It looks like Airbnb has a requirement that hosts "disclose all surveillance devices in their listings": https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/887/what-are-airbnb-s-ru...
How could they possibly say that the vague appearance of a camera in a photo satisfies the language of this policy?
Airbnb and security camera disclosure
141–150 of 406 posts
Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure
#142Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The problem was that it was peak Summer in Barcelona, we were there for a long period of time, and the only available units were minimum 5x the price. I've never got this at all. Why should you pay 5x price for AirBnb's risk?
>Why should you pay 5x price for AirBnb's risk? Why should AirBnb have to not only waive their free but pay several times what they would have earned off the transaction to another party? It is wholly unreasonable for them to put you up in a place that costs 5x(+) as much. They aren't a hotel chain, they are a booking agent. They don't own the properties, the connect a party that has a space and a party that wants a…
I disagree - they're not a booking agent, they're a marketplace. They don't charge a flat fee for a booking - they take a substantial ongoing cut for the full term of a reservation, even if it's multiple payments over multiple months. They take on more risk than a booking agent and increase their cut proportionally.
Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure
#143I used to use AirBnB all the time. Lately I've switched back to using hotels almost exclusively. The camera/privacy thing is a big part of it. I empathize with the hosts to a degree - you don't want people doing outrageous things in your home. But the hosts want their cake and to eat it too. Don't rent out your home if you don't want the risk of people damaging it! (As a minor aside, I've also noticed the quality of…
Same is true for me. In my mid-to-late-twenties, I remember thinking "Damn, why are hotels so expensive? I'll just stay in this Airbnb, which is so much bigger anyway. This is the new way and it's disrupting hotels." Now at the outset of my thirties and a more settled phase of life, I will gladly pay a premium to stay in a hotel. In the same way, it's becoming more likely for me to flag a London black cab than book a…
>it's becoming more likely for me to flag a London black cab than book an Uber via the app.
Those guys know what they are doing and that's an incredibly hard job to get, the points of interest for example, if you spend that much time just trying to get licensed you're probably going to be more professional than random soccer mom trying to make money while the kids are at school. That's not the case with taxis in the US or many other countries though.
Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure
#144Earlier quoted context omitted.
Same here. A few years ago all our AirBnB experiences were good, but over time they have progressively got worse. For example, one host housed us in what felt like a derelict hotel/doshouse with all sorts of weird people staying and no working locks or fire alarm. On another occasion we booked a cottage, but it had a blocked chimney and was spewing fumes and smoke in to the living area. And for our tenth wedding anni…
I would have called Airbnb as soon as I found there was an issue and made them book me in somewhere else. You are paying a service fee to them for a reason.
“called”
as if AirBnb has any means of phone access.
Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure
#145I've lived in Airbnbs full-time for about 18 months while traveling, and Airbnb has lost my trust repeatedly in terms of reliability, safety, and user-friendliness. - Host listing quality has gone consistently downhill. Now, it's many slumlords just trying to make a quick buck rather than support the original community idea or provide a great stay. - Airbnb support response times are horribly slow. They hide their ph…
I had a similar experience to your last one. I was in a small house fire in a shared Airbnb. I left immediately. Airbnb wouldn’t compensate me because I didn’t take photos and the host claimed nothing had happened. (I was honestly too shaken to even think I would need evidence.) They gave me a $200 voucher which didn’t cover the time left in my stay. It is partially my fault for not getting evidence, but you’d think…
The trouble is that, if you use any buyer protections available to you outside of the platform, you risk being banned for life. That to me seems unfair.
For your case where they wanted evidence - what would have happened if you had no evidence, and ended up issuing a chargeback for "Services not provided? You would have been in the right, but probably would have been banned for life from Airbnb's system. The lack of competition and monopolistic nature makes this seem hostile to consumers.
Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure
#146Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The problem was that it was peak Summer in Barcelona, we were there for a long period of time, and the only available units were minimum 5x the price. I've never got this at all. Why should you pay 5x price for AirBnb's risk?
Exactly. They take a huge cut, hold cash for months ahead of time (earning considerable float), preach the need to use their in-app messaging and platform for "safety", then just abandon ship when things go wrong. If I showed up to a hotel and they didn't have a room available, they would rebook me at a different hotel. Airbnb just seems to say, "well, that's not our problem". It makes me wish that there was a tenant…
"If I showed up to a hotel and they didn't have a room available, they would rebook me at a different hotel. "
Don't be so sure about that. I had a Marriott reservation but apparently they overbooked a whole bunch of us and tried to rebook us at Motel 8 without refunding any of our money. Luckily I had booked through Priceline.com and called their support and they rebooked us at the nearest hotel that's comparable to or better than Marriott, which ended up being a five start boutique hotel. I've been pretty loyal to Priceline every since.
Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure
#147Earlier quoted context omitted.
>Why should you pay 5x price for AirBnb's risk? Why should AirBnb have to not only waive their free but pay several times what they would have earned off the transaction to another party? It is wholly unreasonable for them to put you up in a place that costs 5x(+) as much. They aren't a hotel chain, they are a booking agent. They don't own the properties, the connect a party that has a space and a party that wants a…
I disagree - they're not a booking agent, they're a marketplace. They don't charge a flat fee for a booking - they take a substantial ongoing cut for the full term of a reservation, even if it's multiple payments over multiple months. They take on more risk than a booking agent and increase their cut proportionally.
What risk is Airbnb taking on? It seems like almost all of the risk is on the tenants and landlords.
Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure
#148My wife and I have done a lot of traveling over the last 5 years and usually stayed at an AirBnB. We used to have nothing but good experiences but the quality has become so inconsistent that we switched back to hotels. AirBnb is now no longer cheaper than a mid-budget hotel, and if anything goes wrong at a hotel, you can dial the front desk and get the problem resolved immediately. Plus check-in is easy and comfortable and you can often get other perks like breakfast or a gym.
The last straw was a bug infested cottage in Key West. The owner wasn't responsive for hours, and finally "dealt" with the issue by giving us a vacuum and telling us that's what he uses to get rid of them.
Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure
#149Earlier quoted context omitted.
I would have called Airbnb as soon as I found there was an issue and made them book me in somewhere else. You are paying a service fee to them for a reason.
They should have called the fire marshal. Airbnb support is probably one step up from Google's in terms of reaching a satisfactory solution for customers. The fire marshal won't get you your money back, but they'll ruin a host's day if they're renting out a space without smoke detectors.
Oh we did, and the owner of the building ended up in the press for a multitude of reasons a few weeks after we had our stay.
Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure
#150Earlier quoted context omitted.
> An industry can only be disruptive for so long. I think another thing people tend to forget: regulations are often there for a real reason. Especially in the US there's a vocal majority who thinks that regulations are the problem. It's true sometimes. The reasons for the regulation were either bad in the first place, or have "aged out." But a lot of times: the regulation in the way of some business is there to prot…
I fully disagree. I view regulation like opioid painkillers. Sometimes they're necessary to solve a problem. Sometimes the problem is temporary. If a society gives them out at the drop of a hat there will be negative consequences far and wide. Regulation is dangerous and is very easy to abuse but it performs a necessary function in society. We need to be careful not to over-prescribe it though because every regulatio…
Do you have any examples of such negative consequences, regulations for problems that went away (that became inconvenient after the fact), or dangerous and abusive regulations? Your objection sounds dogmatic, but if it's founded I'd love to hear on what.