YouTubers successfully booked rentals for a dollhouse on Airbnb, they say. In a video posted on March 31st, famed pranksters Josh Pieters and Archie Manners documented the process of photographing and booking a model 18th-century mansion, with a water bottle and credit card blatantly visible for scale. Their giant-sized faces can be seen in the baroque bathroom mirror:
For shame, everyone.
The two claim to have received $3,000 in bookings from their $120/night listing. They somewhat disingenuously claim that they “gave Airbnb their money back,” though they wouldn’t have received the money, since Airbnb doesn’t process payments until 24 hours after check-in.
Airbnb declined to comment directly about the incident.
Airbnb requires hosts to provide “an accurate address,” so Pieters and Manners located the dollhouse at one of their home addresses. In order to post a fake listing, Airbnb says on its site, a scammer “needs to bypass our defenses.” And yet, they blasted through Airbnb’s fortress of sand, a feeble automated detection system for duplicate photos, such as Zillow listings, unguarded by human review. (Airbnb offers the option to get photos verified, but it’s not necessary.)
The video culminates in a visit from unscrupulous renters who are hearteningly handed an envelope of cash and a reservation for a five-star hotel.
NOBODY LAUGH, it’s possible that details of a terrible past emerge on social media in the coming days, as tends to be the case with all people who go viral, because influencers have destroyed jokes and pleasure and fun.