Is it just me or are there more scammers trying to get free srays? Its being taugh online!!

[Shaun124]

I am seeing more and more guest trying to scam the system and it appears as if Airbnb is falling for it. 

A friend showed me a post he had found where someone online and explains in detail how to stay in Airbnbs for free.

He explains that within 24 hours of check-in, a guest needs to "stage" pictures of cleaning issues and notify Airbnb but not the host. Then on the night before checkout swamp the host with complaints about the cleaning issues and everything  else they can find.

The writer goes on to say that 9 out of 10 times Airbnb will refund the guest without contacting the host. The article went on to explain by the time the host figures out, the guest has left and the host is left trying to deal with Airbnb and in most cases its impossible for the host to have Airbnb rebill the guest. If the host works something out, Airbnb pays the host without recovering from the guest.

He goes onto explain, this "method" of staying for free is best on 2 -4 day stays.

I had a guest who staged pictures of a camping experience we host, claiming bugs in the bathroom. They were dead bugs and in an outside bathroom the is partially open to the outdoors.  Airbnb refunded the guest without contacting me, cancelled his stay, left the dates blocked as punishment and put a warning on my listing. They refunded the guest the entire stay claiming they did me a favor as he only stayed 1 night, yet I have proof he stayed for 2 and most of the 3rd day of a 4 day stay.

Despite all the proof I have given them, they(Airbnb) CS) don't want admit they made an error.

In the past 5 months, I have had 3 different guests stage photos trying to get a refund after staying in the unit for a few days and then try and claim it was on check like this on check in. The one guest wasn't very smart and had the TV on in the background and you could make out the news was on  and reporting done was the same day photos were sent.

WOW. I could not  believe this if I had not had him read me the article to me.

[Karla533]

@Shaun124  So sorry this happened to you. 

I have not had this problem thank goodness! 

A 3-5 minute video just before guests check in is something I do often. It is time stamped evidence. Most of my guests have many glowing reviews so I don’t worry as much as I ought, perhaps. 

otherwise as a guess, I could be wrong of course—I think you need to increase your rates. Add more amenities, food, whatever you need to do to get away with a higher daily rate. 

[Sarah977]

@Shaun124  Yes, these type of "How to get a free Airbnb stay" blogs have been around for quite awhile. Years. It's unconscionable, but these bloggers obviously have no conscience. It actually borders on criminality- they are advocating what amounts to theft.

[Lorna170]

Do you remember Abbie Hoffman's Steal This Book? Now it's Free Vacations With AirBnB.

[Amanda1775]

@Shaun124 

Yes, I've heard there are blogs dedicated to this kind of Airbnb manipulation. So the question becomes how do we as hosts stop it? (Airbnb has only extended the 24 hours to 72 hours now!)

I can't imagine that a guest will be able to get away with this too many times on the same account at least. As hosts, we can require guest verify their ID with Airbnb. I suppose the guest could have their friends, one by one, create accounts and do the same thing, but again that only works so many times. At some level, we have to hope there are more honest guests than dishonest guests.

Another other ideas?

[Kate867]

All I can say, is if .. and when this happens to me and a full stay is refunded, I will be done.  I have had some cheeky guests try for refunds… like two night refund because the fridge broke a few hours before they were due to check out,  another lovely man wanted a full four night refund because no internet for 24 hours due to supplier failure… etc etc.  On every occasion I was proactive and refunded without being asked as soon as I aware of the issue… half. Night refund for the fridge… 48 hours data worth for the internet… and I kept it all on Airbnb messages… so their silly requests were declined by Airbnb as they could see that I had already been more than reasonable… keeping all messages on Airbnb is Key… but this new stupid rule of theirs … 72 hours… seriously? Will ‘kill’ all reason and cause many hosts to move their properties elsewhere 

[Sarah977]

@Amanda1775  "..how do we as hosts stop it?"

Well, I for one have never had any scammer, bogus complainer guests. But I host a home share private room for 1. 

One way to disabuse guests of this sort of thing is the sort of vibe a host puts out, I think. A host who is polite but firm about things and self-confident, is not usually going to have guests trying to abuse them. A host who is terrified of a bad review and rushes around trying to make things right with a guest like this is going to be taken advantage of. 

As a example, let's say a guest complains about a bug and sends a photo.

Host A, who is terrified of a bad review or getting suspended, or losing Superhost status, responds by saying, "Oh, I'm so sorry-I cleaned the whole place really well before you arrived, I don't know where it could have come from.  I'll be right over with some bug spray and call the exterminators."

Host B, who doesn't put up with nonsense, says "Yes, that's a palmetto bug. They are endemic to the area and are found pretty much everywhere. They're quite harmless- just make sure to keep the screen door shut so they can't fly in."

Which host do you think is more likely to have the guest try to escalate?

I'm not saying this would work across the board, but the way a host responds to an "issue" can make a big difference in whether a guest feels emboldened to try to scam a refund. And if I got the sense a guest was creating an complaint in order to scam a refund, I would have no qualms about being straightforward. " Look, XX, I don't know if you read some blog about how to scam a free Airbnb stay, but that won't work here. I have pages full of great reviews and have had had nothing but happy guests, so don't try that on with me. Staying somewhere, using towels, soap, toilet paper, heat, hot water, and electricity, not to mention the time it took to clean the place for your arrival, and then trying to scam a refund is called theft, no different from stealing the host's wallet . "

[Gillian166]

**bleep** @Sarah977  that's brutal and brilliant. 

I think i'll have to start taking pics after each clean. 
In addition to that, you need to ask for the metadata from the image. that will show what time/day it was taken. If the metadata has been stripped then that's a red flag. 

[Sarah977]

@Gillian166  Yes, I've read posts where guests were send photos of something the guest was trying to scam a refund for, and the guest made sure to take a close-up, so you couldn't really tell where it was taken (pro scammers are savvy that way). But the host noticed in a corner of the photo that they could see a little bit of the floor, or the edge of the bedframe, or the bathroom tiles, and it wasn't taken in their house.

[Shaun124]

Hey Sarah, @Sarah977 now that you say that, I did have someone try that stunt with photos that were not from my property, They showed bugs in the window sill with wooden windows and mine were all aluminum. If I recall Airbnb took the guest side back then and would not take my photos showing it was not my house into consideration.

I have tried the before photos and videos, the problem is Airbnb doesn't afford the host the opportunity of presenting our side. You are guilty automatically and the host is ALWAYS wrong. In my case I proved that everything the guest did was staged and the CS agent back peddled on each one of the phots and staged complaints and eventually Airbnb response was that the guest left( he did not) so they refunded him. This despite him taking a discount  for a non refundable stay. I think that was part of the issue. The weather was a little bad so he scammed his way into a full refund and guest was rewarded for this. Just like the blogs said.

In my case I said to the guest"you come on a camping experience in Florida and you complain of bugs. They are not my pets, I did not put them there to purposefully ruin your vacation. You are using an outdoor bathroom, as depicted in the listing and warned that you will encounter bugs in Florida ". His response was I didn't see any bugs in the photos you had in the listing, DUH!!!!

I dont believe this will change until there is a fair system for host protection.

Airbnb CS had the audacity to tell me they are a neutral 3rd party and can only go on evidence presented. I literally had a heart attach at that response.

I told CS;

Airbnb is not a neutral 3rd party. You cannot make a decision like you did and call it neutral. It was a biased decision made between you and the guest. To call your selves a 3rd party, there has to actually be 3 parties evolved in the decision. At no time was I considered in the decision. So what you are telling me is that you don't have any idea when the guest checked out. I have shown that basis for his claim was invalid and somehow you consider this a fair decision.

My cleaner went 2 days after he claimed to check out and found no key in the lockbox and personal items still at the location and sent me a text from the site explaining to me what they found and did not feel comfortable staying as it looked occupied. THE GUEST HAD NOT LEFT THE PROPERTY.

Airbnb said that was not sufficient evidence and i need to provide documentation. What documentation would I have or are they expecting.??? I told them I don't have sign in or sign out sheet.

NO reply on what documentation they were looking for but replied again saying they could not use the correspondence from the cleaner as sufficient proof the guest had not vacated the property early as he claimed.

He stayed 2 of the 3 night but Airbnb refunded him for all 3 and blocked my calendar.

There needs to be a proper arbitration process and not some random CS agent in smother country making unilateral decisions that effect my income. I wonder if this process is even legal in the USA?

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

I had a young couple who tried to get 3 nights refund claiming they were bitten by bedbugs in my studio' the first night and spent another 2 nights in their camping wagon parked in the building's communal backyard. They requested the refund 3 days after check-out (!)The whole story is just incredible 😄

They presented a photo of one gray dot on the bed. I enhanced their photo and it was clearly a fluff, not the bug. I called (and paid) an exterminator, got a paper the place is bug-free and treated preventively, and reported these guests for a fraud attempt. I've never heard back from Airbnb or them. But they wasted a lot of my time, I got a false review and 1* from this couple. Hosts just can't win...

[Helen744]

@Shaun124 All I can say is do what I sometimes do but intend to do every clean from now on . Take some pics before each guest of the house and its 'cleanliness' You then have some ammo. .Let the guests know that you have ,as you show them around or get your cleaner to. H.

[Ann72]

@Shaun124 I doubt that's the only "instructional" video out there!  @Karla533 is onto something when she suggests raising your rates.  And I agree with @Sarah977 about being firm.  But this begins with the very first message to the guest.  Friendly but firm, welcoming but in control is my mantra.  

It's not just the videos and the Reddit threads.  Unfortunately, hosts are so eager to curry positive reviews they actually train guests to ask for refunds by rushing to offer them when the slightest thing goes wrong.  I've had complete power outages and didn't offer any kind of refund.  Peak season, all three listings full.  I told the guests of the problem and asked if they were okay and they all said it was fine, they would just read or take a drive.  The power came back on in a few hours, no one complained, all gave great reviews.

[Shaun124]

I always try to be fair and asses the situation. I have 14 units in 3 different cities locally.  Our pricing is done through Beyond Pricing so our rates are the highet for the market at the time.

Things do get missed occasionally and if we screw up, I will admit and work with the guest.  What I cant stand is being scammed. The trouble is by the time i get to get envolved, Airbnb has made the decision with out me and already refunded the guest, leaving me to argue with some CS agent who could not care less.

In my most recent situation. I sent communication between myself and the cleaner who is an elderly retired teacher, was standing at the property messaging me that the key was not there and the guest personal items are all over the place. Clearly still staying there after Airbnb said they had vacated and refunded them. She told me she was  so scared because if someone was this crazy to stage photos and still staying there when Airbnb said he had left in such a hurry as she did not want him to find her there.

We do have an older 1st generation camera the monitors the parking area so other folks don't park where the guest need to.  My daughter turned on the motion sensor and saw the guest return about 3pm and pack his belonging. Show a middle finger to the camera and put the key back in the lock box. Shw screen shot me 2 photos of this. Unfortunately now Airbnb wants the full footage and its passed the 7 days storage space we have. There response was the screen shots are not date stamped on the still photo and this is the response. " you photos only depict the guest returning the key late and therefore is not sufficient proof the guest did not leave when he said he did. This is 2 days after he was meant to have left because he "told" Airbnb he was leaving. Even if it was true, what was he doing on my property 2 days later!!!!!. My text conversation with the cleaner from the property and photos that are timed stamped when my daughter sent them are not good enough because "Airbnb said he left.

What do they want photos of him sleeping in the bed?????

I am disgusted that this is allowed.

[Helen744]

@Shaun124 the problem for you here is probably because as you say you have 14 units of which you are proud but no one can be all over this stuff even if they have only one . If someone is going to scam you then they will already be ahead of you because you 'poor pet' thought they were coming for a nice little stay and were nice people.We all need to be wide awake and if this guest has caused distress to both your daughter and your elderly housekeeper then that is now your issue not the money.H