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Airbnb and security camera disclosure

jeffreybigham.com

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Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#351

Post by nojvek »

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 had some terrible experiences with Airbnb a couple of times. Their customer service is as responsive as that if Google’s; almost non-existent.

I prefer to stay away from any company that doesn’t offer a human to talk to when things go awry.

Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#352

Post by somada141 »

jononor wrote: post #325
somada141 wrote: post #297

I'm about to embark on a nomadic trip so I will be depending on AirBnBs and hotels a lot. Can I just ask: If the host has not disclosed security/surveillance but such equipment is present am I allowed to run de-auth attacks against the cameras so I can 'disable' them temporarily?

Let the owner know via AirBnB that they need to disclose it. Then just put a piece of tape over it. Why make it more complicated than need be...

You have a point :D. But I would expect AirBnB owners to lie about it and me being unable to find it when it's hidden in a plant or something. I was mostly curious about any legal ramifications that would come up if I decided to take my privacy in my own hands.

Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#353

Post by officemonkey »

umvi wrote: post #57
morpheuskafka wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's funny to me, because AirBnB runs in to all the same problems we had with hotels a hundred years ago. We have dozens of taxes, rules, regulations, building codes etc now for hotels. I imagine at some point it will be the same for AirBnBs. What's old is new. An industry can only be disruptive for so long. Eventually, it will either fail, or be successful and become the new status quo.

> Eventually, it will either fail, or be successful and become the new status quo. The book "Animal Farm" is so prescient, it's scary. I know it was written about governments but it applies to a lot of different organizations and industries: "The creatures outside looked from to , and from to , and from to again; but already it was impossible to say which was which." Just swap out and with: Uber/taxis online streamin…

On the other hand, hotels are innovating on improving the customer experience too.

The Hilton App is easier to use than their actual website. I am able to check-in and check-out without talking to anyone. I can use a digital key on my phone. They send me receipts automagically.

And thanks to consistent corporate standards, I know what to expect in a Hampton Inn vs. Homewood Suites vs. Conrad.

Getting a hotel has become less of a hassle, has less friction, and is more convenient. Oh, and the technology helps the chain as well.

If you disrupt an industry, you better hope your moat is big enough to ward off the entrenched business. Ridesharing might indeed kill the taxi, but there's no way AirBnb is going to defeat the hotel industry.

Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#354

Post by oskkejdjdkjd »

therealx wrote: post #322
oskkejdjdkjd wrote: post #269

Any implementation of sharing living quarters with other people has too many problems. People nowadays don’t understand what it means to be clean. Back wen cleanliness was up to you and of great practical importance, people were aware of beg bugs, Scabies, fleas, dust mites and the such like. Bed bugs are disgusting and when you stay in a hotel of any kind you risk picking them up. Their eggs stick to you, your lugga…

Over worried a bit much, no? A large majority of people staying in any given shared living place do not get bed bugs. Plus staying in your car doesn't really fly when you have a family or take an airplane and have no car.

Yeah. I still massively prefer carrying my own space with me if possible. But actually I think hotels could be an option even for people like me. If rooms were properly constructed then they wouldn’t be able to harbor any parasites at all and it would be possible to clean them thouroughly and properly between guests. If I were to start a hotel, I would make public the methods of cleaning and then offer some kind of verification for each guest. Like the receipt checklist you get on a ups, your room would come with some kind of receipt of cleaning. Mattresses would be sealed in plastic. All cloth goods like sheets and curtains would be autoclaved and come with proof of having been so. I honestly think hotels focus way too much on making rooms look homey and warm. Give me a small barren room that’s 100 percent guaranteed to be clean.

Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#355

Post by officemonkey »

tezzer wrote: post #150
dsfyu404ed wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

It sounds like more people should be interested in regulatory reform. I'm a huge fan of refactoring regulations once the problems they've been made to fix have been solved.

The problem is most "bodies of laws" are so complex and have so many competing stakeholders that it's a lot like a method that everyone's afraid to touch so they just comment "#DO NOT TOUCH!!"

The other problem is the "policy people" who create regulations are rarely the subject matter experts. They are good at managing the process to the successful conclusion: a new published regulation. They are not good at deciding what a good regulation is.

Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#356

Post by nojvek »

rickyc091 wrote: post #254
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).

Actually, I tried to file a chargeback with Amex! They declined it since they said the cancellation of policy was set to "strict" https://www.airbnb.com/home/cancellation_policies#strict-wit... . > If the guest cancels less than 7 days in advance or decides to leave early after check-in, the nights not spent are not refunded. ^ I basically got hit with that rule. ---- Edit: Wanted to add that I'm pretty sure AMEX has…

Strict cancellation is just a scam. Airbnb is asking you to spend thousands of dollars on something you haven’t even seen with your eyes.

Their pictures are notoriously decieving with the wide angle HDR shots.

It’s just really hard to find a quality place on Airbnb amongst all the noise. They come nowhere close to the customer obsession Amazon has.

Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#357

Post by mtnGoat »

traek wrote: post #229
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, but it has a clear blind spot for privacy and public discourse. I think Facebook expressly does not take a stand for free speech, they've been pretty clear about banning offensive/hateful/sexual content from their platform (to the point of being prudish, e.g. with female nipples).

Oddly Instagram seems to allow nipples.

Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#358

Post by paulie_a »

woolvalley wrote: post #342
heurist wrote: post #276

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I feel like rating systems need to simplify to: - Bad & contact support (thumbs down). Details should be given as to what is bad. - Good enough (thumbs up), the default rating if you don't do anything And then have a third tier of "compliments" like you do with uber drivers to denote something exceptional.

I like Uber's give compliments feature. There could be a variety of reasons why they were great. Professional and just let me be. Had an awesome conversation with them and learned something. Got some good tips in a new city.

I don't feel obligated to leave a lengthy review, just either the default options and potentially a nice note.

Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#359

Post by mtnGoat »

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…

Id of called my credit card company and filed a chargeback. The credit card associations have more power than Airbnb every dreamt of.

Always call the man that controls the money.

Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#360

Post by mtnGoat »

rickyc091 wrote: post #254
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).

Actually, I tried to file a chargeback with Amex! They declined it since they said the cancellation of policy was set to "strict" https://www.airbnb.com/home/cancellation_policies#strict-wit... . > If the guest cancels less than 7 days in advance or decides to leave early after check-in, the nights not spent are not refunded. ^ I basically got hit with that rule. ---- Edit: Wanted to add that I'm pretty sure AMEX has…

Don't use amex in these cases, they are very pro-business and tend to take their side in disputes.
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