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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

#271

Post by Gustomaximus »

rsynnott wrote: post #235
Fede_V wrote: post #102

I think this is an interesting and unintended consequence of AirBnB not investing nearly on filtering their users. AirBnB obviously was interested in getting their product used by as many people as people (growth at all costs) - but this had the effect of getting a lot of young, cost conscious people to take holidays in area that were traditionally residential. While most AirBnB renters are polite and respectful, eno…

> AirBnB is already very strict with landlords It's not at all strict with landlords. Requiring hotel/b&b zoning would be being strict with landlords, say, and that's what many countries and municipalities now do, but AirBnB seems to generally have little interest in helping to enforce that.

I had a host saep apartment on me to a smaller one. Then the new on clearly didn't have sheets changed or bathrooms cleaned. I flagged this to Airbnb and nothing. Very surprised as this was a bit of a shock how bad it could be. Since then I prefer hotels. The cost difference isn't that much and it's simpler to deal with occasional errors like this.

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

#272

Post by guy_c »

pmiller2 wrote: post #154
lechiffre10 wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"AirBnB is already very strict with landlords: it needs to start being a lot stricter with its users too." It's not as strict with landlords as it should be. And while it is strict with users it actually favors landlords and by a landslide. Have you ever rented long term with AirBnB? Hosts can literally cancel the reservation for any reason( Airbnb says they punish for doing so but rarely if ever because the Host can…

The last few times I was tempted to use Airbnb for stays of around a week, I found the price to be comparable to hotels in the area. I ended up getting a hotel, because I wanted my stay to be managed by professionals.

I found hotel pricing vs airbnb varies greatly depending on the season. In low-season often hotels are cheaper. Hotel's have large fixed expenses and are often happy just to fill rooms at any price.

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

#273

Post by picsao »

guy_c wrote: post #272
pmiller2 wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The last few times I was tempted to use Airbnb for stays of around a week, I found the price to be comparable to hotels in the area. I ended up getting a hotel, because I wanted my stay to be managed by professionals.

I found hotel pricing vs airbnb varies greatly depending on the season. In low-season often hotels are cheaper. Hotel's have large fixed expenses and are often happy just to fill rooms at any price.

Hotels in low seasons are building sites

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

#274

Post by star-castle »

icebraining wrote: post #204
star-castle wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How? Uber is a current-year tech company. Like Google, there technically is a support line that technically exists, but just forget about it. I called Uber 10 times, in Houston. Got scammed 5 times. Part of the "the driver just keeps driving and never acknowledges letting you out of the car" scam is that the app takes the same approach to "uh, I'm not in the car anymore" as it does to "uh, I would like to complain to…

there technically is a support line that technically exists, but just forget about it. That's not my experience; I've complained three times over the years, and I always got my money back.

I don't believe you. No offense, but it's easier to learn that the Earth is flat, or that a place called 'Australia' exists, or that reality is entirely a consensus affair and that strenuous wishing can change it, than it is to learn that Uber is easy to contact. Some lies people don't bother spreading.

Just look: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=complain+to+uber

Or look at this article about Uber deliberately hiding a contact number "to test discoverability" (meaning: if users find it too easily, it should be made harder to find) https://www.theverge.com/2016/3/10/11196352/uber-secret-emer...

If you lucked out and found that your specific issue had a UI entry in the app, that's not the same thing as being able to explain a situation to a human and have that human do the (paid, drudge) work of wading through obscure interfaces to find the button that fixes a given problem.

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

#275

Post by star-castle »

jessaustin wrote: post #236
EStudley wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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."

...the classic "Hey if you cancel the ride and give me $10 I can get you there." What's wrong with that? It's just an offer that you're free to reject.

Why do you trust it? You got into a car on an arranged deal and the driver immediately wants to back out of it--this is already a shady situation. Why do you think he'll drive you anywhere after he gets the $10? Why do you think he won't charge you for the trip on top of the $10 after alerting Uber to their own GPS records that show your phone and his car taking you to the destination you said you wanted to go to?

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

#276

Post by gojomo »

Symbiote wrote: post #270
gojomo wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the 1st time I've heard the complaint that tourists don't spend money. Where is that a oft-expressed concern? I suspect any voucher system like you propose would just create a secondary gray market in slightly-discounted vouchers.

1. Anywhere where cruise ships are regular visitors. There are often free meals on the ship, and obviously no overnight stays in hotels. 2. Anywhere popular with young tourists (Amsterdam, Berlin etc). This might be limited to Europe, with a €20 flight (or bus) to the city, a bed in a cheap hostel, a visit to all the free things etc. This isn't new, but Couchsurfing and cheap transport have probably increased it.

Interesting! But, those types of tourists don't seem to overlap with AirBnB-type tourists, against whom the upthread complaints & proposals are directed.

So while I'm interested to hear of those cases, this "they don't spend" concern still seems out-of-place if directed against AirBnBers.

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

#277

Post by mancerayder »

SOLAR_FIELDS wrote: post #254
ozim wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is a joke because why I would use AirBnB, to have cheap accomodation with kitchen. If the price is around the same as hotel I could not care more. Hotels have to follow a lot of regulations and guest is always right in a hotel. Wi fi not working well, I got upgrade to better room, airbnb host cannot upgrade your room to one with view or else.

It’s hard to upgrade out of other guests near you slamming the door in the morning as they leave though. Or recycled air shared with a hundred other people that can make you sick.

Agree, specifically on the soundproofing aspect. Being an incredibly light sleeper, I've paid extra for luxury hotels hoping I wouldn't hear silly TVs in the rooms adjacent and slamming doors starting at 7 and repeating with housekeeping.

With Airbnb I get a separate bedroom and a fridge that isn't the size of a shoebox and strategically filled so I can't put my own store bought water into it. Just thinking about hotel culture makes me mad. And it seems global.

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

#278

Post by manfredo »

geebee wrote: post #108

There's a lot of emphasis on bad behavior from Airbnb guests, but I think that's only part of it. Another big issue is that formerly residential communities often resist the conversion of housing that used to host neighbors (and especially kids) into short term tourist rentals. The pressure, and controversy, is especially intense in areas that are largely residential but immensely popular with tourists. The French qu…

> The problem is that "spare" bedrooms (as Airbnb likes to call them) are far more lucrative used as short term tourist rentals than as a living space for kids, who cost a bundle and don't generally pay much in rent. The pitch Airbnb makes is that people have a spare bedroom lying' around and why not rent it out? But the thing is, people start to acquire properties with spare bedrooms for the purpose of having one to rent out - or entire housing units. When this proceeds apace, former communities - which in places like the French quarter are already primed to protect themselves from too much conversion into tourism stock - come to see Airbnb as an existential threat.

This doesn't seem like a plausible scenario. I highly doubt that Airbnb revenue from a spare bedroom is enough to offset the cost of the spare bedroom itself. Here in SF an extra bedroom easily adds 1K or more to the cost of an apartment. Between getting a 2 bedroom apartment and spending the time and effort to run a Airbnb in it, vs. having a 1 bedroom apartment and saving a lot of money without any extra effort it's hard to see people electing the former.

Most of the Airbnbs I've stayed in were vacation homes that the owners didn't live in most of the year, or families whose kids moved out.

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

#279

Post by [deleted] »

manfredo wrote: post #278
geebee wrote: post #108

There's a lot of emphasis on bad behavior from Airbnb guests, but I think that's only part of it. Another big issue is that formerly residential communities often resist the conversion of housing that used to host neighbors (and especially kids) into short term tourist rentals. The pressure, and controversy, is especially intense in areas that are largely residential but immensely popular with tourists. The French qu…

> The problem is that "spare" bedrooms (as Airbnb likes to call them) are far more lucrative used as short term tourist rentals than as a living space for kids, who cost a bundle and don't generally pay much in rent. The pitch Airbnb makes is that people have a spare bedroom lying' around and why not rent it out? But the thing is, people start to acquire properties with spare bedrooms for the purpose of having one to…

[deleted]

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

#280

Post by jessaustin »

star-castle wrote: post #275
jessaustin wrote: post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...the classic "Hey if you cancel the ride and give me $10 I can get you there." What's wrong with that? It's just an offer that you're free to reject.

Why do you trust it? You got into a car on an arranged deal and the driver immediately wants to back out of it--this is already a shady situation. Why do you think he'll drive you anywhere after he gets the $10? Why do you think he won't charge you for the trip on top of the $10 after alerting Uber to their own GPS records that show your phone and his car taking you to the destination you said you wanted to go to?

I would never pay for a ride in someone's car before the ride completed. Taxis don't expect that; who does this guy think he is? If he wants something up front he's out of luck. In fact I probably would reject the offer as I suggested above, but if I accepted I would immediately cancel the trip. If Uber want to charge for a cancelled trip they can bite my ass.

It is probably "privilege" as a big heavy white dude with a perpetually surly expression that I'm not alerting on "danger" in such a situation. If I were a different person I could totally imagine reporting the driver and trying to get him fired. People worry when getting in strangers' cars. Actually once in India I did get such a misdirected cab ride, but my Indian friend noticed and convinced the cab driver to stop. He chewed the driver's ass for a while, then we got another cab.

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