Hi Kenneth! The listings are truly duplicates. The only thing different on the entire listing is the title. The descriptions are the same, the photos are EXACTLY the same. They use the same local permit number on several of them which would imply it is the same place. The only information I don't have access to is whether there are different physical real addresses attached to them, which is why I asked for help from CS. I don't think real hosts should have to compete with fake, duplicate listings that push other listings down in search results. That is the complaint.
It doesn't make sense to me that you say hosts are allowed to have multiple listings for the same space. That means I could duplicate my one apartment countless times and see which one listing gets booked first. This clearly would give my listing a better chance of being seen, but it doesn't make it ethical. But is it within TOS? No one knows apparently. It is news to me if I am allowed to do this. If so, I'll start up a duplicate listing outside of my Plus listing, and we can really put Plus to the test.
I submitted my complaint via the @airbnbhelp twitter account which has been tremendously successful in the past, but it has really gone down the tubes recently. I waited two days for someone to "reach out to me" who then apparently didn't read my actual e-mail, told me they couldn't switch between e-mail and phone (which I know isn't true) then told me to contact the host directly. It was a lovely experience. I've submitted a new request but in the meantime I've come here.
