I Was Swindled Renting an Airbnb Directly via The Host, Bypassing Airbnb

Lcatchup on 26/11/2024 - 01:28
Last edited 26/11/2024 - 17:00 by 1 other user

A few months ago, I booked a weekend getaway with friends in Orange, NSW, through Airbnb. The listing seemed perfect: a spacious, peaceful house surrounded by nature, with an attractive price. The host, MJS, seemed very professional and responded to all my questions promptly. He offered me the chance to pay outside the Airbnb platform, assuring me it would save on fees and give me a discount.

Without thinking much of it, I agreed to make the payment via bank transfer, as requested. Once the money was sent, things took a dramatic turn. When we arrived at the address, we found the house completely inaccessible. The door was locked, and there was no one around. After multiple calls and messages to MJS, he stopped responding. He had disappeared.

I contacted Airbnb, but since the payment had been made outside the platform, they couldn’t help. The listing had been removed, MJS was unreachable, and I was left without a place to stay and no way to get my money back.

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Comments

  • Gervais fanboy on 26/11/2024 - 02:22
    +27

    You posting this is you warning other people to not do what they already know they shouldn’t be doing? Useless post imo.

    Member Since
    3 hours 38 min ago

    Probably a troll.

    • HangryCakeStore on 26/11/2024 - 18:07

      Still a good tip, thanks Op 🍻

    • AndyC1 on 26/11/2024 - 18:09

      Sure is, no responses from OP…..

  • MS Paint on 26/11/2024 - 05:39
    +35

    I Was Swindled Renting an Airbnb

    I didn't follow the rules and scammed myself.

    FTFY.

    • mapax on 26/11/2024 - 06:50
      +4

      ADASMHS

    • 87percent on 26/11/2024 - 09:34

      Yep.. ops own fault

  • May4th on 26/11/2024 - 06:35
    +4

    that's unfortunate, hopefully lesson learnt

  • SBOB on 26/11/2024 - 06:45
    +6

    I agreed to make the payment via bank transfer, as requested.

    I think I read about this in Don’t do what Donny Don’t does

  • holdenmg on 26/11/2024 - 06:45
    +1

    Damn, there wasn't even a fake Iphone in this post. :+(

    Maybe ask your Bank if you can do a charge back…

  • randomusername2017 on 26/11/2024 - 06:45
    +6

    He offered me the chance to pay outside the Airbnb platform

    …and stay

  • aat92 on 26/11/2024 - 06:59

    did you use paypal? what did you use? fight it

  • Randxyz123 on 26/11/2024 - 07:24

    You can probably try and do charge back via your bank. Call them and explain the situation. Screenshot the messages if you can still access them.

    If you still have the link, see if you can access via the way back machine or reverse Google image search the images they used. They might try the same thing on somewhere like booking.com

    • JimmyF on 26/11/2024 - 10:56
      +3

      LOL charge back for a direct transfer made months ago! Yeah nah

  • mskeggs on 26/11/2024 - 08:04
    +11

    I can help you get your money back if you send me a 10% finder's fee in apple gift cards

  • mskeggs on 26/11/2024 - 08:06
    +9

    +1 for use of swindled rather than the overused and watered down 'scammed'.

    • FireRunner on 26/11/2024 - 08:42
      +5

      I would have preferred bamboozled but swindled does the job

      • AdamFury on 26/11/2024 - 13:40
        +1

        Big fan of hoodwinked personally.

  • AustriaBargain on 26/11/2024 - 08:08

    the chance to pay outside the Airbnb platform

    Lol, you ignored all the warnings. Who you gonna blame? I've fallen for a bigger scam I must admit and can only blame my teenage self. I got the money back from the Indian scammers though, you can't bs a bs'er…

    • SpainKing on 26/11/2024 - 17:00

      What was the scam and how'd you regain the misappropriated funds?

      • AustriaBargain on 26/11/2024 - 17:08
        +1

        Embarrassed to say, but I transferred $5,000 AUD using a random money transfer service website that had the lowest rates. Easily in the top 20 dumbest things I have ever done.

  • ihbh on 26/11/2024 - 08:09
    +17

    I Was Swindled Renting an Airbnb

    The correct title is: I Was Swindled Trying to Swindle Airbnb

  • ihbh on 26/11/2024 - 08:11
    +2

    Please read this article and try to extrapolate it to other parts of your life: https://www.smh.com.au/money/planning-and-budgeting/doug-tho…

    Hopefully you didn't pay $1m for the privilege of going outside the Airbnb platform.

  • ihfree on 26/11/2024 - 08:13
    +1

    Any other red flags?

    How were the results of the seller? Hacked account or no ratings?

    Where do the images come from? Reverse image search?

  • Ughhh on 26/11/2024 - 08:17
    +6

    It warns you on every listing

    To protect your payment, never transfer money or communicate outside of the Airbnb website or app.

    • CocaKoala on 26/11/2024 - 18:06

      But MJS responded to all messages promptly.

  • solidussnake on 26/11/2024 - 08:19
    +8

    I contacted Airbnb, but since the payment had been made outside the platform, they couldn’t help

    Hahahah you dont think 🤣

    • apu on 26/11/2024 - 09:31
      +2

      Exactly my thoughts. Why would AirBnB help when you tried to swindle them and not pay via their platform. How can they help you when they don't make any money?

    • brendanm on 26/11/2024 - 09:45
      +3

      TIL airbnb doesn't handle banking disputes.

    • foxmulder on 26/11/2024 - 12:17
      +1

      I don't get it, op didnt use Airbnb technically, why the need to contact them

      • Save 50 Cent on 26/11/2024 - 17:23

        The same reason they got taken for a ride in the first place.

  • Nutrino on 26/11/2024 - 09:29
    +1

    They saw you coming a mile away….

  • Duckie2hh on 26/11/2024 - 09:38
    +5

    TLDR: OP fked up.

  • Dollar General on 26/11/2024 - 09:52
    +16

    That sucks

    I have an Airbnb in Orange I can offer you at discounted rates if you like. We can do it outside of Airbnb to save you money as you are already out of pocket a bit

  • apple2016 on 26/11/2024 - 10:00
    +1

    I Was Swindled Renting an Airbnb

    I shot myself on the foot!…

  • JimB on 26/11/2024 - 10:06
    +1

    Sucks, but a hard lesson to learn.

    OP, did the host have any rating or feedback previously?

    No point going to Airbnb, that's like going to the cops to help you recover funds from a drug deal gone bad.

  • mrkorrupt on 26/11/2024 - 10:18
    +3

    I think this is a big troll, as if people do not know that if you use a platform and the owner want you to pay outside the platform this is a red flag

    Then when things go wrong, how do you expect the platform to look after you if they have NO record of the transaction on their Platform

    I did get swindled on Airbnb (a property advertised certain features and they were unusable (3mbps internet, while 5G on the balcony with local sim was 1100mpbs, 1 Aircon blows hot air only, one aircon blow cold air but undersized so useless, washing machine door lock broken….) but I paid inside the platform and got 80/90% refund.

    • JimB on 26/11/2024 - 11:19
      +2

      80% refund is very good.

    • Save 50 Cent on 26/11/2024 - 17:26

      I actually have an airbnb and offer repeat guests (who seem mature and reliable) to book directly. Airbnb fees are too much and it is nice when you are able to avoid paying it.

  • burningrage on 26/11/2024 - 10:49

    Best you can do is to warn AirBNB for the seemingly fraudulent listing but they will also chastise you for trying going outside the system.

    The red flags are everywhere it is impossible for anyone with basic understanding of financial transaction should miss these.

    • JimB on 26/11/2024 - 11:19

      listing is gone…

  • JimmyF on 26/11/2024 - 10:57
    +4

    He offered me the chance to pay outside the Airbnb platform, assuring me it would save on fees and give me a discount.

    Once you do that, as you have found out, you are no longer protected by Airbnb policies.

  • sim777 on 26/11/2024 - 11:53
    +1

    So pretty much you paid by means outside of Airbnb and you were comfortable with a verbal confirmation of your reservation. Did you even bother to look at the listing again to see whether the dates you booked were unavailable?

  • pegaxs on 26/11/2024 - 16:36
    +1

    LOL… no you weren't… You were swindled by trying to save a few bucks and your own blind greed. Your issue was going outside of the AirBnB system to save money… This wasnt AirBnB swindling you as they have nothing to do with it. They provide a system to use and you thought you knew better and circumvented their protections.

    I contacted Airbnb

    LOL!, like they would give a (fropanity). This is between you and "MJS", why would AirBnB give a (fropanity) about some shady under the table deal you did off their platform.

    This is like buying something on eBay, the seller contacts you and says "send us cash instead and cancel the purchase" and then acting all surprised Pikachu when you OSKO them the payment and the disappear with your funds only to try complaining to eBay about it… FFS.

    Edit: Gawd damn it… Only one post. Account made today. No follow up. Logged out almost immediately… trolled again, FML.

  • Gaz1 on 26/11/2024 - 16:53

    Out of interest did the listing have a high rating & lots of good reviews?
    There was an article in the local paper about a reporter that had a listing cancelled very close to their arrival date & the listing disappeared (he got his money back but it was peak season & all other listing were now a lot more expensive).

  • gromit on 26/11/2024 - 16:55

    guessing a troll post. Very old scam, variants of it used on basically every marketplace/service platform in the world as amazingly there are still suckers that fall for it.

  • SpicyStew on 26/11/2024 - 16:57

    and?

  • rambao9 on 26/11/2024 - 16:59
    +1

    I mean, if you can confirm the address is actually the guy… whos to say where the eggs came from

  • Guybrush57 on 26/11/2024 - 17:35

    Why would you contact AirBnB? What's it got to do with them?

    • trapper on 26/11/2024 - 17:57

      They may want to ban the scammer from their platform…

  • DiscoJango on 26/11/2024 - 17:52

    Today, someone said 'trust me bro' and so i trusted them. They then ripped me off.

    The end.

  • knasty on 26/11/2024 - 18:43
    +1

    Is this post sponsored by Airbnb to promote payments on the platform?

  • GrueHunter on 26/11/2024 - 19:04

    I wonder if it's the same guy I saw in Harvey Norman

    I was looking at a TV and he said meet me around the back and pay outside the system, I'll give you a discount, it's better for both of us

    I gave him a thousand bucks then never saw him again

    This is how dense you sound OP

  • CommuterPolluter on 26/11/2024 - 19:11

    This is pretty typical for platforms like AirBnB. If you are a scammer, their hands are tied, can’t do anything, oh no. If you’re unsafe at a property, they can’t do anything. Getting spied on, not their fault. Bet they love these scammers scaring users into paying through their platform.

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