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Airbnb and security camera disclosure

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Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#241

Post by saagarjha »

tomp wrote: post #231
rickyc091 wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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).

And what, do a chargeback? That's a very easy way to get banned for life from the platform.

Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#242

Post by FactolSarin »

drewbug wrote: post #208
munchbunny wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm convinced the majority of "unicorns" ignore (or actively dodge) externalities in favor of lucrative profits. I think most companies develop convenient ethical blind spots where profit motive conflicts with the ethical problem from generating externalities. AirBnB takes a strong moral stand on "inclusion" as a principle but has a clear blind spot when it comes to consumer, property, and residential externalities.…

> Facebook takes a strong moral stand on free speech It does?

Of course! You're free to post anything they approve of.

Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#243

Post by bredren »

arthurofbabylon wrote: post #224

Many of the complaints of mistreatment illustrate a feature of this housing marketplace: big capital assets are in control, not the demand. This runs counter to many other marketplaces millennials (+- 10 years) are used to. Shoes? Chocolate? Restaurants? Types of alcohol? Transportation? Whatever the customer wants, the customer gets. It’s a simple reality that Airbnb will align with the host who brings in $10-30k/yr…

Reasonably, AirBnB has already served its purpose. It has bludgeoned the hospitality industry forcing it to be more competitive. [1]

There is real opportunity for hotels to earn back customers and they should get this chance.

Due to hotel architecture they do not have the same problems as one-off airbnb units in neighborhoods. So they should reasonably consider offering greater privacy and reliability.

That said, the Marriott hack did not do them any favors.

[1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/hbsworkingknowledge/2018/02/27/...

Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#244

Post by hadlock »

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…

Cockroaches in a residence in Hawaii is not uncommon, you are after-all, in a tropical rainforest. I have come to expect them in the rainforest/jungle housing. It is inevitable. The houses in these areas are often not well sealed due to local construction quality and/or the need to vent humidity. That said, the crumbs of food can/will exacerbate the problem and probably should have been kept to a higher standard of cleanliness.

Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#245

Post by bradlys »

amerkhalid wrote: post #159

I never understood appeal of AirBnB. We used to travel a lot and thought AirBnB would be cheaper to equivalent hotels but it usually is about same or more expensive but with less amenities. For example: * There is no room service. You can order delivery but room service has certain charms especially at 2AM. * In hotels, you come back to a clean room at the day's end. * There is cleaning fee for many AirBnB. With hote…

The appeal of AirBnB is that there is a much lower barrier to entry. I rarely spend more than $50-100/night on airbnb. (With the $100 being in expensive areas and usually a whole apartment)

I can rarely, if ever, find hotels that are below $80/night (short of them being extremely sketchy or in the middle of nowhere). Meanwhile those hotels don't always have kitchens, sizable refrigerators, etc.

It's allowed me to travel to places much more and for longer than I would otherwise. One could argue for hostels but private rooms in hostels usually are not any cheaper than AirBNB and they are insanely more noisy/disruptive.

Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#246

Post by afterburner »

amerkhalid wrote: post #159

I never understood appeal of AirBnB. We used to travel a lot and thought AirBnB would be cheaper to equivalent hotels but it usually is about same or more expensive but with less amenities. For example: * There is no room service. You can order delivery but room service has certain charms especially at 2AM. * In hotels, you come back to a clean room at the day's end. * There is cleaning fee for many AirBnB. With hote…

I mean, if you're into room service, then AirBnb is obviously not for you...

Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#247

Post by MatekCopatek »

munchbunny wrote: post #164
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…

It's almost as if AirBnB's hosts and guests are bearing the externalities that should be priced into the transaction on both sides... For hosts, property damage, etc. is a matter of when, not if, and for those things you get insurance. But as far as I know that's not a standard thing for hosts. Pricing in hidden hosting costs would make hosting look less profitable up front, then AirBnB's market would shrink. For gue…

I feel like what you described is the main reason for the profitability of most "sharing economy" services. Uber is also advertised as a little side gig you can do when your car is not being used while the real goal is to have a taxi service that isn't subject to the same legislation and unloads more cost on the driver.

Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#248

Post by iabacu »

When I interviewed at Airbnb, they asked me about one thing I learned in the past that could be useful for Airbnb.

I suggested that people who are developing the product should once in a while spend a few hours handling user tickets themselves (perhaps shadowing an actual customer representative), so that developers get to sense (at the gut level) the pain points.

The interviewer did not seemed pleased with that suggestion.

Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#249

Post by techslave »

dhimes wrote: post #212
rickyc091 wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Their response was that I should have contacted them immediately... but they don't make it easy to contact them. Companies like this should be left to die.

it's good to hear the horror stories like this.

here's hoping they IPO so I can short them! seriously, companies like this are not long for this world.

Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#250

Post by afterburner »

cortesoft wrote: post #168
amerkhalid wrote: post #159

I never understood appeal of AirBnB. We used to travel a lot and thought AirBnB would be cheaper to equivalent hotels but it usually is about same or more expensive but with less amenities. For example: * There is no room service. You can order delivery but room service has certain charms especially at 2AM. * In hotels, you come back to a clean room at the day's end. * There is cleaning fee for many AirBnB. With hote…

I don't get it either. I get even LESS the idea of renting out your home. I hesitate to let close friends stay at my place when I am out of town. I can't IMAGINE letting strangers stay.

Investment properties.
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