Misleading Listing

[Ori9160]

Last Sunday, I booked a reservation in NY with a "Superhost" and since then I've been extremely disappointed by the lackluster response from the Airbnb Support Team and the Trust Team. I flagged an issue where this host is conducting a bait and switch scam on their profile. I had booked a room on the Upper East Side but sent to Queen because one of the 5 guests in "unit" had Covid. During my stay in Queen which last only a few hours, the person in that unit was partying at 4am and stated he isn't an Airbnb host and just gets leads through the original host. 

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/599276310569087960?source_impression_id=p3_1662222037_uoe8g87ji%2Fkn1Bh...

[Huma0]

@Ori9160 

I am sorry to hear about your experience. The thing is, although the host is a Superhost, it appears that the oldest review on their profile is from April 2022. Of their 18 listings, 8 don't have any reviews. The other 10 have only 1-3 reviews each. The one you booked only has 2 reviews, one of which is quite odd, both from July.

The host's profile says they joined Airbnb in 2016. However, they only have two reviews from 2016 from hosts and then nothing until the reviews from guests start in April of this year.

So, this appears to be a new host who has managed to host enough happy guests to reach Superhost status in their first quarter (the assessment just gone was for the period from April to June 2022). 

OR, it's a scam. It does seem odd to me that someone who is listed as an 'individual host' rather than a company/agency, has managed to launch 18 listings in such a short space of time, especially as they are located in New York, Miami and London. One guest also mentions Toronto.  Although it's possible, of course.

It's also possible that this host has set up again under an old guest profile (how come they haven't got any more reviews from hosts since their stays in 2016?) and relisted the properties there to hide previous bad reviews they got under another host profile/earlier versions of the listing. 

They may have even have gotten a bunch of fake reviews to boost them to Superhost status at the last assessment, as I noticed that the earliest reviews are all positive, but the most recent ones very mixed. 

It's just a theory, but something worth pointing out to Airbnb...

[Helen3]

Hello @Ori9160 

When you arrived and the host told you the accommodation wasn't available did you follow the process on your booking confirmation and contact Airbnb for help. Or did you accept the alternative accommodation offered?

What sort of help are you looking for from this community @Ori9160 

[Ori9160]

It was over the phone Helen, that was my mistake here. I accepted the alternative because it was already later at night. My main concern is their account is active and Airbnb is not providing a refund for a fraudulent host. 

[Debra300]

@Ori9160,

It's unfortunate that you went through this situation.  Unless the host agrees with your claim, there may be almost nothing that Airbnb can do about what happened without any written communication between you and the host on the Airbnb message system.  Also, since you did accept the location change without updating your reservation, they probably won't compensate you for what occurred in Queens, but I hope that I am wrong.

@Huma0, at the very least it appears that the host scammed the guest for at least $135 USD, which is the difference between the NY rate and the Queens rate.

[Ori9160]

I think the issue here exposes multiple loopholes these “hosts” have found to scam innocent travelers in different cities. In terms of policy, the balance is always in the platform’s hands so they could suspend them and check any related accounts as this is probably much more than one host involved. Allowing them to pocket money will just keep these fraudulent account thriving at users expense. 

[Helen3]

It's a horrible situation but a guest can only be scammed in a situation like this if they accept the alternative accommodation. @Ori9160 

Appreciate it was late at night and Airbnb is not always response, but there was the option to find a hotel if the host told you the accommodation was no longer available so you had somewhere in your chosen location.

Did you call Airbnb/message the host on the platform about the situation at the time?

Hopefully you have left an honest review to warn other guests and Airbnb will take appropriate action against the host, as hosts like this give us all a bad name.