ID VERIFICATION AND FAKE PROFILES

[Andrea4560]

Last week I have had one apartment in Paris literally trashed by a gang of criminals that organised a 2 nights rave party.

The reservation came from a profile with Id and phone verification, and most disturbingly, with several 5 stars reviews. They presented themselves as a lovely family with 2 small kids, only to party ( with use of drugs) for 2 nights in a row leaving about €5000 in damages and counting: the smell of smoke is unbearable, puke, holes in the walls, a broken sink, clogged toilets, damaged floor, a broken piano...

Since then I have been targeted by these people, and I received strange enquiries  and also one reservation(football player name with ID verified...) from profiles with verified ID; at my request to provide full real names of all the occupants and to be all present upon arrival with photo ID, in addition to sign a responsibility agreement, they all disappeared.

I wonder if the security checks carried out by Airbnb need some serious improvement. In the past, I've always felt confident taking reservations from Airbnb as opposite to other platforms. This is not going to happen anymore.

I hope Airbnb won't let me down again.

Anyone had my same bad experience?

[Helen350]

@Andrea4560 Of course it's easy. Airbnb want as many bookings as possible; they have no vested interest in turning potential guests away.

Re verification, I was asked to verify myself by photographing my passport and uploading it to a page provided by Airbnb.

Maybe the holder of your guest's account did do that too, but allowed a 3rd party booking on his/her account?

It is actually YOUR job to check that guests are who they claim to be (if concerned), not Airbnbs. And it's YOUR job to vet your guests to allow the right sort, not Airbnbs. 

It's a myth that Airbnb regulate the quality/suitability of guests in some way... They don't! - They are just a booking platform.

[Melodie-And-John0]

@Andrea4560 , the typical scum bag has become technologically proficient, the scams are not hard to run and Airbnb is not getting enough to run  background checks for each booking or even to open an account.  This is going to be more common than what we imagined it would unfortunately.  

[Mark116]

I am more just amazed that people like this exist, so lazy and awful that they just threw their cigarettes on the floor of a beautiful apartment. 

[Dimitar27]

It looks like there is some kind of trend- vandals prefer to stay with multi-unit hosts.

[Helen3]

Do you have CCTV at your properties @Andrea4560? This would help you ensure only those have booked stay and for you to check guests iD on arrival 

[Andrea4560]

***UPDATE ON HOST GUARANTEE-ish PROGRAM***

After I sent invoices, photos, videos, police reports, screenshot of messages with the guests, screenshot of messages from the neighbours, etc. and over a month of promises and ' don't worry', I received an outrageous outcome, a payout that won't even cover half of the damages.

I received this reservation from a profile that Airbnb claimed to be verified and with genuine reviews, I trusted Airbnb, that despite its claims of being a safe platform with a insurance to protect the hosts, is acting as they are doing me a favour.

From now on, I will ask for a credit card guarantee to every guest coming from Airbnb, as I already do for other channels.

People are less likely to make damages when they know they will pay straight from their pocket. I suggest all the hosts to do the same!

[Emilia42]

@Andrea4560 While your plan makes perfect sense the only issue with it is that if a guest reports you to Airbnb for taking funds outside of Airbnb, they will shut down your account. Not just the specific listing .... your entire account.

[Andrea4560]

Hi, it would not be taking funds outside Airbnb, just a pre authorisation on the card, like it happens already with rental cars. 

Airbnb should decide what they want to be, they started with an idea only to become an OTA ( now taking a commission exactly like Booking.com, Expedia, etc.), but refusing to act as an OTA presenting themselves as a community. This is no longer the case in my view.

Airbnb takes the payments, Airbnb decides when and if to issue refunds , Airbnb decides if the damages are to be reimbursed. All the risks for the hosts, very little for the guests  ( a slap on the wrist, worst case scenario they can just open a new account under another name) and basically zero for Airbnb. It does not feel a fair business relationship. I was a big fan of Airbnb, as a matter of fact I would not be doing what I'm doing without Airbnb, but while I have evolved over time, Airbnb is still the same and no longer adequate.

[Rory85]

@Andrea4560 Those pictures are just awful and I really feel for you.  The guest's (if you can call them that) treatment of your unit was so unbelievably disrespectful. Is there any way to pursue the additional compensation outside of the arbnb forum? Small claims court possibly? I'm not a lawyer, but it would seem to me that they should be held accountable for all of the damage done to your unit, not just the portion that arbnb thinks is fair reimbursement. Good luck!

[Andrea4560]

Thanks for your kind words. I have reported all to the police, and in doing so I found out that they are not new to this. On Airbnb they present themselves as a lovely family with 2 kids with many 5 stars reviews, all describing how lovely and respectful they are.

In reality they are a group of criminals, their visa is expired, plenty of police reports, I will not get a penny from this people...

Airbnb threw me  literally to the wolves this time.

[Nathalie-Et-Gilles0]

@Emilia42 

For a 68 listings host, this rule might be applied differently.

Some hosts do it because it is more risky to rent throught Airbnb than other rental websites where hosts can manage a deposit. 

The only difference is that Airbnb disclaims all liability in the event of a problem because host and traveller manage money outside Airbnb and the funny Airbnb garanty might not work.

As it poorly works, some hosts prefers their personal system.

However, @Andrea4560  must write the amount of the deposit in all his European listings.

Travellers must know their obligations before booking.
French and European laws impose to display all the costs before booking.
If not, the traveller can refuse to pay and @Andrea4560  has no possibility to claim for more than what was already paid.

[Nathalie-Et-Gilles0]

@Andrea4560 

Reviews are so helpful.

[Cormac0]

@Andrea4560 

Airbnb have only an upside and that's why their share price doubled, while the Host (aka mugs) pick up the pieces and cost of scumbag guest, hopefully  the EU will bring Airbnb to heel and make them cough up for the trash they sent to our homes.

[Michelle2475]

@Andrea4560 @I have a camera at the front door (I don’t live there) and tell people they must have a verified ID and photo so I can confirm they are the ones checking in. Some don’t ever respond - I get a lot of inquiries that are clearly fake. The main problem is that (not Airbnb’s fault) bad apples take turns booking so they same group can book over and over without anyone knowing. We had to kick out a group of kids who were loud and yelling profanities over a speaker all day until 3 am. plus damages. Airbnb let them post a bad review full of lies - I had written proof, camera footage, and photos of damage and Airbnb wouldn’t remove it. The only upside is I met some neighbors 😂