of... not great rooms at hotels, but they typically make it right with a room switch or reimbursement. It doesn't sound like AirBnb is good at that.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#97

Post by evandev »

itake wrote: post #29
wholepointofcc wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Try calling your Credit Card company and flag it as fraud. That's what I would do. That failing I'd submit a police report.

That doesn't work well b/c then Airbnb just bans you from the platform

You say that, yet there are also some scammers who use chargeback on airbnb to not pay: https://old.reddit.com/r/AirBnB/comments/5q1css/planning_on_...

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#98

Post by RaiseProfits »

random42 wrote: post #31
itake wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That doesn't work well b/c then Airbnb just bans you from the platform

Why would you continue to give airbnb your business, once experiencing something like that anyways?

....what kind of behavior were you expecting? AirBnb has always had atrocious customer service.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#99

Post by bemmu »

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…

Had the same happen to us, host inventing damage and trying to force a fee through AirBnB. However we disagreed with the fee and AirBnB never charged it.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#100

Post by swozey »

wrboyce wrote: post #95
swozey wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah I've stayed at lot of airbnbs (20-30 a year) and only had good to great experiences. I've met a lot of hosts that I specifically look up when I visit their city again. I've had plenty where they weren't exactly what I expected, like thinking a cabin I was renting was in the woods from the pictures but it was on a gravel driveway with trees in the background, but my trip wasn't ruined or anything. I've unfortunat…

Nothing about what you describe sounds like it falls into the "good to great experience" category to me.

My airbnb stockholm syndrome..
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