Here's my situation "in a nutshell". There is a location in which I was interested. The map shows it only as a wide circle, so I asked for the address and owners' last name. They will not provide this unless I "book" the place. Then if it is not what I want, they will refund my money, LESS THEIR FEES. Oh, and their fees. They not only charge the lessor like most other sites, but also charge the LESSEE (that's me) an additional 6 to 12 percent.
Before I rent a place, I research both the address and the purported owner. They deny me the basic information (last name and address) for me to do that.
A few day prevously, I tried for a vacation location, but that time I was able to get the address. I did a title search and found that the person listing the apt was NOT the owner. Airbnb could not tell me how this unknown (to me) person had the right to lease. Then I searched the address and found the condo was FOR SALE. I could get no satisfactory answer as to what assurance I would have that. If sold, the new owner(s) would honor my lease, other than, well just trust us, our site is based on trust. Just a sort of "trust us".
I will say one thing for airbnb. Their reps were very good as fielding my questions and avoiding the issues, and even when I mentions this site (SiteJabber) they just casually responded, that others are entitled to their opinion.
"A normal person learns from his mistates. A smart person learns from the mistakes of others."