What are you working on?
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I'm almost homeless: Why you should not go outside Airbnb's payment system
41–50 of 66 posts
Re: I'm almost homeless: Why you should not go outside Airbnb's payment system
#42Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't really think they guy cheated them. They saw the place and paid for it, the guy clearly isn't running at hilton here. At $500 month in a major city, I wouldn't expect anything less then sub-standard living conditions.
Don't you think he should have mentioned that there are tons of roaches in his place in the listing? Or on the phone?
He should.
Re: I'm almost homeless: Why you should not go outside Airbnb's payment system
#43You should've stayed and recorded the whole ordeal. Would've been an incredible story to tell to journalists afterwards
People get scammed all the time; this is newsworthy here only because it indirectly involves a Y Combinator startup. I doubt you'd find another journalist interested in the story.
I feel for the people in the situation, but you have to use common sense particularly when you're using up the bulk of your runway in one payment. Part of business is sizing people up and making a decision about whether to trust them or not -- and when you make bad decisions there are consequences you have to live with.
Re: I'm almost homeless: Why you should not go outside Airbnb's payment system
#44This is a great story! Thanks for sharing! It's not really surprising that someone who was willing to cheat AirBNB out of their cut of the deal was also willing to cheat you. You've got to watch out when you're dealing with people like that. Couldn't you have hired exterminators for US$310? Let alone US$700. Also, Hostelling International Austin charges US$28 per bed per night with a shared bathroom in the room, so y…
Why didn't we hire an exterminator? I never even thougt of it. Thinking now I don't feel it was our responsibility to exterminate this guy's place, and he said he would refund our money which was airbnb's policy.
Re: I'm almost homeless: Why you should not go outside Airbnb's payment system
#45lol, I can't believe you posted this for the hn trolls. LOL, I am giggling so bad they downvoted one guy for being humorous, but the disrespectful trolls go unabated. I love HN more trolls here than 4chan. Only thing missing is nudy pictures to distract the trolls. Ohh and gl in austin.
I think some people are just jealous our startup is getting traction.
I can't believe people are thinking it's fake. Its funny.
I am going to leave the thread now and get back to work. I was just mad and wanted to share. It made me feel better.
Re: I'm almost homeless: Why you should not go outside Airbnb's payment system
#46Good story, good life lesson. You tried to game the system and got jacked in the process.
Let me tell you, I hate bugs as much as the next guy and I feel for you. I lived in some dumps, but never with any roaches. I went to college up north in Minnesota and we used to all pitch in and get bug bombs for our house. About once every 6 months always did the trick.
You don't say in your article why you needed to move to Austin in the first place. What was it about where you were living which wasn't conducive to your start-up succeeding?
Re: I'm almost homeless: Why you should not go outside Airbnb's payment system
#47I guess I should pass this piece of advice on. If you have roaches in your house (or anywhere for that matter) there is a simple cheap effective way to get rid of them. Boric acid. Just sprinkle it around the place (its not toxic to humans, or comparable to salt anyway), on the sideboards, and anywhere else the roaches are likely to go. It will kill them all pretty quickly. I recently had issues with the neighbor hav…
> (its not toxic to humans, or comparable to salt anyway)
This is FALSE, and very dangerous advice for people with infants.
Quote from NSW Food Authority [1]:
"Borax, also known as sodium borate (Na2B4O7.10H2), and boric acid (H3BO3) are colourless, salt-like substance that can also be a white powder."
"What are the symptoms of Borax poisoning?
Some of the symptoms of Borax ingestion include headache, fever, nausea, vomiting, and red eyes.
Symptoms may appear 2 to 4 hours after ingesting Borax.
If you have ingested Borax, or come into contact with someone with these symptoms, you should call the NSW Poisons Information 24 hour hot line on 13 11 26 and seek immediate medial attention at your local doctor’s surgery or hospital.
If large amounts of Borax are consumed, acute kidney failure and death may result."
Not to say it isn't good at killing roaches, but please don't use it believing it's non-toxic.
[1] http://www.foodauthority.nsw.gov.au/consumers/other-food-top...
Re: I'm almost homeless: Why you should not go outside Airbnb's payment system
#48What is your startup? Post a url..I'm interesting in checking out what you're working on.
Re: I'm almost homeless: Why you should not go outside Airbnb's payment system
#49What are you working on?
post a url please
Re: I'm almost homeless: Why you should not go outside Airbnb's payment system
#50I guess I should pass this piece of advice on. If you have roaches in your house (or anywhere for that matter) there is a simple cheap effective way to get rid of them. Boric acid. Just sprinkle it around the place (its not toxic to humans, or comparable to salt anyway), on the sideboards, and anywhere else the roaches are likely to go. It will kill them all pretty quickly. I recently had issues with the neighbor hav…
Boric acid mixed into simple syrup will control ants as well.
baby powder works great to stop ants