Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

> they have no online history making it hard to distinguish them from a bot or puppet

Huh? Airbnb has the entire transaction history that matters – proving that this specific user paid a specific amount of money for staying in a specific place for a specific amount of time.

Thinking that you need to prove "online history" (how would you even track this?) as well is absurd.

My theory on this is the same as usual – Airbnb outsources or understaffs their customer service department as usual; some stressed out agent closed the case without even looking at it. Making some noise and opening a separate case will probably work if you're bothered enough.




Proving you paid for it doesn't prove that you have no affiliation with the host.


Yeah, but I don't think Airbnb has sophisticated enough infrastructure to figure out if every person leaving a review has an online presence before deleting their review.

It's possible there's something more mundane, like not having a browser cookie when the review was left or something like that.


Indeed. It's easy enough to funnel the money back to somebody you know, paying the 3% commission to Airbnb. There are probably tax ramifications too but as a business cost for a glowing review with no effort, worth it.




Consider applying for YC's Spring batch! Applications are open till Feb 11.

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: