11–20 of 72 posts
The worst enemy an online community has are trolls. The worst enemy an online community like AirBnB has are psychos and serial killers. I really don't get this startup. Might as well post "I need somewhere to crash" on Craigslist.
Seems necessary.
Sadly, AirBnB has failed for me more than 90% of the time. In NYC there were overtly shady people, such as a dude who had at least 3 accounts, 2 of which he would pose as women. However, the biggest problems are flakes and people who list their apartment as being available when it really isn't. To AirBnB's credit, housing in NYC is shady to begin with, and the one time it worked, it was great.
Sadly, AirBnB has failed for me more than 90% of the time. In NYC there were overtly shady people, such as a dude who had at least 3 accounts, 2 of which he would pose as women. However, the biggest problems are flakes and people who list their apartment as being available when it really isn't. To AirBnB's credit, housing in NYC is shady to begin with, and the one time it worked, it was great.
It's sad to say this is true. In many cases, it's just as cheap, if not cheaper, to use Starwood SPG.com or Priceline, plus you get free points or have points to use from a credit card. You also know that while it won't be as personalized an experience as AirBnB, you know that bedsheets will be clean, there is maid service, decent amenities (like a pool or workout room), and room service often at the same price for A…
However, I will say that the one time AirBnB worked for me, the person was renting out their apartment like a hotel. She had a maid clean it up and even left me mini soaps. It was way better than a hotel.
She gave me some good tips (which most of you have already mentioned): (1) use people with good review, (2) use people with high response rates, etc.
I reallllly want this service to work. But the concept is already so intrinsically out of my comfort zone that it doesn't take much of a nudge to send me back to super-pricey VRBO.
Prediction: Someone will eventually get assaulted or worse at a host's place. The media will then take that incident and run headlines like "The AirBNB rapist", "AirBNB, Is it SAFE??". Local mayors urged by hotel campaign donors will launch an aggressive campaign against the company based on this one incident in tens of thousands.
Why is this Airbnb's fault? I just finished traveling Europe while using Airbnb and never had a problem. Why? I message at least 5-10 people, and I talked all first through the message function, making sure they're not insane (the fact they're charging you extra was a good warning sign there). If the person acted shady/mean/impatient/etc, I simply removed that place from my choices. The one time I had an issue (one c…