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Especially since the Vice piece that sparked all this strongly implies that this is already happening: > Even some of the positive reviews of Becky and Andrew’

by paulgb 7y ago

Especially since the Vice piece that sparked all this strongly implies that this is already happening: > Even some of the positive reviews of Becky and Andrew’s Chicago rentals seemed odd, especially those left by other pairs of hosts. Kelsey and Jean, for example, said Becky and Andrew were “awesome and communicative guests.” But they themselves were based in Chicago, where it seemed they had at least two properties of their own. Why would they need to rent from someone else there?

thepangolino 7y ago
That doesn’t seem strange at all to me. A friend of mines regularly rents their place on Airbnb. Then in turn they rent a cheaper property and pocket the difference.
- gwd 7y ago
  Not sure why you're downvoted. At least one place I stayed at in Switzerland, it was pretty clear something like that was exactly what was happening: The family were living in the house normally, and when someone rented it, they just vacated it and went somewhere else. (I sort of suspect that there had been a recent divorce and the mother was trying to figure out how to be able to avoid having to move due to changed financial situation.) It seemed a bit weird to be taking over this family's house, but they decided it worked for them, and the house was as described, so... shrug Don't know where they went, but a cheaper AirBNB place nearby would be an obvious candidate.
- fierarul 7y ago
  For every odd situation I see in HN comments there comes somebody like you saying: "why, I just did that yesterday!". A location getting good ratings from other people in the same city that rent 2 other apartments is so odd it should be denied by default and require manual approval. The odds of collusion are quite high. Of course sellers would help each-other with good ratings! Even at the actual cost of paying for a night (in AirBnB fees) it might still be worth it if you want good ratings. So, no, this is pretty strange.
  - londons_explore 7y ago
    You don't even have to pay many AirBnB fees - you can steeply discount a night, and then get your friend to book it.
personlurking 7y ago
This also strikes me as odd. I've recently been seeing extremely short reviews for places. That is, 10+ reviews per place that are basically "was great, would recommend!" or "the host was responsive, I'll come back!". I can't tell if this is a thing people do or if they are somehow fake 5 star reviews.
- taejo 7y ago
  ISTR last time I used AirBnB there was some flow that really pushed you to leave a review, which obviously leads to those kinds of uninformative reviews.
- londons_explore 7y ago
  For a while AirBnB forced you to write a review before you could book another place. During that time, I always just wrote expletives in the review box and gave everyone 1-star. I'm not going to be the unpaid QA person for AirBnB!

by paulgb 7y ago

thepangolino 7y ago

That doesn’t seem strange at all to me. A friend of mines regularly rents their place on Airbnb. Then in turn they rent a cheaper property and pocket the difference.

gwd 7y ago
Not sure why you're downvoted. At least one place I stayed at in Switzerland, it was pretty clear something like that was exactly what was happening: The family were living in the house normally, and when someone rented it, they just vacated it and went somewhere else. (I sort of suspect that there had been a recent divorce and the mother was trying to figure out how to be able to avoid having to move due to changed financial situation.) It seemed a bit weird to be taking over this family's house, but they decided it worked for them, and the house was as described, so... shrug Don't know where they went, but a cheaper AirBNB place nearby would be an obvious candidate.
fierarul 7y ago
For every odd situation I see in HN comments there comes somebody like you saying: "why, I just did that yesterday!". A location getting good ratings from other people in the same city that rent 2 other apartments is so odd it should be denied by default and require manual approval. The odds of collusion are quite high. Of course sellers would help each-other with good ratings! Even at the actual cost of paying for a night (in AirBnB fees) it might still be worth it if you want good ratings. So, no, this is pretty strange.
- londons_explore 7y ago
  You don't even have to pay many AirBnB fees - you can steeply discount a night, and then get your friend to book it.

personlurking 7y ago

This also strikes me as odd. I've recently been seeing extremely short reviews for places. That is, 10+ reviews per place that are basically "was great, would recommend!" or "the host was responsive, I'll come back!". I can't tell if this is a thing people do or if they are somehow fake 5 star reviews.

taejo 7y ago
ISTR last time I used AirBnB there was some flow that really pushed you to leave a review, which obviously leads to those kinds of uninformative reviews.
londons_explore 7y ago
For a while AirBnB forced you to write a review before you could book another place. During that time, I always just wrote expletives in the review box and gave everyone 1-star. I'm not going to be the unpaid QA person for AirBnB!