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Nearly 80% of Japan’s Airbnbs removed in response to new home-share law

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Re: Nearly 80% of Japan’s Airbnbs removed in response to new home-share law

#11

Post by jorvi »

lovemenot wrote: post #8
John_KZ wrote: post #4

That's a great example that clearly demonstrates that local law can be enforced, even on companies like AirBnb. I hear lots of arguments on "You can't enforce the ban", but it's simpler than ever to just do that.

Yeah. There's effectively never been Uber or similar in Japan either. People just respect regulations and they generally do work very well.

I'm European, and in general I like (well thought out) regulations, but in the case of the taxi industry Uber is actually not a bad guy but a huge blessing.

In a lot of countries (80%+) taxi drivers are rude, try to price gouge, try to scam you or try to take longer routes.

Uber takes all of this away. The rating system ensures drivers are polite. The estimate € (plus route tracking) ensures they don't take the scenic route, and the fact that all payment happens via the app means there is no longer 'my meter is broken/the credit card reader is broken/sorry I miscalculated its €10 more'.

And because Uber is global I can use the same app wether I am in Paris, Prague, Hanoi or Seattle.. which means I don't need to install and learn 3 different apps.

Edit: to be clear, I am aware why Uber gets such a bad rep, and as a tech company they might deserve it, but as a taxi company they are absolutely top notch.

Re: Nearly 80% of Japan’s Airbnbs removed in response to new home-share law

#13

Post by EStudley »

jorvi wrote: post #11
lovemenot wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah. There's effectively never been Uber or similar in Japan either. People just respect regulations and they generally do work very well.

I'm European, and in general I like (well thought out) regulations, but in the case of the taxi industry Uber is actually not a bad guy but a huge blessing. In a lot of countries (80%+) taxi drivers are rude, try to price gouge, try to scam you or try to take longer routes. Uber takes all of this away. The rating system ensures drivers are polite. The estimate € (plus route tracking) ensures they don't take the sceni…

>In a lot of countries (80%+) taxi drivers are rude, try to price gouge, try to scam you or try to take longer routes.

I have had every experience you explained with Uber. People driving me weird ways around my city to make the trip longer, rude, attempting to add a cleaning charge with no reason, or the classic "Hey if you cancel the ride and give me $10 I can get you there."

Re: Nearly 80% of Japan’s Airbnbs removed in response to new home-share law

#16

Post by pjc50 »

Similar discussions are ongoing in lots of cities. In Edinburgh they're trying to pre-empt this a bit with voluntary restrictions: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-4...

AirBnb creates "bad neighbours" by putting lots of tourists, some of whom behave badly, in formerly residential locations. It creates a whole new set of absentee landlords. If it were restricted to renting out places where the owner was still living it wouldn't be nearly so much of a problem.

Re: Nearly 80% of Japan’s Airbnbs removed in response to new home-share law

#17

Post by pavel_lishin »

poisonarena wrote: post #3

I understand all the ramifications in certain cities where the housing prices are getting effected by airbnb, but I think in this case it is just the Hotels strong arming because they were losing business and the Olympics are coming. I am a budget traveler and low income remote worker and I really am glad I got to slide in before airbnb got shafted. It's a shame that I now have to choose between hostels and overprice…

> It's a shame that I now have to choose between hostels and overpriced hotels

You don't.

Re: Nearly 80% of Japan’s Airbnbs removed in response to new home-share law

#18

Post by z2 »

poisonarena wrote: post #3

I understand all the ramifications in certain cities where the housing prices are getting effected by airbnb, but I think in this case it is just the Hotels strong arming because they were losing business and the Olympics are coming. I am a budget traveler and low income remote worker and I really am glad I got to slide in before airbnb got shafted. It's a shame that I now have to choose between hostels and overprice…

I've got mixed feelings returning from Japan. My best and worst stays were both AirBnB's. The best, which is still listed, came from a host who owned the place and very thoughtfully went out of her way to share local things to do. The worst was run by a nebulous "company" that gave us half the rooms promised, at an apartment where residents/management had put up "Foreigners cause crimes, please call the police immediately." signs. It turns out that company had double-booked units in that building using another platform and brazenly gave us another spare unit. This kind of gold rush to capitalize on Japan's tourism boom may indeed need some thoughtful regulation.

Re: Nearly 80% of Japan’s Airbnbs removed in response to new home-share law

#19

Post by pavel_lishin »

charlesdm wrote: post #6
poisonarena wrote: post #3

I understand all the ramifications in certain cities where the housing prices are getting effected by airbnb, but I think in this case it is just the Hotels strong arming because they were losing business and the Olympics are coming. I am a budget traveler and low income remote worker and I really am glad I got to slide in before airbnb got shafted. It's a shame that I now have to choose between hostels and overprice…

Why not just comply with the laws? I have a friend who did this, but in tourist-y cities this was turning into situations where a person would rent out 10 apartments at $2k/mo and rent them on at $300 a night. A great business, but if you live in a block with constant travellers then I guess it can get super annoying fast.

Also pretty annoying when you can't find a place to rent, because the apartments start getting taken over by "enterpreneurs" such as your friend.

Re: Nearly 80% of Japan’s Airbnbs removed in response to new home-share law

#20

Post by badminton1 »

bradleyjg wrote: post #2

Maybe now they can start complying with New York law.

In Japan, citizens will punish you if you don't respect their law (e.g.: by not using your service). One of the reasons of why Uber had a hard time in there initially.
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