What exactly is this?!

[Suzanne302]

 

 

As I prepare to open my new room to AirBNB I research existing rooms in the area. I come across a “room” for $787/night and another for more than $1300/night. There are pictures of hotels in the area in which rooms are NOT that expensive. 

This “host” has more than 12,000 listings around the world.

What is going on here?

[Suzanne302]

So I figured out the scam. They steal photos and descriptions from hotel websites then list them here on Airbnb. When someone books, THEY then book the hotel for the guest, for hundreds of dollars more than the cost of the hotel room.

Most of their listings are only up for a short time as people catch on. Then they constantly are adding new ones.

And Airbnb allows this???

[Elena87]

@Suzanne302 

Wow, 12081 listings and 741 reviews,

https://www.airbnb.com/users/show/175128252

[Suzanne302]

@Elena87  That has got to be against Airbnb TOS. They are essentially renting rooms that don't belong to them by acting as an unauthorized broker. I'm sure the hotels don't know they're doing this either.

[Elena87]

@Suzanne302 

Todays score 12351 listings,  8 more reviews, here is a flavour

Spledid (sic) Room Standard At Mystic

June 2021

Very very unhappy with this booking ! I spent 500 dollars on a stay advertised as a bed and breakfast . It ended up being the Holiday Inn and five minutes later, when I tried to cancel with them, they would only refund me 50 percent . The Holiday Inn is much cheaper through their own website and had free cancellation. I felt super cheated by this booking! Do not book with them !

[Suzanne302]

@Elena87  Definitely something sketchy going on!

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Suzanne302 I don't think the scam is as you describe. Whilst many are so highly priced they will never rent some are in a far more reasonable 23-60 range.

Now exactly what IS going on I don't know but many reviews are dire and yet Airbnb allows them to continue.

Perhaps they are a sneaky arm of Airbnb's hotel business.

[Suzanne302]

@Mike-And-Jane0  I actually contacted the host who said it was a pricing glitch and their IT department was working on it. Here's what I've gathered from messaging the host and reading the reviews:

They are a "travel agency" who list hotels all over the world. I doubt the hotels are aware of it, but maybe they are. They don't advertise ANYWHERE in their listing that it is a hotel room. Some say "Bed and Breakfast" (even though it's a Best Western/Holiday Inn/etc.) and some simply "Room."

They book you at a higher rate than you would pay the hotel and then in some instances (at least from some of the reviews) they charge you additional fees days before you arrive. Also based on reviews, they often do not deliver the "room" they promised. They also delete and add properties on a regular basis.

I don't know if that follows Airbnb's TOS, but it's certainly unethical. And in some of the reviews the guest seems to think this is standard operating procedure for Airbnb, making us all look bad.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Suzanne302  expensive rooms are probably not available at the moment so they just use high price instead of snoozing them

[Elena87]

@Suzanne302 

Random locations - NE England to Colombia. Pricing seems high on the listings I checked.

Map pin positions are inaccurate.

No guest fees via a channel manager and boom boom, all signed up to enhanced cleaning. 

Trust and safety must know there is an airbnbausaurus roaming the site.

[Elaine701]

😳

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

interesting.... "Gospodin" means "Mister" in Croatian

while browsing I found this article, if you have time to read... https://www.wired.co.uk/article/airbnb-scam-london

[Inna22]

@Branka-and-Silvia0 @Means the same in Russian 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Branka-and-Silvia0 @Suzanne302 Having read the article and seen the reviews on Gospodin's account it confirms the advice I always give that these mega-hosts should be avoided at all costs.

@Catherine-Powell Do you really think Airbnb is going back to its roots when you allow this to happen???

[Elena87]

@Mike-And-Jane0 

Maybe it is some type of device to inflate figures of how many listings are available on the site. 

Taking a random room with availibility

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/44801296

It turns out that it's a Staybridge Suite at Keel Wharf in Liverpool

Direct price from Staybridge for two nights in July is 134 GBP - without club discount

Team Gospodin charge 162 GBP for the same night.

The listing description contains absolutely no mention of the fact that it is a Staybridge hotel.

The hotel is advertised on other third party sites, all of which are clear what you are booking.