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Terrible tragedy. I can definitely see the argument that Airbnb hosts should carry insurance for freak accidents / deaths that occur on their property in cases like this.
It looks more like criminal negligence. Insurance is for things that cannot be foreseen or prevented. This looks more like a case of a missed inspection.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
So this begs the question...why would any sane human being decide to risk staying at a home with no safety record or proof of fire/mold/bed bug inspection to speak of? I think potential guests need to be more aware that renting an Airbnb is nothing like booking a hotel subject to rigorous safety standard governed by law. Part of the purpose of this story is to point that out.
I think the primary answer to your question is "because that's exactly the same as the situation in their own home where they live for most of the year". Is your home inspected and polished to the level of a hotel? If not, why is your concern the one week you spend in a flat that airbnb is connected with?
Beyond the raw and heartbreaking nature of the author's loss, I am amazed that this story was published on Medium with the participation of Medium staffers. At a time when there is so much criticism of the state of tech writing, it's incredible to see this pseudo-journalistic platform for techies by techies be the channel for such a damning critique of a major tech darling like Airbnb.
Thanks for posting, it was a interesting, and heartbreaking, read. An AirBnB mission statement of sorts: We also stopped trusting each other. And in doing so, we lost something essential about what it means to be a community. After all, our relationships with people I literally threw up in my mouth when reading that. Your company makes money by renting out rooms by skirting hotel laws and you're wrapping yourself in…
There's a bit of both going on: AirBnB is used by regular people renting out a spare room of a house or apartment they occupy, which sometimes has a vaguely couchsurfing-but-not-free feel to it. But it's also used by fly-by-night hoteliers running illegal hotels and hostels. And lately, it's also used by legal vacation-rental brokers as a competitor to VRBO/Homeaway/etc. The marketing materials obviously prefer to em…
It is horrible what happened to the author's father. But it is also inevitable. Like a morbid million monkeys mashing away on keyboards, operating at scale in meatspace all but guarantees that someone will die whilst using the service. In America we have become accustomed to guard rails everywhere, and signs announcing the smallest hazards. This is OK so far as it goes, but perhaps it makes us a bit soft. Here we rea…
You put my thoughts more gracefully than i ever could have. We have this swing in our family garden: http://i.imgur.com/FsrfdVK.jpg http://i.imgur.com/v6zx0d2.jpg It has not for over 40 years, but someday it may kill someone. Everyone who steps near it knows this and treats it accordingly. Small children use it, after we do some spring tests that the rope, hooks and wood are fine this year. Adults maybe sit on it, no…
You have a very large incentive to ensuring it's safe, your family. An airbnb host might not treat a temporary guest's safety, the same way.
What I got from the skinny of that general article and from all of my experiences at Airbnb is that: You will get the feeling that you would get at living at a family member's house, but you are not in one, ever. Therefore, maybe then, the host's liability should be treated that way, a service provider.
P.S: I intend to keep on using airbnb for the very long foreseeable future.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
You're missing the point. Airbnb does not assume any responsibility when it comes to inspecting the "soundness" of a listed unit, including any means of evaluating very basic things like working fire alarms, interior mold, bed bugs, etc. I agree that this was something of a freak accident, but that doesn't invalidate the central argument that Airbnb has no real way to ensure even the most basic level of safety of its…
> freak accident No, it wasn't. What is more likely: that the tree became structurally unsound overnight, or that it had been like that for a long time, and an inspection had ever been carried out?
I'm on a trip to Taiwan soon... And I booked an Airbnb. Ouch.
I've had positive experiences every time I rented through AirBnB, the same cannot be said of hotels - I actually trust AirBnB a LOT more than hotels (as long as the property has some reviews).
Maybe in the U.S. things work, but in other countries they don't... I've had the roof leaking BADLY on a hotel in Brazil (with lots of positive reviews in TripAdvisor), all guests' property stolen (also in Brazil), and I never had any recourse. People thinking about starting a lawsuit have never experienced 3rd world judiciary systems... (it can take a lot of time and money for very little returns).
I fully expect you'll have a positive experience with your AirBnB in Taiwan, let's hope so :)
There is literally a story with 0 votes submitted an hour later directly above it on the third page, and on the front page there are older stories with fewer votes.
https://twitter.com/newsycombinator tweets about images of the French revolution with fewer votes, but not this, which seems a bit more relevant to tech, startups, sharing economy etc.
It is horrible what happened to the author's father. But it is also inevitable. Like a morbid million monkeys mashing away on keyboards, operating at scale in meatspace all but guarantees that someone will die whilst using the service. In America we have become accustomed to guard rails everywhere, and signs announcing the smallest hazards. This is OK so far as it goes, but perhaps it makes us a bit soft. Here we rea…
You're missing the point. Airbnb does not assume any responsibility when it comes to inspecting the "soundness" of a listed unit, including any means of evaluating very basic things like working fire alarms, interior mold, bed bugs, etc. I agree that this was something of a freak accident, but that doesn't invalidate the central argument that Airbnb has no real way to ensure even the most basic level of safety of its…