Scams

[Rose45]

Hi. - If this is a scam it is clever as it is simple. We had guests who made a booking which cost them $460 for three nights.    (They had also tried to make a booking for double that amount but I had declined it so you could reasonably expect that they had funds of at least $1000) We are not on instant book and I pre-approved the cheaper booking and declined the more expensive second booking.  They  emailed a few times and I provided the address et al. They then cancelled the booking but turned up saying that they had made the booking and showed that the Airbnb had taken the money from their account.  There was no booking in my system so there was no way I could be paid for their booking by Airbnb.  Everytime I asked for a phone number the email came up that the number was blocked so it looked they were providing it but in reality weren't - Perhaps they had a privacy block on their phone.   They were airbnb verified but only to the extent of their email.   The woman did not appear to have enough money in her account to pay again  (even though the second booking was double the price and booked by him indicated that he had funds ) - they insisted they would not pay again .   They kept insisting that they had paid. We went on the airBnB website and it said there was only a 24 hour hold on their funds but after two days the money had not been refunded back to them. We let them stay for two nights without paying even though they had no booking with us - so there was no link to us in the Airbnb system and they had cancelled the booking.   Their account clearly showed it was a Visa hold. They knew they would get the money back. They kept saying they had not cancelled the booking and had paid.  We had no details on them so asked for a drivers licence. The man said it was his brothers car and said he did not have a drivers licence on him even though you have to carry a drivers  licence by law.  We had no addresses and no details on them except a car registration for a car which they said was not theirs.    Our car ended up parking them in as we had to back the car out to hang up washing.  We usually get up early and noticed him carrying a bag to the car early in the morning.  They appeared to be leaving but could not move the car.  They then said they wanted to move to the more expensive accommodation and had to go out to the bank to get the cash so the car needed to be moved.   I had a fast-pay machine and said you don't need to go the bank - you can pay straight away.   They said they wanted to talk together for a few moments.  Then came back and said they wanted to leave and did not feel welcome.  They then said they were not paying the full amount.   It was all pretty uncomfortable.  They ended up leaving and not paying the third night.  The Airbnb  hold on the funds with Airbnb gave them an opportunity to not pay us.  If this is not a scam though everything points to it - is there any way you can access funds from Airbnb in such situations?  I would assume that Airbnb could not pay us unless they somehow reinstated their booking otherwise they could claim they had no booking and were not liability. Was there a way of getting them to reinstate their booking without them having to pay again to Airbnb?

Or was there any way to register a booking and access the funds held by Airbnb in these situations?

My advice is not to let people in to your property who have not paid.

[Dede0]

@Rose45 Looks like a scam to me. I'm going to follow this thread to see what others say.

[Clare0]

@Rose45 This story is beginning to sound rather familiar.  Airbnb doesn't confirm a reservation until the guest has paid.  I had a guest with payment problems, but their reservation request showed up in My Reservations as Payment Pending.  The guest had 24 hours to get her payment method sorted out which she did and all was cool. 

I would never take a guest's word for it that they have paid.  When a guest makes a reservation request on a credit card, there is an authorization, or hold, placed on the credit card.  That is just a pending payment authorization, not an actual payment.  Payment is actually charged when you accept the request. In your case, the guest cancelled the request at which time the authorization was removed. Doesn't sound to me like they paid.  What does it say in Your Reservations?  

How did the guest get your address?  Did you give it to them in the course of messages with them?

My advice is to contact Airbnb right away and explain what happened.  With luck they will still have their credit card information on file and could possibly charge them.  Of course, they could say they didn't stay with you in which case it would be their word against yours. 

In the future, don't let anyone enter your property without a confirmed reservation message from Airbnb.  I hope Airbnb can help you out.  These people, sound like expert scam artists to me! Hope they didn't steal anything from you. 

Here's how to get in touch with Airbnb. Click on this link:

[Amaris0]

Never provide you address until you receive a confirmed booking e-mail from Airbnb. Also never allow any guest into your property unless you have received a confirmed booking e-mail from Airbnb. The guest turned up at your property as you provided your address.

Due to the discrepancy in information i.e., guest insisting they had paid whereas Airbnb platform suggesting otherwise, I would have explained to the guest that they need to bear with me whist I contact Airbnb to clarify the situation and request written confirmation that their booking had indeed been accepted, the dates, number of guest and breakdown of amount due to me; it would have taken Airbnb max 20 mins to provide such an e-mail. The one thing Airbnb is quite good at doing is working with guest who have booked an accommodation and where there is a problem to try resolve the issue or find alternative suitable accommodation especially within the immediate 24 hours that the guest is due to check in, so they would have sent you that confirmation ASAP. That way both you and the guests would be fully covered.

It would appear they took advantage of your good nature which is a shame but some people have no morals whatsoever! I wish you all the best addressing the matter with Airbnb.

Ama

[Clare0]

@Amaris0 Actually, I would have had the guest contact Airbnb to resolve their payment issue.  The beauty of having Airbnb collect payments is that the host doesn't have to get into a squabble with the guest. Scammers know how to intimidate hosts and many hosts, wanting to be polite and accommodating wind up doing things they shouldn't do.  I would have told the guest politely but firmly that they need to sort things out with Airbnb and when I get a message their reservation is confirmed I'd be happy to open the door. 

[Amaris0]

Yes, I suppose that is another option available; the main thing is that as a host you get confirmation of the booking prior to letting anyone into your home.

Ama

[Veronica0]

HOW DID THEY GET YOUR ADRESS ? This is the important question . You cant have direct contact with a guest untill a booking is confirmed , ---payment made and held by Airbnb . This is the whole point of Airbnb .It protects both parties from scams .  Only  when they have paid can you give them your exact adress /phone  number . So how were they able to show up on your doorstep . ?   Did you contact them OUTSIDE  the Airbnb site . If you did and gave them your adress then Airbnb will wash their hands of it .It is against Airbnb rules to have direct contact untill the payment is made . If you break this rule you are open to scammers .

Why would you let people you dont know , into your home ?

[Amaris0]

It says in the first conversation thst they gave their address to these guest.

[Kathleen101]

I had a car stop I front of my Airbnb property (I live next door) and a woman got out and walked up the driveway and started peeking in the windows. When I walked out to talk to her she said she saw my listing on line and just wanted to "check it out for her parents ". She had her laptop in her hand and by using the pictures and driving around, she was somehow able to find the house. I had no contact with her, and certainly didn't give out the address, but there she was!

[Sean71]

@Kathleen101 I actually read about a situation where someones Airbnb property was vandalized by people who found their property by pictures posted on the Airbnb platform.  Since reading that article, I removed all of the pics of the outside of our home since scammers are super internet savvy. 

[Clare0]

@Sean71 Yes remove all exterior shots of homes.  So many hosts don't realize this and they even post photos with their house numbers!!

[Deborah265]

I think some scammers are paying in full, obtaining your address then canceling (not caring if they don't get their money back) right before they arrive. The point of all this is to use your address to apply for credit cards. I would never give a guest your exact address until a day or so before they arrive; make sure your cancellation policy  has expired before giving an address. also do not feature a picture of the OUTSIDE of your property on your listing. People can drive around and find it.

Ask guest s questions about the reason for their stay, (some who are just obtaining addresses to apply for credit cards will have a story.) Usually their picture is blurry (or it's of someone else but you won't really ever know that because you will never meet them). On the plus side- you probably will never be responsible for the fraud they're undertaking or have bad credit as a result (unless they know & use your full name) and you will get to keep the money they paid on their reservation (if they cancel before the refund period in your cancellation policy)

Be wary, Hosts.  Deborah

[Kate157]

Hi @Clare0, normally I would agree, let the guests sort out their own mess, but in this case, since the people were already on the doorstep, I would have contacted Airbnb myself. I would want to know what was going on, and I would not trust such guests to tell the truth about what Airbnb advised them to do if they were the ones to contact Airbnb.

[Paul0]

Hi @Rose45,

You really should not have provided your home address through email.

Them asking for this should have been a huge red flag... and then they got funny about payments. This should have been the last engagement you had.

Their arrival should have been a 'Sorry we don't have a booking on Airbnb with you - Good Bye'.

Advice I give all new Hosts:

1. Don't let your good nature be taken advantage of.
2. Follow your gut instincts.
3. Stay on platform or you have no protections. 

I'm just glad you came out of the experience safe and healthy.

Cheers,

Paul

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[David126]

A booking is when you receive confirmation and that never happened.

And you address would not have been released until paymnet had been maid.