Posted on 03/11/2024 9:07:26 AM PDT by ChicagoConservative27
It was a nightmare-bnb experience.
A UK family had to cancel their dream Spanish vacation just hours before departure after losing more than $5,000 in an elaborate Airbnb “clone” scam.
“I felt devastated for my children and my husband,” Emma Last, 48, told PA Real Life of the holiday hornswoggling. “One [of her children] didn’t speak for a day.”
The Lancashire resident had planned an eight-night trip to Majorca — one of Spain’s idyllic Balearic Islands — in August 2023 with her husband Zak, 51, Last’s parents and their three children: Scarlette and Henri, both 17, and Xander, 14.
The family had reportedly traveled there last year and enjoyed the trip so much that Last had been “saving up” all year so they could embark on yet another Mediterranean getaway.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Yep, no interest
“I am sure there are cameras at a lot of the airbnbs.”
No doubt. The news is that Airbnb is changing their contracts, changing their policy language in their contracts, informing Airbnb hosts they cannot have indoor security cameras, it will violate the Airbnb contract.
https://techcrunch.com/2024/03/11/airbnb-is-banning-indoor-security-cameras-inside-its-listings/
If you’re ever looking to vacation on Cape, Martha’s Vineyard or Nantucket then https://www.weneedavacation.com/ is a great place to start. There are no booking or service fees with the company. You initially inquire thru the company but then book privately thru the owner/manager. Great site and I believe still family owned (been around since 1997).
I run an AirBnB and have used them myself on many occasions without issue.
These people saw the unit, went “off-site” to WhatsApp to do the reservation and payment, likely to avoid the AirBnB booking fees [article doesn’t say one way or the other, but I’ve had many guests ask me for the same]. It was a scam because of course it was.
I feel sorry for them, shouldn’t have been robbed. But if you walk down a dark alley waiving a wad of cash and get mugged, its hard to say anything other than “well, duh”.
This is not a story about an AirBnB “scam”. Its a story about a couple who got scammed BECAUSE they evaded the AirBnB secure reservation system.
Exactly what I thought when I was reading the article, “Why are they booking on Whatsapp if it’s an AirBnB listing?, were they trying save money?”
Almost all scams work off greed. Apparently most people turn off their brains when they think they are getting a great deal.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.