4 ms·

I stumbled across an Airbnb scam that’s taking over London

41 points by aluket 7y ago

zeequreshi 7y ago
Vice covered a similar scam (also in Nov. 2019) https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/43k7z3/nationwide-fake-host-scam-on-airbnb https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/43k7z3/nationwide-fake-ho...
dazc 7y ago
If your host is called something like 'Robert & Team' then you're pretty much assured of a bad experience.
FearNotDaniel 7y ago
I think it's a cheap shot to call out "the Catholic church" in the subhead like that, implying they have any involvement in the scam simply because they are the freeholders of the land in question.
- raattgift 7y ago
  If the leaseholder covenants to the freeholder that it will have certain types of sub-tenancies only (e.g. two year terms, assured tenancies, and so forth -- these are common terms in leases) than the leaseholder is in breach, and the freeholder can (if it chooses to) enforce. The whole cost of enforcement is almost always borne by a leaseholder in breach, and the threat of forfeit is an exceptionally strong one. When a freeholder becomes aware that a leaseholder -- especially one on a very short-term lease of five years -- is engaged in behaviour that is almost certainly a breach of leasing conditions, and does nothing to enforce, it is perfectly reasonable to call both the leaseholder and the freeholder out. Especially where the freeholder obtained concessions from the local government. This applies to any freeholder. The idea that this particular freeholder is somehow trapped into the freehold (or can do little or nothing about a bad leaseholder or its sub-lessees, guests, customers, or whatever) is pretty ludicrous, even for an organization which has proven untruthful on other scandalous matters. And this is a scandalous matter, and seems like it might become an actual scandal. Local elections in London are scheduled for Thursday 7 May 2020.
siberianbear 7y ago
I travel a lot. I've had so many bad experiences with AirBnB. Despite their high fees, it's almost impossible to get their customer support to read any kind of complaint and give an apropos response. Their responses are usually non-sequitur: they don't give an on-topic response to the issue. I switched to just using Bonvoy/Marriott and staying in hotels. Now I have a high status level (titanium), and they really do anything they can to make me happy. And actually, there is much rarely any issue for me to complain about: mostly they just get things right in the first place. And with high status, they give me room upgrades, free breakfast, late checkout, free nights and points. Now I only use AirBnB for stays of a month or more.
- fred_is_fred 7y ago
  The killer feature with AirBnB for me was always the ability to cook a meal and save money, but once you are Platinum at Bonvoy you generally get free breakfast and lounge access (depending on the property). The lounge has breakfast, snacks, alcohol, drinks, and enough apps to qualify for a dinner (and also dessert). It's a very underrated feature.
joshmn 7y ago
This is why when I do book with AirBnB I make sure that I'm booking with a superhost. It shouldn't have to be that way, but it is, and I'm happy to put a dollar amount on my sanity. There are stories of "bad superhosts", or rather bad stories of bookings with hosts that have superhost status, but they're measurably fewer. Like every marketplace, there are going to be fraudsters taking advantage of it. It's the world we live in. No marketplace is immune to fraud.

41 points by aluket 7y ago

Vice covered a similar scam (also in Nov. 2019) https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/43k7z3/nationwide-fake-host-scam-on-airbnb https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/43k7z3/nationwide-fake-ho...

dazc 7y ago

If your host is called something like 'Robert & Team' then you're pretty much assured of a bad experience.

FearNotDaniel 7y ago

I think it's a cheap shot to call out "the Catholic church" in the subhead like that, implying they have any involvement in the scam simply because they are the freeholders of the land in question.

raattgift 7y ago
If the leaseholder covenants to the freeholder that it will have certain types of sub-tenancies only (e.g. two year terms, assured tenancies, and so forth -- these are common terms in leases) than the leaseholder is in breach, and the freeholder can (if it chooses to) enforce. The whole cost of enforcement is almost always borne by a leaseholder in breach, and the threat of forfeit is an exceptionally strong one. When a freeholder becomes aware that a leaseholder -- especially one on a very short-term lease of five years -- is engaged in behaviour that is almost certainly a breach of leasing conditions, and does nothing to enforce, it is perfectly reasonable to call both the leaseholder and the freeholder out. Especially where the freeholder obtained concessions from the local government. This applies to any freeholder. The idea that this particular freeholder is somehow trapped into the freehold (or can do little or nothing about a bad leaseholder or its sub-lessees, guests, customers, or whatever) is pretty ludicrous, even for an organization which has proven untruthful on other scandalous matters. And this is a scandalous matter, and seems like it might become an actual scandal. Local elections in London are scheduled for Thursday 7 May 2020.

siberianbear 7y ago

I travel a lot. I've had so many bad experiences with AirBnB. Despite their high fees, it's almost impossible to get their customer support to read any kind of complaint and give an apropos response. Their responses are usually non-sequitur: they don't give an on-topic response to the issue. I switched to just using Bonvoy/Marriott and staying in hotels. Now I have a high status level (titanium), and they really do anything they can to make me happy. And actually, there is much rarely any issue for me to complain about: mostly they just get things right in the first place. And with high status, they give me room upgrades, free breakfast, late checkout, free nights and points. Now I only use AirBnB for stays of a month or more.

fred_is_fred 7y ago
The killer feature with AirBnB for me was always the ability to cook a meal and save money, but once you are Platinum at Bonvoy you generally get free breakfast and lounge access (depending on the property). The lounge has breakfast, snacks, alcohol, drinks, and enough apps to qualify for a dinner (and also dessert). It's a very underrated feature.

joshmn 7y ago

This is why when I do book with AirBnB I make sure that I'm booking with a superhost. It shouldn't have to be that way, but it is, and I'm happy to put a dollar amount on my sanity. There are stories of "bad superhosts", or rather bad stories of bookings with hosts that have superhost status, but they're measurably fewer. Like every marketplace, there are going to be fraudsters taking advantage of it. It's the world we live in. No marketplace is immune to fraud.