Tag Archives: scam

FRAUD and SCAMMERS INSIDE AIRBNB!!

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This is my sad Airbnb story.  Me and a group of friends planned a trip to Amsterdam, we found the house we wanted on the site Airbnb, the host was a registered user with good reviews from the apartment, apparently all normal. We contacted the host through the Airbnb site, who responded to our request via email were we exchanging information to confirm the reservation. Back to the site of the apartment, to proceed with the booking, and once again all normal, or the site was a perfect copy of Airbnb, or even was the original, because everything was equal, logos, fonts, layout,etc. I proceeded with the reservation and confirmed the same, then I get an email at the following address airbnb@reply-booking.com (again equal to the sent by airbnb), to pay for the booking to a bank in the UK, Barclays Bank PLC; Payment due: 3 days IBAN: GB73BARC20077473958027; Bank address: 35 Frederick Street, Birmingham B1 3HH, United Kingdom). Unfortunately payment has been made, we received a new email confirming that he had been transferred the money, which the reservation was ready and safe, the host confirmed by email that Airbnb was informed that he had been paid the booking, saying that on the day of our arrival bound us to mark the delivery of house keys. With the approach of the trip, and no Host answers, we began to get suspicious that we were fraud victims. We contacted airbnb, who just informed us that there was no reservation for that number, and asked for payment and other documents, and it was all sent to them.  More than 48 hours have passed now and no response from airbnb, which forced me to make a complaint to the facebook page of them, which by sheer miracle, made them immediately send an email, saying it had been a fraud.  They apologized but said they can not do anything. It is amazing how a company with the size of airbnb does not help victim users of these crimes and take their responsibility for a scam that happened on their website! with a registered user, using their platform to catch the victims. The first contact of fraud is done on the Airbnb website, they have responsibility for it, I did not ask airbnb to give me back the money I lost, but at least to help me better and provide host information and method that was used in fraud . I believe it is an inside job of someone who works in airbnb along with another person outside the company, because all the initial contact, is always done in the airbnb site, where they “fish” their victims.

Airbnb, never more!

Extortionist still allowed to use airbnb while honest host loses money!

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I have already started my quest to phase out Airbnb. In the beginning I thought they were this great company who would stand behind what they said, but um…. no…. I quickly found out that this is not the case at all. My first negative experience was when I was contacted by a guest with no photo or profile about renting my apartment. In retrospect, I should have realizedthe reason for this could be a criminal record. This was about the 5th month that I had been using airbnb. So, she ask ed me if the dates she wanted were  available and I told her yes.So, then she tells me, okay my friend is going to contact you with her account. The friend contacts me. Also, no photo, but a photo of something else. I asked her to fill out her profile and put up a photo, but she tells me she is just to busy with work for that. So, I tell her that everyone in her party will have to give me a photo ID. Then she asks me if they have to pay everything up front which for some reason gave me a weird feeling, and I said yes she did. She said she would email the IDs. Then she books and no IDs. She then tells me they will give them to me when they arrive.
When they arrive they tell me that they went on Google Earth and search the area inch by inch to make sure it was safe. Again a strange feeling came over me, and then excuses about giving me the IDs later when the rest of the group arrives.

So, next thing I know I am eating Thanksgiving dinner and I get a call from her with this fake hyperventilating sound asking me if the cleaning lady had keys to the apartment. The answer to that question was no, because the company I was using at that time did not allow the employees to have keys. I am sure she had pulled that scam before because she was shocked when I said no. So, I turn to my friends and I say, this girl is going to ask me for money, I guarantee it. Then after dinner, I call Airbnb to tell them what is going on and they tell me to go over there, but not to give them more than 5 minutes notice and not to go alone. I brought a camera because I was afraid they were going to steal my stuff and I wanted to document the condition of the lock.
I get over there with the handy man from the building down the street in case the lock is broken.  Upon arriving I see there has been no damage to the lock, and no evidence of a break in. When I get inside, there are piles of brand new merchandise and at least 10 wigs all over the apartment. At this point, I am really scared they are going to steal my stuff so I take photos of all my things in the apartment while they are boozing it up. Then they tell me their story which changed later, and I say okay lets call the cops so you guys can make an insurance claim(they had said they had travel insurance) suddenly the doom and gloom that had been hanging over their trip since this alleged $650 had gone missing was replaced by optimism that it would turn up. Then I remind them that I need their IDs and they tell me that they have decided not to give them to me.

During the entire time they stayed I keep getting messages from her saying that the missing money has really put a damper on her trip. Which I could already tell meant give me $650 or you are getting a bad review. This was not the only hint foretelling the actual extortion attempt that was coming, but I do not remember all of what she said now.

The first time I went there, I forgot to turn on my tape recorder which had a brand new tape in it, but the second time, I did not and the story of when and how the  money went missing was changed. The handy man again was with me and he picked up on this as well. One thing I gotta say is these girls were very charming and impeccably dressed so watch out for the charming con artists.
Anyway, she keeps emailing me with the subtle threats and about how I needed to help them solve the mystery and problem of the missing money, and how this missing money is putting a damper on her “experience in my apartment” I told her that I was not a detective and she needed to call the cops.

The entire time I kept Airbnb apprised of what was going on and they told me not to cave and not to give her the $650. They expressly told me that they had my back. However, later they told me that she had told them that if I did not give her the money she would give me a bad review and they told her that was okay as long as she followed certain guidelines. What? They told her she needed to call the cops and not me about the money. She refused to call them, and then they tell her it is okay to give me a bad review. Way to go Airbnb.

So, then she starts demanding to talk to me in person on the Airbnb message thread. This is when I knew the actual unveiled extortion attempt was coming. One of the days shedemanded that I come, I could not come and she became belligerent about it. I told her I would come on check day to assist her in making a police report. I went on check out day and again she refused to make a police report. This time I had my tape recorder with a brand new tape in it going before I even got into the place so I got all of it.

She proceeds to tell me that if I do not give her $650 she will give me a review that will ruin my reputation and destroy my business. Then she goes to lunch after check out time and leaves her friend there who will not pick up her trash. So, I start asking the friend questions which were also recorded. I asked to show me any proof that the money ever existed and shetells me banks in St. Lucia do not give receipts. Okay, how about a receipt from the money exchange here in America. Nope, we would not have kept that. Alright then, no proof this money even existed. So, by this time it is way past check out and the cleaning person is having to clean around this girl and their stuff. The extortionist comes back and I notice that theyhave not given me both sets of keys back, and I have to run down the stairs with her to make sure she gives me my keys and she starts screaming about Airbnb in the lobby of my building. After she is gone I call airbnb. The rep agrees that the messages leading up to the actual in person extortion attempt already look like extortion, but they cannot listen to the tape because it could have been altered. Really, this girl told your employee that if I did not give her the money she would give me a bad review, and they can’t listen to the tape? Not, to mention it was a brand new tape and could be examined forensically.

After this my BF tells me probably nothing will happen and with the help of an airbnb rep, I decide not to give her a review unless she gave me one and if she did, I will do it at the last minute.  I asked the rep when the last minute would be (and this is also in writing) and he tells me 11 am on a certain date. The morning of the date rolls around. I wake up and see shehas given me a review, but I cannot see it. So, I quickly write one up and try to post before 11 am, but the system tells me it is too late. Then I see she has given me a pretty debilitating review. She has done this before I am sure. So, I call Airbnb and tell them that the time they told me was incorrect. Well, guess what? They did not care and would not change it, even though the time and date they gave me was in writing.  They also would not delete the review even though they were the ones who told me not to cave and not to give her the money. The next guy I appealed to read the messages and said he did not get it and she did not have to call the cops. It was as if he had no idea what had transpired, and did not know that theytold me not to cave and not give her the money. It was like he thought I was making the whole thing up because I got a bad review. I would have been better off to give her the $650 and I would have gotten a great review. I lost almost 2 months of business after that. So, the long and the short of it was that they told me not to cave and that they had my back, and it was really all just talk. One hand does not know what the other hand is doing over there.

I was so disgusted I paid $1000 to get on VRBO. So far, I have had no problems with VRBO except their guests book a lot more in advance so it took awhile to start filling my place with their people. I actually have many more horror stories about Airbnb including being lied to over and over again by their employees, and I think their website is messed up and they will not admit it, but this is enough for now. I really cannot wait to completely phase them out.

AN AIRBNB HOSTS HORROR STORY

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I have been a Real Estate investor/landlord/agent for 40 yrs. I was contacted by Airbnb who found me on Craigslist 6 yrs. ago when they were just a few guys in S.F. renting out their couches, asking if they could list my rentals on their new website. I agreed. I was a loyal airbnb host for 6 yrs. I took total strangers from all over the world into my private Los Angeles estate guest houses, our Las Vegas vacation rental, and my famous W. Hlwd. Jim Morrison bldg. I accepted 1st time guests from all over the world who had no host reviews. I took their pets. I did this because Airbnb offered me a false sense of security, by holding guests security deposits and offering a host guarantee insurance policy which is currently $1,000,000.00. Yes, a million dollars! Lets talk about the “Bad” guests. They ranged from irresponsible nuisances to shrewd con artists. There were the ones who broke or stole a few minor items, the ones who violated our common sense/common courtesy rules, or the ones who required “special services” but didn’t want to pay for them after. The worst guests included necessary police intervention or major theft caught on CCTV cameras. There was the group of “squatters.” They were wolves in sheep’s clothing who came to me as short term vacation rental guests. Visualize “The Beverly Hillbillies” in a pickup truck with their dogs. They came off sweet as pie (landlord 101: beware of overly nice prospective tenants. No one is that nice! They are usually desperate people with bad credit, no job, who can’t get anyone else to rent to them!) He even took on the job as handyman around the apt. bldg. They were able to drag out their stay, doling out breadcrumbs by paying a few days at a time. When it came time for them to check out, these predators who apparently support themselves by “working the system” refused to vacate the premises screaming “permanent tenant rights” in the grand scheme of things to con me out of $13,500 in re-location fees and to be able to extend their stay for one more year under the cities rent control laws!!! As if this wasn’t bad enough, I also got sued by the city who extorted me for nearly $16,000 in perceived TOT fees, which ended up costing me nearly $5000 in attys fees (who took my money and resigned from the case after doing nothing) before I ended up having to pay the city nearly $10,000 in fines. THIS IS WHAT BEING AN AIRBNB HOST COST ME. And what support did I get from airbnb? Now lets talk about airbnb. They come off syrupy sweet, calling you an “awesome Superhost.” They act like airbnb is all about “sharing space” and “making friends.” If I were looking for friendship, I’d join a social club. Lets get one thing straight. It’s renting out space. Real estate. Real estate is a business. Bottom line, you are in business to make money. AIrbnb is in business to make money. They take it from both ends- their hosts and their guests. They block out parts of hosts and guests email correspondence if they suspect it includes sharing contact information. Don’t let them kid you. They expect hosts and guests to trust them with total stranger connections, lodging, and finances, but they do not trust their own hosts or guests to be able to communicate with one another in fear they will get cut out of the deal. As airbnb & their # of hosts grew during the past few years (as did their negative reviews which began popping up all over on various websites) due to their mass marketing campaign, they appeared to care less and less about their hosts and guests. The 1st big scandal I read about was the host in California whose home was totally trashed by airbnb guests. That’s when airbnb came up with their “$50,000.00 host guarantee policy” to provide panicked hosts a false sense of security. Most recently was the home in Canada that was totally trashed by airbnb guests. Airbnb upped the ante to $1,000,000.00. To be eligible for that type of host coverage, I suspect the entire family would need to be brutally murdered. I am a professional, honest, trustworthy, “to the book” type host. I never once went behind Airbnb’s back to try to cut them out of their original booking commission because I believe in karma and I believe everyone is entitled to their fair share of what they contributed. Also, never once did one of my guests ever make a theft claim while staying in our rental units. That speaks volumes for my honesty and integrity. Many guests don’t realize that when they book through airbnb, all payment is handled directly by airbnb. They never allow the host to be in possession of the security deposit. So when a guest commits damage, theft, violations of rules or requires special services, I exercised my host rights and filed a claim with airbnb under the guest’s security deposit. To avoid having to process claims, airbnb will attempt to discourage hosts by running you through the hoops. Think boot camp! 1st you have to go through the “Resolution request” (asking your guest to pay you.) This link is nearly impossible to find on their site. Once you have found it, filled out the form, and sent it to your guest, the guest will usually deny the damage/theft, etc., get angry that you “accused them,” refuse to pay, then leave you a false negative retaliatory review. If you don’t hear back from the guest or they deny the claim, you have to mark your calendar to remember to contact airbnb to “get involved.” (if you forget, you are out of luck on the claim as the deadline has expired.) In order to involve airbnb, they will require photos, witnesses, original receipts, and/or comps. As a real estate investor with multiple fully furnished properties in 3 locations in 3 states, I would have hire someone to pull dead files out of storage and spend days going through thousands of receipts through the years to find one for a towel, mug, pillow or whatever for the damaged or missing item(s) in question! Once you have completed the form & provided the “evidence” (they do not trust their hosts word, despite the fact the host trusted them to have these strangers in their home who broke/stole their personal property items!) you wait to hear back from airbnb. None of my claims were what I would consider “substantial” amounts of money. Some claims were processed, but as time went on they were either denied, reduced, or ignored. When a guest flooded my unit, I filed a claim for $2,500.00 for my out of pocket costs. This was my and only claim that came under the $1,000,000.00 Host guarantee policy. After I went through airbnb’s claim “boot camp” process, they said they were only willing to pay $500 firm (20% of my claim,) Final decision, no appeal. Shortly thereafter, with no warning they deleted all of my listings and cancelled all of my bookings for the rest of the year. They told my future guests that it was I who had cancelled their bookings, so I had angry guests contacting me not realizing the truth, that airbnb had lied to them and that I was as much an airbnb victim as they were! I still have approx. 1/2 dozen minimal claims airbnb ignored and never paid over the past year, along with the one and only claim I filed in 6 yrs. under the $1,000,000.00 Host guarantee claim for $2,500.00 that I was never compensated for. If you are an airbnb host who incurred damage, theft, or unpaid claims and you would like to be paid, please contact me. Email: cheriwoods1@yahoo.com Responsible guests are always welcome! See my websites below.

HOSTS BEWARE! AIRBNB’S DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS!

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HOSTS BEWARE! AIRBNB’S DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS! LEGAL PROBLEMS: Airbnb has been banned in many cities. Hosts have been sued by the city, and fined thousands of dollars for hosting Airbnb guests. Neighbors and communities are protesting Airbnb hosting.

GUEST PROBLEMS: Airbnb hosts have had their homes totally trashed by guests, property damaged, stolen, requiring police intervention and legal action.

INSURANCE PROBLEMS: Airbnb’s “$1,000,000 host guarantee is a scam!” Airbnb runs hosts through hurdles, only to deny, greatly reduce, or ignore the claims in the end.

HOSTS USED, ABUSED & KICKED TO THE CURB: If a host exercises their right & files claims against guests security deposits due to damage, theft or violations of rules, they are kicked to the curb with no warning. Their listing(s) are deactivated and all bookings cancelled.

COLLATERAL DAMAGE TO GUESTS: When a host is kicked to the curb, so are their guests. Airbnb lies to the guests, telling them it was the host who cancelled their bookings, when in fact, both host and guests are victimized by Airbnb.

AIRBNB’S GREED: Airbnb collects a fee from both ends, the host and the guest. If a booking is cancelled, the only one guaranteed 100% payment is Airbnb.

SELLING YOUR SOUL TO THE DEVIL: For a little bit of money, hosts sacrifice their home, their privacy, their time, their freedom, their lives, and their pocketbook, only to be kicked to the curb by Airbnb after they have used and abused you, and replace you with new unsuspecting hosts that Airbnb pulls into their web of deceit.

Disgusted

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After being a host on AirBNB for 3 years with fantastic reviews I’ve got to say I am truly disgusted with the way my complaint about my last guests was handled.

I came home to find all the batteries taken out of my smoke detectors and a huge burn mark in the center of my lounge room – like they had lit a campfire inside the house!
I took multiple photos and emailed them to AirBNB for evidence but since I don’t have receipts for my carpet they won’t do a damn thing.

This company doesn’t give a toss about their loyal hosts – they’ve lost me!

Unexpected Airbnb Guests

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When we went away last month for an engagement party, we got a few friends together and booked an entire house through AirBNB for three days.

The hosts were in another country so we were pretty shocked to see someone else there when we arrived. Apparently, the son of the hosts decided that him and his mates needed a place to crash and used a spare key to get in.

There was plenty of room but that’s not the point. We paid for an entire house we should have gotten it. It was awkward staying there with complete strangers!

AirBNB were called and they told us they would contact the hosts but we didn’t hear back from them until we got home which was useless. And then they denied our refund. I won’t be making that mistake again.

Don’t trust the descriptions

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Just a warning to everyone that the descriptions on AirBNB are extremely misleading. Our main requirement for accommodation was that we wanted a fully equipped kitchen so we could cook our meals and save some money by not eating out every night.

When we got there we had a look in the kitchen cupboards and there were plates, cups, cutlery and a toaster. Oh and of course the fridge.

To me that is NOT a fully equipped kitchen. As much as we wanted to save money on meals, we weren’t going to have toast every night to do so!

I rang AirBNB and SURPRISE! They are sorry but there is nothing they can do!

Trash

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Me and my boyfriend just got back from a weekend in California where we stayed in a room we booked on AirBNB.

There were guests staying in the other rooms who seemed a bit rowdy when they arrived but we just put it down to them being excited. Unfortunately they only got louder and after having no sleep at all I was pretty pissed to say the least.

We recorded the noise on our phones so we had evidence when we complained to AirBNB but they pretty much accused us of making it up and implying that it was us making the noise.

What a bunch of con artists – they will tell you anything to get out of reimbursing you.