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Why Airbnb is dead to me

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Re: Why Airbnb is dead to me

#91

Post by ghaff »

wehadfun wrote: post #57

Unless you are 21 and looking for an adventure use Hyatt, Hilton, ... when dealing with foreign countries especially if you don't speak the local language.

Eh. I'm no particular Airbnb enthusiast--indeed, I've never used it. However, I have stayed at any of a number of non-chain places around the world from the large to the tiny and I've rarely had a terrible experience. (And some of my worst hotel experience were at large chains.)

Especially for business travel, I do like a degree of predictability but that doesn't mean I feel a desire to restrict my travel to where I can stay in business hotels.

Re: Why Airbnb is dead to me

#92

Post by brador »

This is the Groupon/Kickstarter/Ebay problem. Everything is awesome until something goes wrong. Then the user leaves forever, and tells their friends. Trust is broken.

Eventually the loses mount and the company crumbles from bad press.

Amazon fixes this with 10/10 customer service. The only known solution.

Re: Why Airbnb is dead to me

#93

Post by massysett »

mikeash wrote: post #78
Elessar wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you ever travelled to a foreign country where you don't speak the language? You really need to put yourself in the tourist's shoes. If I booked a tour and the host drove me to a different place to stay, that's all I can do. You rely on their ability to communicate, and if they're being kind and doing their best to make your stay comfortable, then that's fantastic. What you're suggesting is that you're going to s…

I've traveled quite a bit, including to Barcelona. If you speak English (and this person clearly does) then "don't speak the language" is not an issue there, or indeed almost anywhere. If I book a place for a certain period, then I'm staying for that whole period. If the host suddenly changes their mind and tells me I have to move, no way. I'm contacting the booking agency and having them tell the host to get lost. I…

If I'm staying in a stranger's house and they tell me to clear out, I would leave immediately. No way I would stay and hope Airbnb tells the host to get it straight. The host can make your life miserable, take your stuff, or worse.

Re: Why Airbnb is dead to me

#94

Post by ap3 »

PhasmaFelis wrote: post #80
aianus wrote: post #40

You have completely the wrong expectation of how Airbnb works. The hosts are randoms and Airbnb has no way to deliver a consistent quality experience like a hotel. Airbnb is like eBay, not Amazon. You need to realize that when you get the last apartment in a city at conference-time (almost certainly not a superhost with good reviews), you're obviously taking a big gamble that it doesn't work out in order to save a fe…

No, if AirBNB didn't exist, they would have booked at a hotel in advance and saved money and hassle.

Then why didn't they airbnb in advance?

I just did airbnb for the first time - it's been great so far, but hotels were always plan B. I just wanted something different.

I liked that I got to see reviews and logs of options for whole condos. Six people in a 3Bd/3ba condo in Cancun and I'm paying less than for a vanilla hilton hotel room with a queen bed.

Re: Why Airbnb is dead to me

#95

Post by Beltiras »

I just booked at AirBnB for the third time for an upcoming conference. The two previous times were a very good experience for me. All three times I'm getting prices way below alternative lodgings. I do take care to research the places and make sure to only use well reviewed hosts. I think that rather than make a dodgy AirBnB booking I'd pay more. I've booked hotel rooms that turned out to be rather shitty. This is a horror story to be sure. I think AirBnB dropped the ball but I can see their options narrow since the customer didn't complain immediately. They should kick the host regardless.

Re: Why Airbnb is dead to me

#96

Post by [deleted] »

ap3 wrote: post #86
archagon wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, the problem is that people review based on their expectations. A beautiful vacation home and a ratty student flat can both get 5 stars, depending on who's visiting.

You don't think the price would make a difference between the two places? I recently used airbnb for the first time and I specifically looked for reviews that said the place matched the pictures, google street view, did a google search on the condo name, vrbo, emailed the host and even got direct phone numbers in return

[deleted]

Re: Why Airbnb is dead to me

#97

Post by dbot »

ampersandy wrote: post #88

The root of these bad host stories seem to be that the guests arrive and don't immediately contact Airbnb about issues with the rental. Because of this, Airbnb just denies any liability and puts the blame on the renters instead of the host. This seems trivial to solve -- Airbnb should make check-ins a mandatory part of all stays, and any issues with the accommodations would obviously be included in this initial check…

Excellent idea (I would even add GPS confirmation), but no way Airbnb would do it.

From their perspective, you are creating a new channel to lodge a complaint for every single transaction. Often, those complaints would be resolved privately between the renter and owner (or wouldn't be raised at all).

Re: Why Airbnb is dead to me

#98

Post by scottmcdot »

archagon wrote: post #59
scottmcdot wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The reviews were all very positive, so I think this may have been because the host has been caught up somewhere or has been busy with something. But it's still very irresponsible. I managed to find the host's Facebook and I would say he is around 24 years' old and studying at a university in Vienna. Had I known this, I probably would have told my mother to look elsewhere.

Yeah, the problem is that people review based on their expectations. A beautiful vacation home and a ratty student flat can both get 5 stars, depending on who's visiting.

Many of the reviews were from middle-aged people so I thought this was a good sign.

Re: Why Airbnb is dead to me

#99

Post by matwood »

autobahn wrote: post #15

Seems like a common theme in "sharing economy" companies - start off with a great concept and great execution, but once they become popular, some part of them just falls apart. For uber, it's the way they treat their drivers. The churn is incredible. But as long as they continue to offer cheap rides and can lure new drivers in with empty promises, they'll continue to exist.

Oddly enough, both Uber drivers I used last weekend raved about how awesome Uber was and how it let them make good side money every weekend.

Re: Why Airbnb is dead to me

#100

Post by jhall1468 »

mahouse wrote: post #65
davidhariri wrote: post #43

I had a nightmare experience on vacation in Mexico that was word for word the same response from Airbnb. Because I took my wife and I out of the potentially dangerous rental, without first contacting Airbnb, they couldn't refund us anything. I followed up with evidence that the rental was unfit and unsafe with pictures, but nothing came of it. Needless to say, I'm never using Airbnb again. Worst customer experience I…

>Airbnb is essentially enabling any joe idiot to run a shit hotel anywhere in the world with zero accountability. You don't say? I don't know what do airbnb users expect, honestly.

I imagine they expect Airbnb to know who their customer is and who their supplier is. Judging by the stories here, they don't.
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