Need your opinion. Should I be worried?

[Gordon140]

Hi,

I have been a user of AirBnB for a number of years, and have a number of great experiences over that time. However, my latest booking is beginning to make me worry.

I started to worry when I sent a message, via the AirBnB site, to the host, asking for the address of the place my wife and I are supposed to be staying. As the reservation is confirmed, and it is only 3 weeks away, I thought it would be ok to confirm it.

The reason I contacted the host was because there was no full address on the invoice I was emailed out, which is unlike the other bookings I have made where a full address is always listed. When I checked the invoice for this booking, all it had was a city location and postal code.

The response I got back, from the host, was that she does not like to give out the address until the day of the booking to protect the privacy and safety of the current guests. I can understand this, but I feel it goes against how the booking system should work.

In addition to this, I did some checking of the host's phone number, which I found to be at the opposite end of the country to where the apartment is, and that the she has a profile picture that is direct from the stock photo site, Shutterstock.

The last thing is that the host has a number of adverts attached to her profile, indicating that she may have multiple properties on AirBnB, which some hosts have, but three of them use the exactly same photos as the ones in the advert I replied to, and one says it has the same days available as the days I booked.

As the person, who is listed as a Superhost, has a number of positive reviews, am I right to worry that I could be scammed ?

Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks

GW

[Linda108]

Hello @Gordon140   I can understand that you are concerned since this host is operating in a way different from your previous experiences.  As the host did respond to your concern, that would be a positive indicator.  There are more professional hosts/property managers on the Air BNB platform in the last several years so you may be observing differences from previous experiences.

You could contact Air BNB about your concerns as they have a better source of information than you have.  Here is a guide for contacting Air BNB.

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/Contact-Airbnb-A-Community-Help-Guide/m-p/16165#M728

[Sandra856]

Hi @Gordon140 🙂

I got the strict cancellation policy which includes that the guest can cancel with no penalties within the first 48 hours of booking. Because of that I have personally ticked a box (it's integrated in the system) so my address is not revealed straight ahead when someone books. I always write a message to the guest when they book explaining them that I will contact them a couple of days before they arrive with a direction guide etc. So that’s why you won't see a full address when you book. 

It is completely normal procedure 🙂 

You can always contact airbnb if you want to be sure that everything is as it should be. 

Kind regards Sandra 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Gordon140 

it sounds fishy and the same as you, I would be worried  too. Sincerely, I would contact Airbnb, explain my concerns and ask them to cancel my reservation without any penalties for me. Or, if you booked less than 48 h ago, you can still cancel for free. I would, and here is why:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/airbnb-montreal-aj-host-suspended-accounts-1.5252233

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/biggest-airbnb-hosts-canada-corporations-1.5116103

[Kaylee18]

@Gordon140  Like others suggested, always a good idea to reach out to ABB customer service to confirm this account! Better safe than sorry!