I was going to New Orleans for a work trip and thought I would find a nice Airbnb. I looked around, found one, and made a reservation. Everything was good so far. Then I started working my way through the reasonable verification process. I sent in my drivers license picture and then clicked the Facebook verification tab to complete the process. Despite having had a Facebook account for years, it seemed like Airbnb didn’t think I wasted enough time on it; they rejected my Facebook verification. Then I tried the video verification. The website said that I would get approval from their verification team within a few hours. I recorded the video, and nothing happened. There was no ‘submit’ button and it didn’t seem to submit itself. It just sat there. I figured I would let it do its magic and left for a few hours. When I got back I had an email from Airbnb saying that I only had a couple more hours to do my verification video before my reservation got canceled. I searched all over their website looking for a way to get an answer, but despite the friendly ‘we’re here to help’ messages all over the site I discovered that they were decidedly not here to help. There is absolutely no way to contact Airbnb through their website. I kept going back to the verification page trying to figure out what was wrong. When I did I saw that the Facebook verification option had disappeared and been replaced with an American Express tab. Then the video verification tab disappeared as well. When I originally tried to verify with Facebook there was a page that showed all of the data that they wanted to mine from my profile. That included all of my contacts. I deselected that box because I didn’t want my contacts to start getting hounded by this company. What are the chances that my Facebook profile was rejected because I wouldn’t give them unfettered access to my private data? I’m thinking pretty good. I always had a pretty good opinion of Airbnb and the way that they helped people make a little money. I now have a pretty lousy opinion of the company. They refuse to allow me access if I don’t let them scrape all of my friends’ information and they make it nearly impossible to get any customer service. Shame on Airbnb.
Tag Archives: airbnb verification
Illegal Scams and Fraud Run by Airbnb Hosts
I am new to Airbnb but my college kid and her friends use it when they travel. I thought I’d give it a try. What I have learned is that as a guest there seems to be a lot of identity validation requested and they ask for a lot of information. At first I took some comfort in this. Then I tried to reserve my first property. The host claimed on the listing that they have trouble updating their calendar so to email them to confirm availability. Not thinking too much of it, I did that and they responded promptly. They then said to get started they would need my name, address, and government-issued ID. I wasn’t sure if they meant put it into the platform or send it directly (which I would never do). Anyway I used the platform to request the reservation and woke up to an automated email from the Airbnb Trust & Safety team saying I should never contact hosts directly off the platform; the host is now being put through a verification process. They said they were suspending the host’s account.
So it doesn’t appear that there is much of a host verification process at all. In fact, this looks like an identity theft scam. I wanted to point out this detail to Airbnb but their automated alerts do not mention any way to discuss this with them. From what I can tell, there is absolutely no way to communicate with the operators of the platform. The way they treat someone using their platform for identity theft, a very serious crime, is to simply remove their account. I’m sure that will really scare them off. Assuming they actually know the identity of these hosts and I could correspond with someone on the platform about this fraud, I would expect them to alert the relevant authorities. Their behavior is both irresponsible and negligent.
I found Airbnb Hell searching for any way to contact Airbnb and I am concluding that it simply does not exist. Not wanting to give up on one bad first impression I went to book a second property. The 24-hour mark has almost passed and I haven’t heard anything from this host either. I guess I’ll take a third swing but then it’s three strikes and I’m off the platform. I know there are many wonderful and responsible hosts on the platform but Airbnb appears to be doing next to nothing to filter the bad and fraudulent ones. It seems you can post listings that you have no legal right to rent out; how can that be their practice? What I have learned is you have to do your own vetting of the host and be very careful. They could be frauds and criminals, and Airbnb does little to prevent them from using the platform. If anything goes wrong you are on your own.
Cancellation Nightmare with Airbnb: Left in the Cold
I would like to bring to your notice the inconvenience I faced by booking my accommodation using Airbnb. I had booked (on August 19th, 2016) an accommodation in Cape Town for three nights, December 29th until January 31st using Airbnb for a group of four adults and one child. Airbnb confirmed my booking and I could see on the app that I was supposed to check in on December 29th. When I reached the accommodation on that day the owners were not even aware that we had a booking with them. The house was horrible and the owners themselves informed us that they did not pass the verification criteria set by Airbnb and they have never confirmed Airbnb for any booking. We were in a fix as it was already 6:00 PM local time. We talked to Raven from Airbnb and she assured us that she would be able to book an alternate place for us. We tried to book alternate places through Airbnb but none of the owners were able to host us at such a short notice. It was 9:00 PM by then. Then we started to make a booking through other websites but as it was holiday season everywhere we tried was full. Finally we got a booking in the Capital Hotel for a night. As the Capital Hotel was booked for the other two days, we had to go for accommodation hunting again the next day instead of enjoying the holiday as planned. I can assure you that we tried to find the cheapest options and everywhere was full. So, finally we had to book into Protea Hotel for the other two nights.
The accommodation was way over our budget but we still had to book it as the only other option was to sleep in the car. To add insult to the injury, we had to spend extra on food as well as we had booked accommodation with a kitchen and the hotels did not provide us with any self catering option. The $50 for food and the refund which Raven offered us doesn’t even cover for the inconvenience caused to us by the miscommunication on Airbnb’s part. We had to spend a day and a half looking for alternative accommodations instead of enjoying our holidays, which spoiled our stay in Cape Town. On top of that, nobody even contacted us from Airbnb to even find out if we had managed to find something else. I expect Airbnb to reimburse ZAR 11491 for my accommodation and food bills as it was a mistake on their side that spoiled our holiday, and forced us to spend so much extra than our budget. If a place can not even pass verification, how could they have it on their accommodation list? If the owners did not confirm the booking, how can Airbnb confirm the booking?
Airbnb Made it Impossible for me to Book
I’m not really an Airbnb guest nor do I intend to ever be one in the future. I recently tried for literally two hours to book one of their properties. I was repeatedly asked to verify my phone number and email, which I did without a problem. They also asked for a photo. I’m thinking: “What? Who do they think they are?” But I sent one in. Then they wanted a copy of my last credit statement. This is after providing verification several times and spending hours doing so. This was the final straw. I have done business for years with both VRBO and Homeaway, without needing to provide pictures and credit card statements. To verify our credit card, all they needed to do is run it. Ultimately, we made other arrangements, through a competitor. The end result? Airbnb lost a potential customer who uses similar services 2-3 months a year and the associated rental fees, but most importantly, the host lost the chance to book their property. We will do business where the process is simple and our platinum credit card is honored. It was pretty poor customer service. I hope this isn’t a publicly traded company because with this business model, they probably don’t have much time left before bankruptcy.
Airbnb Refuses to Pay for a Guest Who Stole Everything
We accepted a reservation from a verified guest. The guest stole everything out of the house. I mean everything, down the broom next to the furnace. We did everything Airbnb required that we do: file a police report, make an Excel sheet of all the items taken, provide receipts for everything, and take before and after photos. It has now been a month and they continue to drag their feet. Hosts beware: Airbnb does NOT verify their guests. Get additional information from your guests: driver’s licenses, credit cards, photos of guests and vehicles. Meet every guest prior to their stay and check them out. Do not rent to anyone new to Airbnb and does not have exemplary reviews – no matter what. Believe me, the money isn’t worth it. Airbnb does not care about you, especially if you can’t make them any more money.
New Airbnb Account Suspended After AMEX Charged?
I was intrigued with a fabulous listing for an upcoming vacation, and went through the process of creating an account, verifying my identity, etc. I contacted the host, submitted payment, and received a confirmation number with the host’s details. The Host graciously emailed back and forth with me, and we closed up our communication cordially. An hour or so later, he received notice that Airbnb had cancelled the reservation, for unknown reasons. I simultaneously received notification that American Express had denied the charge, with a request for additional account information, which I provided. When I tried to log back in to my brand new account, the message said that my account had been suspended.
Thus, I was unable to contact Airbnb directly, nor was I able to email the host via the Airbnb internal email system. I contacted American Express, who verified that the charge had indeed gone through; there was no problem on their end. At 3:33 AM today, I received an email from Airbnb advising that they had indeed cancelled my reservation for unknown reasons, and that they would “refund my full amount” within five days. How could they refund an amount they claimed was denied? I have written three direct emails to Airbnb asking for updates, all to no avail. I even asked that my correspondence be forward to their CEO. I will continue to follow this on a daily basis until I receive verification from AMEX of my full refund, as promised.
The next challenge: how to delete my new account, as I have no access to their system, since my account is suspended. Good luck to any of you thinking that Airbnb is a legit, well run, professional company…
Identity Theft From Guest, Steps Moving Forward
I wanted to share my story, and hopefully get some feedback. I do not want to be easily identifiable so I will not give detailed specifics. We are Superhosts. We rented our house to a guy that had a verified email, phone number, and an “offline ID.” This guy stole my identify along with a good chunk of money. The police report has been filed, there is a detective assigned to the case, and I’ve been working with Airbnb’s “safety and trust team.” They offered to pay us for Lifelock that we had put on our lives, and also for door locks that we replaced. When I asked about my security deposit, she without hesitation sent us the entire amount, without asking for proof of anything (making us think they know more than we do).
Long story short, this guy booked under a fake name, a fake profile photo (I reverse Google searched it), a drop phone number, and a fake brand new email. Shouldn’t Airbnb be held responsible? Don’t they have a due diligence to properly vet all guests that will be staying at hosts’ homes? Surely this guy’s name that he made up for the profile and the ID name and photo do not match, so do they really check these, or just act like they do since this person wants to book so they can make an extra buck, while neglecting their hosts? The detective is looking into video footage of confirmed activity on the money that was stolen from us, as this will be his best lead. They connected him to another theft of checks around the same area, that same night. So there are at least two incidents in one night, by this guy, under two different names, and the checks were made out to a different name as well.
We do not think Airbnb cares about their hosts as much as they claim, as none of this would have happened had they throughly vetted each guest’s profile. But they did not. They have offered to reimburse the money only if we owe it back, which does not make since. I have not responded to that offer, as I’m waiting on the detective to look at the video footage, so we can identify this guy, so this “guest” will eventually have charges pressed against him. Does anyone think we should go to the media, and make people aware? Does anyone think we should hire an attorney? Does anyone know of any good attorneys that have handled cases in which the host is the plaintiff, and Airbnb as the defendant?
Airbnb Charged Me Twice, Still No Reservation
I was trying to make a reservation for three nights at a location that would have cost me $35/night. I started working on this around August 26th. My ID couldn’t be verified as it wouldn’t link to my Facebook account, despite the fact that I’m very active on it. I have 339 friends which they said is enough (besides, I’m particular about who I allow to see my personal information). At first, despite it being super annoying, I tried to get my ID verified but I just couldn’t do it. The second I told them that I was done trying to get involved with their company, my ID was suddenly verified and I was told I should go back on Airbnb and make a reservation… which I did. BIG MISTAKE. They charged me $101 on September 2nd and then the next day sent me an email saying that my reservation was cancelled because I wasn’t verified. On September 5th, my money was refunded so I just thought I would leave it at that. They kept sending me emails saying that I needed to verify my ID, which I didn’t bother doing.
On September 8th, I went to go use my debit card and I was overdrawn! I checked my account and due to another $101 withdrawal Airbnb made, I was now overdrawn my 28 cents. I called Airbnb and they refused to connect me to a supervisor. I probably had to ask at least eight times. Then I spoke to a representative who accused me of lying and saying that they only charged me once. That’s right… the supervisor pretty much called me a liar. She said that she would email accounting but since then I haven’t heard from her. She was there on Friday and left without calling me back. Today one employee ended up hanging up on me, but not before refusing to let me talk to a supervisor. Then another at first told me the supervisor was busy, then said the supervisor wasn’t there, then when I asked him for the address so I could use it for my BBB complaint, he told me that I could look it up on the Internet and it wasn’t his job to give me that information. I think that in order to block them, I will have to cancel my debit card and maybe change my email address.
Bizarre Encounter with Airbnb Host after a Stay
I spent three months in 2016 with Roberto Eichhorn who is a super Airbnb host. His place was ok, but a bit far from everything (which is inaccurate according to his online description). Luckily, I had my own car. The reason I stayed so long was to transition to a different city. So after I finished my stay, I moved to the west coast. During my relocation period, I received a strange text message from Roberto about his cat and blaming me for cutting his cat’s whiskers short. I thought he was drunk and high, with a little too much time on his hands. So I didn’t bother to respond. Little did I know, he actually posted this “accusation” on my Airbnb profile and made it public. I’m now in a long process of disputing it via Airbnb for his tarnishing comments.
I would have thought Airbnb would ask the host to verify before putting any strange potentially reputation-damaging comments online. No! No preventative guidelines. This is a terribly managed site regarding reviews.
Airbnb discriminates against older folks
I sent this email to Airbnb: Thank you. I am 54. Your firm has a larger market cap than Hyatt Hotels. You took my $3,000.00 without any verification—no problem. When I tried to get the address of what I purchased, I had to be verified! Imagine Hyatt taking my money and telling me they will get back to me when they want to to tell me what I actually reserved. It is inconceivable. It took me TWO weeks and time I do not have to conform to YOUR system which is utterly incapable of working with someone who does not fiddle with Linked in, Facebook or gmail. This should be disclosed to unwary customers like myself that you really don’t have a way to serve dinosaurs like me. Do send this up your chain IF you truly want to be a customer focused firm and earn the market cap that you have not in my humble opinion. You and Jordan were attempting to be most helpful—this is no reflection on you two but you work within a system that is not meant to serve all consumers—only those that conform to Airbnb’s specific requirements. With kind regards, Jim Johnson