Venting my frustration at Airbnb's sloppy host vetting

[Christine615]

So I'm at a quandry. I'm popping in to see my daughter for a quick weekend with my husband. Booked an Airbnb within walking distance of her apartment. Host has several good reviews. Get a message (no last name, by the way) saying that the address on the listing is not the REAL address. Apparently that is the place where guests used to pick up keys.  Instead, the real apartment is 1.5 miles away (a 31 minute walk versus a 5 minute walk).

(insert as many expletives as you want here)

How does Airbnb allow a host to list an address that is not the actual address, then tell the guest - oops - go to a different place. Who vetts this stuff?

Venting over. (I'm considering cancelling - it's been less than 24 hours - but that may mean I lose my coupon used to bring the cost down)..

What would you do if you were in my place?

And shouldn't Airbnb start requiring verification of address?

[Emilia42]

@Christine615 

Wow. How many reviews does this host have? No mention in the reviews, really? I would cancel but the unfortunate part is that you will lose your coupon. That's not right either. Booking an Airbnb is getting risker and risker. 

Can you post a link to the listing? 

[Emilia42]

@Christine615 This was sounding vaguely familiar. I found an old post where another guest was questioning listing locations in the Los Angeles area. His thought was skirting tax laws.

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/AITA-If-I-report-hosts-who-are-circumventing-occupany-taxes...

Definitely shaddy.

[Emilia42]

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[Ann783]

Ugh. I love to walk but would be aggravated by the lack of transparency on the part if the host.

[Christine615]

I'm not going to post the link, but I'm going to ask if Airbnb can change the address and see what happens. I rely on general map location when I search because sometimes proximity is a critical decision point.

She says the map address was where previous guests went to pick up keys. But the "real" address is two miles south of what the map shows. So I was searching for West Hollywood and what I got is in LA. How does Airbnb allow a host to list a "pick up keys" address as the lodging address?

My husband just voted to keep it because it's within walking distance of The Grove (that uber wealthy shopping mall we like).

She only has three reviews but they're all good and reference the proximity to the La Brea tar pits so I suspect they all stayed at the same place. Let's hope this place really exists and the reviews are real. 😞

[Colleen253]

@Christine615 I want to suggest contacting Airbnb and demanding they give you a credit toward a new place in the amount of your coupon, emphasizing the ‘gross misrepresentation’ of this listing and the ‘massive red flags’  being thrown up after booking. But we all know how painful contacting customer circus is. 

[Sarah977]

@William810  Good info. So are these hosts actually leaving keys at the address they list for pickup, or is that all part of the deception?

[Christine615]

@Sarah977  They claim guests “used” to pick up at the address on the map for the apartment two miles south. Now she says the keys are in a lock box on the actual door.

Thst makes NO SENSE. When has Airbnb ever let someone list an alternate address unless the person is trying to hide the listing from the real HOA at the other place.

So people booking for location get a bait snd switch?

My husband suggested we keep the reservation and see what happens. I would have booked a place closer to my daughter if I’d known.

Stay tuned.

[Sarah977]

@Christine615  Well, it makes sense after reading William's post. The claim about how guests used to pick up the keys there is bogus. They are just listing a false address to avoid being found, as William explained. 

One would think the reviews would mention this false location- I wonder why they don't. 

I hope you don't find yourself with no place to stay.

[Christine615]

@William810 That makes so much sense! 

[Helen3]

There is no way I would stay at a listing where the host lied about the location. What else could they be lying about @Christine615 

[Sarah977]

@Christine615  I agree with Colleen. If you don't want to stay there, I would contact Airbnb and insist on your coupon being valid to book another place due to misrepresentation of the address.

If you decide to keep the booking, I would let the host know this is unacceptable deception and mention it in the review. 

Why would a host have an inconvenient system to pick up a key elsewhere, rather than a lockbox at the listing, anyway? 

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Christine615 

This may not be the case, but I've heard from a very reliable source that they ended up with a bait and switch/scam with a similar situation. This may, or not, be legit. 

[Susan1188]

This is NOT normal, most of us hardworking hosts would not dream of this; report to Airbnb customer support and contact them thru facebook twitter etc. they react better sometimes on social media.