HOW DO I PAY FOR A SPECIAL OFFER

[Carmela16]

Hi 

I am a first time user of Arbnb. After an extensive search I finally found an apartment that is perfect. My host asked to be contacted by email only. He responded promptly and offered me the apartment for the dates I requested at discounted rate. I then received an email from Airbnb stating:

                  "You do not need to book on our website, you just received a Special Offer. The host has chosen a custom price and invites  you to book with the new details.

We have approved this transaction and we are offering you full protection.

Payment is safely processed from your bank account to Airbnb bank as a third party payment processor.
Please make the payment of $------ to this bank account:"

I am uneasy about this as  Airbnb warns about paying directly into bank accounts.

My Host is also new to Airbnb and has no reviews.

Any advice on this matter would be welcomed. Carmel

PS Is there any way to contact Airbnb for help and adivce????

[Sharon114]

Airbnb NEVER ask you to pay or book outside of their website.  This does not sound right to me and I would not trust it.  It would be better, in my opinion, to start your search again and find some accommodation that has a review history.  Of course, new hosts do have to start without reviews but in this instance I would by wary.

[Andrea9]

I'm also sure this host has no reviews because they lead interested guests away from the site, so never have any bookings that would lead to reviews. Dodgy and the kind of things that give Airbnb and their proper hosts a bad rep.

What's the link to this listing?

[Linda108]

@Carmela16  I agree with @Andrea9 @Sharon114,  If this host is asking you to pay outside the Air BNB terms and policies, there is potential that the listing is a scam.  Please go to the host profile and click on the little flag under the name to "report this user" and share what you have shared here.

Definitely find another place.

Linda

[Kittie-and-Chris0]

Red Flag! Don't walk away. Run. 

[Paul4]

That is a scammer. Log in to Airbnb. Do not use any link from his email. Go to you in box and click the little flag next to the messages and follow the instructions to report this guy.

[Carmela16]

Thanks everyone for your help and advice. I also emailed Airbnb to ask them about this. They phoned me immediately and told me that Airbnb does not support any offsite transactions and that the email I received from them telling me to pay directly into an account was not in fact from them but a scam. I'm so glad I listened to my instincts. Unfortunately my first experience with Airbnb has not been positive and I have now booked a hotel, but I will give Airbnb another go in the future.