When VICE asked its readers to describe their own experiences using Airbnb, it got nearly 1,000 emails with plenty of tales of deception.
Turns out, scammers all over the world have figured out how beat the game on the platform: by engaging in bait and switches; charging guests for fake damages; persuading people to pay outside the Airbnb app; and, when all else fails, engaging in clumsy or threatening demands for five-star reviews to hide the evidence of what they've done. (Or, in some cases, a combination of several of these schemes.)
The emails VICE received suggest that the people who run Airbnb are fundamentally unable to track what goes on within it, and point to easily exploitable loopholes that scammers have steamed their way through by the truckload.
"We have to take more responsibility for stuff on our platform," Brian Chesky, Airbnb’s CEO and co-founder, said at a conference.
"I think many of us in this industry ... are going from a hands-off model, where the internet's an immune system, to realizing that's not really enough, that we have to take more responsibility for the stuff on our platform," he said. "I think this has been a gradual, maybe too gradual, transition for our industry."
In part, Chesky suggested Airbnb would start asking more specific questions of guests upon checkout—relying on users, in other words, to help clean up the platform.
One exceedingly common theme across hundreds of emails that VICE has received was the classic bait and switch: Airbnb users were promised one apartment and arrived to find something entirely different.
Sometimes, the problem was deceptive photos that bore no resemblance to the actual place. Other times, they were persuaded by the host to switch apartments or houses entirely, only to find that the new location was filthy, unfurnished, or in a totally different area. (Surprisingly, a number of stories also talked about the new house possessing a weird number of beds, laid out in bizarre configurations.)
The so-called plumbing scam is a very popular bait and switch. Dozens of people told VICE that they'd booked an apartment or a house (in cities both in the U.S. and abroad) and days or hours before the reservation was set to start, the host would abruptly tell them that the unit had developed a sudden and fatal plumbing issue.
"I rented a place near Glass Beach and a few weeks prior to my trip when I reached out to confirm the booking, the lister told me she had a 'septic problem' in the unit and she could see if she could put me up in a larger place nearby," one platform user told VICE in an email. "That never materialized but she refused to cancel my booking, saying the first time that her computer wasn't working and the next time, weeks later, that her father had just passed away. I had to complain to Airbnb that she refused to cancel the booking so they canceled it but I was unable to write a negative review."
But a company spokesperson said, "We hold hosts accountable for honoring their reservations, and we strongly support guests with rebookings or reimbursements when things don't go according to plan. For a host to avoid cancellation penalties, we require the submission of supporting documentation. For instance, a host citing a plumbing issue would need to submit to Airbnb an invoice or receipt of services from a legitimate business."
He added that, usually, "If we see a host engaging in problematic behavior, including frequent last-minute cancellations, that host would be subject to suspension or removal from the platform."
Referring to bait-and-switches of all kinds, Airbnb told VICE that, "Bait and switch schemes, such as those described where guests are offered worse accommodations, are unacceptable and antithetical to Airbnb's values and the community standards. If a guest is ever asked to do something like this, they should contact us either by phone or through our app so that we can support them. Our Guest Guarantee policy entitles guests to a full refund or rebooking into a new listing of equal or better value. We would then address the issues with the host, which could include suspension or removal from our platform. If such a scheme were to rise to the level of criminal fraud, we would also seek to work with law enforcement to hold that person accountable."
