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The problem is that the investor hosts playing all these games ALSO have rigged the review system so that
Their buddies in their fake review cartels can provide tactical 5* reviews to counter the negatives and pull up their average
Their fake reviewers can ALSO provide tactical counter-reviews that SPECIFICALLY MENTION how they “disagree with a previous guest who complained about X, Y and Z.”
It’s almost comically obvious and brazen.
tl;dr = The review system is a farce.
Mods @KKC and @jaquo, again, I can provide a link or two or screencap of an example if that is OK.
Nothing absolutely applies across the board. Every host is an individual. LOL. I think a new host should be given a chance to learn and improve. The only 3 star I got was during my first year so I understand it can happen.
But if a host has 100 reviews and a 4 star average I think that’s terrible and I think they should be removed from the platform. I’ve just seen too many listings that are all 5 star to think it’s that hard to maintain at least 4.5. I don’t really want to say more because there are people here who will get offended and defensive and I’m not interested in that argument.
There are also problems in the regular host community. I’ve seen the advice here of having some friends “book” your airbnb after a bad review and have them give fake good reviews. I’ve seen multiple hosts post here about not reviewing as a quid pro quo or coming to other understandings with guests in order to manipulate their reviews. Yet I believe the vast majority of hosts are like me, every review is honest and earned.
As much as I would love to believe this, and for it to be true, I find that maybe … 75 to 80 percent of investor hosts are scamming with either fake reviews, tax fraud, mortgage fraud &tc.
AirBNB is the PERFECT place to scam the day away, given the way it hides behind the Communications Decency Act to prevent gov’t investigation of host/guest information and shenanigans.
This must be because of the places I search for Airbnb. Because I don’t book with investor hosts I don’t look at their reviews. But given the concentration of investor hosts in the big cities I suppose they far outnumber the little hosts like me.
OK: Here’s an example of a fake review that is not an “inaugural” review to launch a listing, but rather a “tactical” review to counter low stars & negative text (getting at @CatskillsGrrl’s remarks that bad hosts will have ratings in the low 4s … one would think … but …)
This review is from “Jenna” one of the managers of this property. EVERY SINGLE ONE of her reviews is a fake, written either for her own house, properties she manages or her boyfriend’s parents listing.
Interesting … when you click on the listing this was on, 27339412, it’s now inactivated.
I see what you mean. Almost every one of Jenna’s “reviews” says the same thing. LOL. Like I said, I never stay in those kinds of places so I wouldn’t have noticed. All those fake reviews don’t keep Amazon from being successful. So I guess it is what it is.
@PuppyLover I still think removing hosts with a four star average is misguided. Air could easily buy any one of a gazillion products out there that do document analysis - simple AI - to review and flag the reviews and listings that are abusing the system. The legal world uses tech like this for massive document reviews and the logic can get pretty specific. To remove listings simply based on their star review leaves guests with a meaningless star system. Everything is 5 stars. From simple cabins to massive mansions - everyone is a five star host and accommodation. It is probably very confusing to seasoned travelers used to hotel style star ratings, where is is perfectly acceptable to be a three star hotel, meaning your amenities are simple and basic; to five stars, a luxury experience.
And you should report those reviews if they are suspicious.
Exactly. They have maybe 600 or 700 ppl in Data Science and Trust and Safety, so you can bet your bottom dollar they know all about this.
There are a couple of dozen “tells” for fake reviews, that you can easily detect just reading them, and yes I’m sure AI could be programmed to grab them MUCH easier than anyone’s manual investigation.
Yep, they’ve been reported to the State Attorney General’s office and the top AirBNB triumvirate (Chesky, Belinda Johnson, general counsel Chesnut). All the relevant authorities are scrambling like mad to end the practice. … Not.
Ah! Air does not have a “report” button on every review - although they should - but you can report the listing for having fake reviews. I’ve reported two listings over the years. One was using stock photography of a ‘glamping tent’ to represent their campsite and another listing said “no fatties.”
I have reported the reviews I have gotten with lies in them but it has had no effect…it probably doesn’t even register anywhere most of the time…just makes the person reporting feel like they are doing something.
