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Airbnb and security camera disclosure

jeffreybigham.com

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Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#231

Post by tomp »

rickyc091 wrote: post #176
philip1209 wrote: post #120

I'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'll add to this as well. I've had two incidents over the past year. 1. I rented a place and was told that I could check-in whenever. When I got there, the key wasn't available and I wasn't able to contact the host. I was essentially just standing around for three hours waiting for Airbnb to respond. Apparently, you can contact them, but it's extremely difficult to call them if you're international unless you want to…

> I never received my money back based off of a technicality

That's why try to always pay with credit card (preferably Amex).

Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#232

Post by bredren »

1024core wrote: post #183

I'll add my AirBnB anecdote. We were in Hawaii. We checked into the AirBnB, and the first thing my wife noticed was that there were crumbs of food all along the walls of the kitchen. She murmured something about this not being good and attracting bugs. We turn off the lights, and a few minutes later she jumped up, claiming there was something on her. We turned on the lights, and saw nothing. I brushed it off. A few m…

FWIW, humid climates have roaches. They are not unusual.

Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#233

Post by ceocoder »

decebalus1 wrote: post #90
DangerousPie wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not just write the number on a piece of paper?!

because if you get mugged abroad and that piece of paper goes away along with your wallet, you are shit out of luck. A hotel can give you a lot of support in situations when you're stranded abroad. On top of granting you access to the room, they can call people on your behalf, provide a wellfare check in case you've gone missing, etc..

Exactly this, I do try to keep note in my wallet but mistakes happen, wallets/phones get lost/stolen. I like the safety net of having a hotel frontdesk staff that can help out in the worst case scenario. From a personal experience - I got really sick during a trip abroad and frontdesk staff sent someone to a pharmacy to pick-up medicines for me and they were willing to call doctors if needed.

Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#234

Post by bredren »

plusbryan wrote: post #228
izacus wrote: post #86

The fact that AirBnB even allows recording inside of the rented appartments is utterly mind-boggling to me. I always assumed they'd ban recording or guests outright. Your home (even a temporarily rented one) is pretty much the primary place where you should expect complete privacy at all times.

Agreed. Even if I choose to have recording devices in my home, and then rent out on a temporary basis, it would be trivial for me to take them down before renting it out. Plus, I have the financial incentive to do so. Allowing hosts to have cameras inside the rented space, regardless of recording state, seems like a bad policy indeed. The only "legitimate" reason a host would want active cameras in the home is for pr…

It doesn't make sense. This is begging to blow up. I predict it does and AirBnB bans in-home cameras with a threat of removal if found in violation.

People would never put up with this in hotels. Terrible policy by AirBnB.

Not the kind of news you want swarming around your profitability announcement. I can tell you which one local news is going to broadcast.

Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#235

Post by distant_hat »

I've used Airbnbs in the past and some were great but now I'd only use one if no hotel is available. Recently I traveled to Thailand in the peak season and no hotel had the full block of dates available that I was looking at. Stayed at an Airbnb served by some Russian dude. We reach there and he wants a 3000 Baht "deposit", says it is standard. Couldn't argue with it, he agreed to take a USD100 bill instead. Instead of a receipt he took a photo of me standing with the USD100 bill and sent it to me :). Returned it back without a fuss but it was an odd experience.

Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#236

Post by reaperducer »

batmansmk wrote: post #99
eric_b wrote: post #9

I 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…

Airbnb should be liable one way or another of those situations. They should at least inspect the places before accepting them in the network. They should inspect after a complaint. I had a massive rat infestation in my Airbnb in Paris. I arrived at the place at night and I didn't see at first the forced temporary leave notice on the building door for all inhabitants. It took Airbnb 12h to respond to my emergency call…

They should at least inspect the places before accepting them in the network. They should inspect after a complaint.

That requires people. Airbnb and its SV brethren aren't interested in using people to solve problems. They believe all problems can be solved with an algorithm.

Except when it comes to faking AI.

Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#237

Post by decebalus1 »

ceocoder wrote: post #233
decebalus1 wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

because if you get mugged abroad and that piece of paper goes away along with your wallet, you are shit out of luck. A hotel can give you a lot of support in situations when you're stranded abroad. On top of granting you access to the room, they can call people on your behalf, provide a wellfare check in case you've gone missing, etc..

Exactly this, I do try to keep note in my wallet but mistakes happen, wallets/phones get lost/stolen. I like the safety net of having a hotel frontdesk staff that can help out in the worst case scenario. From a personal experience - I got really sick during a trip abroad and frontdesk staff sent someone to a pharmacy to pick-up medicines for me and they were willing to call doctors if needed.

I once got the serious runs in a hotel in India. The hotel staff brought in a doctor.

Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#238

Post by laurentoget »

rellui wrote: post #132
anc84 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am calling bullshit. There is very little chance that German police in Hamburg would not consider those alligations serious. Lots of Germans have black hair. Few Germans are tall and blonde. German police will file your case in any case.

I've lived in Germany and there are still clear race issues left in certain areas but I can't speak for police personally. It's all very hush hush as well which is one of the reason I dislike Germany and would not live there again. I live in the U.S. now and for comparison, there are some tensions here too but it's on the surface and in general much better.

Police do kill many many more people in the US than in Germany though, which makes your statement feel less than believable.

Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#239

Post by city41 »

philip1209 wrote: post #120

I'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 consider Airbnb to be a menace to society. The hotel industry exists for a reason.

I've been lucky and never had a truly bad experience with Airbnb, but I've had some lousy ones and never a top notch or even good one. Conversely hotels usually provide at least decent service and usually are great in my experience.

What I really dislike about Airbnb is the feeling of being an invader in a neighborhood. Doing something I shouldn't be doing, because, well I am. No one wants the house next door to them to become an Airbnb, so why do we support its practice by using them?

(I no longer use Airbnb btw)

Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#240

Post by rb808 »

philip1209 wrote: post #120

I'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…

Its interesting that if you spend a few dozen nights a year in a hotel chain they treat you like gold. Airbnb doesn't give anything.
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