Vice: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

[Deleted member 39374]

AirBnB is a disaster. Absolutely no interest in trying it again.

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Agreed, the one and only time I tried airbnb I was fucking banned from the platform (??). They flagged my IP address or something, because every time I try to make a new account they ban it a few days later.

We booked a place that said it was a "1 bedroom apartment" but really it was a 2 bedroom apartment that a young couple was leasing, they slept in 1 bedroom and had the rest of the place listed on the app. Landlord definitely had no idea what was going on. So we were mislead. On top of that, the couple STAYED in the house the entire time with us and they were drunk and yelling at each other and at one point they got into a physical altercation.

We ended up calling airbnb right there, it took 30 mins just to get to an actual human, and all they offered was a $150 credit for our next rental which is useless. We disputed the charge on our CC. The next day, I got a notification saying my account was closed for "violating the TOS" lol

fucking trash app, its one of the few tech companies that I genuinely feel should be shut down or regulated into the ground. They've done so much damage to urban/metro housing markets and they also let their hosts get away with racial discrimination

 

[Gassy_N0va]

I've been using AirBNBs for the last three years with no issue. It sucks that folks are ruining it but I don't want to go back to pre-AirBnb world. I'm able to save so much compared to a small hotel room when traveling and get so much more. Plus all my hosts have either given us our space or have been extremely helpful.

 

[Nacho]

Yeah airbnb in itself is just a scam. You're paying them for what? Just showing up at a strangers house with no oversight. You're as well off just finding a random sketchy ad on craigslist.

I think I've stayed at only 1 place that was 100% truthful about what was actually there and provided. The rest of the time, it's small things like, oh this one bedroom is actually just a room in someone's house, and they have people over every day even during the week? Oh, this place weirdly has a bathroom with a completetly see through glass door... that one was extremely awkward...

But always pressured to leave a 100% positive review because they're not anonymous and you don't want to be retaliated against. Thank god it hasnt been much worse. The fact that airbnb just won't do 100% refunds is insane considering how horrible the idea of airbnb can go, especially when they're doing 0 work towards making it safe and reliable.

 

[Canuckreefer]

Airbnb is one of those things that make me feel incredibly old and out of touch. Why would you want to stay in someone's house our apartment rather than a professional hotel?

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Drinking College event and you don't live near campus
Use air bNb to crash there instead of having to drive back home high or drunk.
Air bnb got me good during those years.

 

[Dreamwriter]

Agreed, the one and only time I tried airbnb I was fucking banned from the platform (??). They flagged my IP address or something, because every time I try to make a new account they ban it a few days later.

We booked a place that said it was a "1 bedroom apartment" but really it was a 2 bedroom apartment that a young couple was leasing, they slept in 1 bedroom and had the rest of the place listed on the app. Landlord definitely had no idea what was going on. So we were mislead. On top of that, the couple STAYED in the house the entire time with us and they were drunk and yelling at each other and at one point they got into a physical altercation.

We ended up calling airbnb right there, it took 30 mins just to get to an actual human, and all they offered was a $150 credit for our next rental which is useless. The next day, I got a notification saying my account was closed for "violating the TOS" lol

fucking trash app, its one of the few tech companies that I genuinely feel should be shut down or regulated into the ground. They've done so much damage to urban/metro housing markets and they also let their hosts get away with racial discrimination

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Realize that AirBNB is designed for renting rooms out while the owner is still there. That's about the opposite of being against the rules or misleading, make sure when searching on the AirBNB website that you filter by places you want all to yourself.

 

[Razgriz417]

went to Japan last year with 7 other friends and we did airbnb for our whole 10 day trip in 3 cities, 4 different places (1 was a complete hostel we got to ourselves). Worked out quite nicely for us, though last i heard new laws went into effect this year that severely reduced the number of airbnbs in Japan

 

[dragonbane]

Holy shit there are so many entitled people in here that only care about travelling for cheap, even if it destroys the places they are visiting. How ironic

 

[Deleted member 39374]

Realize that AirBNB is designed for renting rooms out while the owner is still there. That's about the opposite of being against the rules or misleading, make sure when searching on the AirBNB website that you filter by places you want all to yourself.

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It was advertised as a private 1-bedroom unit. It was definitely misleading.

 

[cakely]

Holy shit there are so many entitled people in here that only care about travelling for cheap, even if it destroys the places they are visiting. How ironic

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ITT: All of the 150 million AirBNB users are entitled people that only care about traveling for cheap.

Yeah airbnb in itself is just a scam.

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Also ITT: Those 150 million users are just participating in a scam.

 

[Deleted member 48897]

ITT: All of the 150 million AirBNB users are entitled people that only care about traveling for cheap.

Also ITT: Those 150 million users are just participating in a scam.

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1. Maybe not. Do the 150K users include the people putting properties on the site for rent?

2. Yes. All these silicon valley disruptive initiatives are scams. They only get as far as they do because they can get around legislation by being a "tech company" and not a rental agency, taxi service, news aggregator, etc. etc. etc.

 

[hikarutilmitt]

Bruh you act like extended stays are everywhere. They are pretty rare and are hella expensive. I would be down for tough regulations on Airbnb but it's impossible and stupid to eliminate it entirely

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Bruh, not everyone travels all across the world where it's impossible to find a place to stay that's not a room-share. i'm also not saying to get rid of it, but it really needs regulation.

Seriously, I am not dealing with this kind of shit until I see they're being regulated in some fashion, because at least there's actually some sort of liability that can be gotten for issues that may arise. I know I'm being an old man about this, fully aware, but I cannot trust something like this yet.

 

[cakely]

1. Maybe not. Do the 150K users include the people putting properties on the site for rent?

2. Yes. All these silicon valley disruptive initiatives are scams. They only get as far as they do because they can get around legislation by being a "tech company" and not a rental agency, taxi service, news aggregator, etc. etc. etc.

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It's 150 million users. That number includes the hosts of about 7 million sites. Some sites have more than one host. Some hosts rent other properties using the service.

Heh, Ok. I disagree with your definition of a "scam", then.

 

[chaostrophy]

I like Airbnb but only use it for guest rooms/houses with the owner right there or nearby. Using it for full apartments or houses that obviously exist for rental profits is shady, because they distort housing markets. Basically, if you want to go somewhere to be out all the time seeing all the things and just need a basic place to sleep Airbnb is great. But if you want a more relaxing vacation with a lot of privacy and space in your accommodations, just get a hotel and if you can't afford one, pick a cheaper destination.

 

[Nacho]

ITT: All of the 150 million AirBNB users are entitled people that only care about traveling for cheap.



Also ITT: Those 150 million users are just participating in a scam.

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Er, what? I'm referring to the company. What does the number of users have to do with it?

 

[Androidsleeps]

All of these "sharing economy" companies are nothing more than huge corporations that just want to go over everyone's rights and get their profits, while getting sympathy from the public because they are now offering a cheaper service than what we had available before (I wonder if this has anything to do with the fact that hey over everyone's rights....).

But about the scam itself, I dont go reading all rules of websites I visit, but since the first time I used AirBnb I know that if the hosts cancels the stay, or if I am not happy with what I am presented with, AirBnb will let me stay in a property up to 20% more expensive for no added cost. It is a decent protection for the renter. Cancellation fees are always clearly displayed before booking. If you call on the second day to complain, you re definitely not getting the first day refunded, so call them as soon as whatever shit happened.

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Still, there's a reason the experience in the article is shared among many others and why these scams succeed. If the host fucks you last minute while you're in a foreign place, their offer of an "alternative" place does sound better than cancellation and scrambling to find another place on the same day and one that'll be available for whatever is the duration of your trip.

Hopefully, with the FBI involved this would lead to actual regulation of this mess.

 

[Mendrox]

Holy shit there are so many entitled people in here that only care about travelling for cheap, even if it destroys the places they are visiting. How ironic

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Lol, great take

 

[moneywoes]

Great read.

From my own experience, I have had no issues with AirBNB. If I ever was in a situation like this where I got scammed out of hundreds of dollars, I would contact AirBnB to request a refund, and if it didn't go through, do a charge back via my credit card provider. Don't fuck with my money.

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Then you'd be banned from it for good

 

[CherryWoodFuton]

Holy shit there are so many entitled people in here that only care about travelling for cheap, even if it destroys the places they are visiting. How ironic

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Entitled my ass do you think traveling is just for the rich elite? Regular ass people would love to get out of their town every once in a while

 

[Doctor Doggo]

Haven't had a chance to read the article but I have a honeymoon booked for New Zealand and almost everywhere we are staying is an airbnb. Every one of our hosts are "Superhots". I have never had an issue with the service, but I refuse to book with anyone that isn't a Superhost and has good reviews. Also, for the places we are staying on our honeymoon we would be paying 2x-3x for at a hotel for the location and amenities that come with some of the spots.

 

[Deleted member 18944]

Then you'd be banned from it for good

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why tf do i care? Don't fuck with my money.

 

[dragonbane]

Entitled my ass do you think traveling is just for the rich elite? Regular ass people would love to get out of their town every once in a while

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You should not be travelling yes, if you are going to affect the places you are travelling to negatively. That's common sense unless you wanna be an ass on purpose. Travelling isn't a right, especially not at the cost of the local population. Now my comment wasn't really targeted at the entirety of Airbnb, but if you wilfully and knowingly rent in a place that is currently shaking from a housing crisis triggered in big part by Airbnb then you are absolutely part of the problem.

I have below average income and I travel every year. Guess how I do that? I find some cheap hotel, which there are plenty of. Comments like "a hotel would have cost 5 times more!!" are vastly overblown. All you are telling me is you are only interested in having the maximum for the least amount of money, consequences be damned.

 

[Castor]

Just got an email from Airbnb saying they're updating their TOS. This article musta had them pretty shook huh? I know in the end the changes are to better cover Airbnb's ass but I wonder who's rights are going to be targeted by this change the Host or the Guest.

 

[Vern]

Agreed, the one and only time I tried airbnb I was fucking banned from the platform (??). They flagged my IP address or something, because every time I try to make a new account they ban it a few days later.

We booked a place that said it was a "1 bedroom apartment" but really it was a 2 bedroom apartment that a young couple was leasing, they slept in 1 bedroom and had the rest of the place listed on the app. Landlord definitely had no idea what was going on. So we were mislead. On top of that, the couple STAYED in the house the entire time with us and they were drunk and yelling at each other and at one point they got into a physical altercation.

We ended up calling airbnb right there, it took 30 mins just to get to an actual human, and all they offered was a $150 credit for our next rental which is useless. We disputed the charge on our CC. The next day, I got a notification saying my account was closed for "violating the TOS" lol

fucking trash app, its one of the few tech companies that I genuinely feel should be shut down or regulated into the ground. They've done so much damage to urban/metro housing markets and they also let their hosts get away with racial discrimination

Click to shrink...

I got banned by them too. I am not really sure why.

I used them once like 4 years ago for one night when I couldn't find a last minute hotel in a rural part of australia. I had no issues, no complaints from host. Sometime last year I logged into my account and tried to book some nights, and was asked to upload my passport or ID to confirm my true identity. I did it, ok no problem... and then they banned me after reviewing my documents. Can't appeal it and they don't give any actual real reason for the ban. I tried to use Facebook to login but it's somehow associated with my email so they know it's still me, also banned.

Doesn't matter, I prefer hotels anyway. Fuck em.

 

[Mingoguaya]

I like Airbnb but only use it for guest rooms/houses with the owner right there or nearby. Using it for full apartments or houses that obviously exist for rental profits is shady, because they distort housing markets. Basically, if you want to go somewhere to be out all the time seeing all the things and just need a basic place to sleep Airbnb is great. But if you want a more relaxing vacation with a lot of privacy and space in your accommodations, just get a hotel and if you can't afford one, pick a cheaper destination.

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Erm... No.

I just rented my first Airbnb last weekend. It was a 3 room seven bed house 3 minutes from the beach in a tourist town. We had 13 people in the house and we were quite comfortable and the house had everything we needed. We paid 28 per adult per night. If I was to do it in a hotel we would've paid 5 times this amount and we would've not been able to stay together in the same house. The weekend before I paid 250 for a 2 night stay in a hotel that wasnt as good as the house we rented. Airbnb is awesome and even my wife who was very skeptical about the service really liked it.

 

[Forearm_Star]

That explains that "new terms and conditions" email I got from Airbnb.

*pro tip don't stay anywhere without a decent number of reviews.

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

I've only had fantastic AirBNB experiences both home and abroad. I did my research though with hosts/areas.

With that said, there's a lot of trash and weird stuff to sift through and it's always difficult to find exactly what I want. And when I can't I'll just settle for the simplicity of a hotel, even when the prices are insane. Rarely though.

 

[ProstatePuncher]

Its absolutely fucking mental that the only way Airbnb gave a fuck about this is when the FBI got involved.

Typical profit-seeking cunts. I've only ever used Airbnb when I can get an actual hotel through it, and not just some actual home that someone was likely forced out of. I'd find it mega weird living in a spare room or an actual home.

 

[Deleted member 39374]

Doesn't matter, I prefer hotels anyway. Fuck em.

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Same. It's a superior experience. There's people at your beck and call 24/7, no surprises, no bullshit. I also use HotelTonight which has pretty substantial discounts as you gradually work up their rewards program ladder

 

[wenis]

That explains that "new terms and conditions" email I got from Airbnb.

*pro tip don't stay anywhere without a decent number of reviews.

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and reverse image search the listings.

 

[Chikor]

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[henhowc]

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🤣

 

[BraXzy]

and reverse image search the listings.

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Sorry to bump an old thread but figured this didn't really warrant a new one...

I'm in the process of booking a place for me and some friends in Stockholm later this year and thought I'd come across the perfect place this morning. Really nice apartment for a (admittedly suspiciously) cheap price and in the right spot. It was on Booking.com and I made sure it was no down-payment, Free Cancellation.

Within an hour it was cancelled. Very odd, I got in touch but nothing back. Checked to book somewhere else later on and found what I thought was the same apartment with a slightly different title. The naive side of me thought they might have just needed to tweak some details, maybe they were unhappy with the original title idk.

- The first listing had stated it was new so I thought maybe they were still tweaking, whatever -

On closer inspection I noticed the address was different, I had noted it down since I wanted to make sure I had it down for the trip. That blew away any semblence of naive hope and warning bells went off all over. Reverse image search of the title image turns up a tonne of other fake listings + some article on an apartment in London. Go figure :(

I guess the scam here is hoping people pay upfront and then run off with the money?

 

[AndyD]

I think the scam is they move you at the last second to another place due to a false emergency. A place that is worse but better than nothing.

 

[Saganator]

edit: bleh this was a bump of an old thread

 

[meowdi gras]

Old, but still get a hotel, people. Either way, do your homework. I've only been ripped off once all the different places I've traveled. And that was when the parking valet at a hotel I stayed at in Dallas (the Adolphus) stole some belongings from my car and management didn't do a thing about it. 😠

 

[cakely]

Boo I thought this bump was an update on the investigation.

 

[Deleted member 41520]

AirBNB is a scam in general. Get a hotel. They're way more accountable and run a business based on making people happy and being profitable. Not adding venture capital and "customers".

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AirBnB has a lot of flaws, but honestly I've found it to be just as reliable as hotels and typically slightly nicer.

The only thing we've ever made sure of is to stay with "superhosts" or people who are very, very well reviewed.

They take it seriously, just as serious as a traditional hotel. Because it's business for them - a substantial source of income.

But yeah, AirBnB needs to step its game the fuck up.

 

[ty_hot]

edit: bleh this was a bump of an old thread

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You are right but it comes down to the city to regulate the market. Barcelona is suffering from it but is taking action to try to limit AirBnb. Unfortunately media usually portrays regulation as the same as communism so people tend to be against it when in fact they are needed in most sectors ofr things to work peacefully...

 

[SpartyCrunch]

My friend just had an awful AirBnB experience.

They booked travel at a place, flew there, and then their reservation was cancelled at the last minute by the host literally as they were on their way from the airport to the place.

While that part alone might be somewhat understandable depending on the circumstances - shit happens - the most baffling part was that my friend claimed that he didn't get a refund automatically. The refund was entirely up to the host's discretion to give out. What the heck?

He had to actually open a case with AirBnB customer support to get a refund for the trip his host cancelled within an hour of him checking in. Insanity.

 

[Owl]

I've had airbnb maybe 5 times in a couple different countries and all have been superb. Waaaay nicer than a hotel for half the cost. Especially in places like downtown LA or Tokyo. Though I definitely make sure they are reviewed well and no red flags.

 

[The Albatross]

It's crazy that the FBI reached out to the author of the article, but not AirBnb... I contacted their support team about this and never heard back, either.

NOw, I've only had good experiences with AirBnb and intend to still use them for certain types of travel (basically, guys trips where we want a shared space but our own rooms), but this doesn't make me confident. I'm really active on AirBnb in terms of contacting hosts and staying in touch, like anal about it, and I have a really good profile from hosts, so I'd be skeptical of anything that didn't smell right.