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Airbnb and security camera disclosure

jeffreybigham.com

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Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#271

Post by egonschiele »

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…

Same here. I've had bad experiences, and AirBnB has not responded to complaints in any way. In one case, the host was so hostile that we left after staying one night. I've yet to hear back from AirBnB about it, and my review was not published either.

Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#272

Post by DyslexicAtheist »

gamma-male wrote: post #257
techslave wrote: post #249

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

They change the way people travel in a good way. I wouldn't be so hateful towards them.

AirBNB and anything the sharing economy produces is never good for humans. These companies are just proprietary algorithms extracting money on the back of the poor. They should be burned with fire.

Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#273

Post by mindgam3 »

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've spent a similar amount as you on Airbnb as a hotel replacement over the years. I have the same exact feedback. What started as a great community vibe is now being exploited by slum lords. It's really a shame, the site is a victim of its own success.

I have to believe that with better curation it would have been possible to maintain quality. For example, Lyft still has a great UX with awesome drivers like they did at the beginning, even after they have scaled up to MegaCorp status. It seems Airbnb has made a conscious decision to pursue growth at all costs, including what made them great in the beginning. Time will tell if that was a smart play.

Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#274

Post by DyslexicAtheist »

saagarjha wrote: post #241
tomp wrote: post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

good riddance!

Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#275

Post by oh_sigh »

ilikehurdles wrote: post #119
Tsubasachan wrote: post #98

This is a tough one. There are some seriously nuts and creepy people out there. If you use Airbnb with your teenage kids and somebody has hidden a camera somewhere for their own personal pleasure what can Airbnb do? Inspect every property that they list? At least with a hotel the owners usually care about their business and reputation.

At some point if they don’t start inspecting every property they list, then a competitor will come out with a selling point on inspections and trustworthiness.

Then the creepy owners will just add a camera after the inspection happens.

Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#276

Post by heurist »

dawnerd wrote: post #167
DoubleGlazing wrote: post #72

Earlier 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…

It's hard to trust reviews when it's engineered the way it is. You're almost forced to leave a good review or else you'll get a bad review in return. People also don't like feeling guilty and transactions have been made personal. People do the same damn thing with ridesharing, really bad drivers somehow get 5 star ratings.

As mentioned by the other responses, you are mistaken. Reviews can't be seen until both parties have submit their reviews or the review period expires.

However, as a host I've encountered situations where I probably should have given a lower rating but opted to not submit a review because the guest seemed nice other than some minor poor behavior (had to ask them to be quiet during quiet hours, ignored our house rules, left more mess than usual, etc). I didn't want to affect the guests' ratings because they weren't awful and had otherwise positive reviews, so maybe it was a one-off... I am sure there is some inflation on the guest reviews as well.

Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#277

Post by vosper »

gamma-male wrote: post #258
city41 wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 somethi…

Airbnb is great if you want to feel at home when you travel. A hotel room is so impersonal.

Or if you want to have a home when you travel. A kitchen, living room, etc... I'd almost always prefer having these things to a hotel room.

Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#278

Post by mmckelvy »

I think the cracks in "break the rules" startups such as Uber, Airbnb, Tesla, etc. are starting to show. However, I think these companies have surfaced some interesting product ideas with accompanying demand. More established players might be able to adjust the business model a bit and make things more sustainable.

Ultimately we may not be staying at Airbnbs and driving Teslas, but maybe we'll be staying at some sort of Marriott "Experiences" boutique and driving electric cars from GM.

Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#279

Post by monort »

ceocoder wrote: post #37

There are two reasons I’ve decided to not use Airbnb again - specially when I’m overseas. 1) fear of getting locked out of Airbnb. I stayed in an Airbnb in Dublin in late 2017, place was OK, not too great -cheap ikea bed, cheap ikea couch, heater that was either tundra or Sahara. However getting in to this place required memorizing 8 digit number or having your phone on you. After that stay I genuinely appreciated 24…

I had a similar problem with electronic locks, but it's very easy to memorize a 8 digit number with a mnemonic - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mnemonic_major_system

Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#280

Post by Swenrekcah »

techslave wrote: post #249
dhimes wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Be careful, how long could you short Comcast and United Airlines?
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