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Airbnb Is Spending Millions of Dollars to Make Nightmares Go Away

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Re: Airbnb Is Spending Millions of Dollars to Make Nightmares Go Away

#31

Post by cmrdporcupine »

miked85 wrote: post #3

I guess I am in the minority, but I have never understood this business. You would have to pay me to stay in someone else's house vs a hotel.

I was always skeptical but once I started travelling with kids it became clear to me the giant holes in the hotel business model that AirBnB has disrupted.

Want to find a place with a separate room / bed for your teenage daughter? A hotel's answer is to book a second hotel room, or you might luck out with multiroom hotels but good luck even searching for them. AirBnB makes it easy to search their inventory for that. Want a kitchen? Always a fun time searching hotel inventory for that. Oh, and about that teenage daughter many hotels consider anybody over the age of 12 an adult, so now you are required put in "3 adults" into your search and their search system returns 0 results. Etc.

Re: Airbnb Is Spending Millions of Dollars to Make Nightmares Go Away

#33

Post by hiidrew »

miked85 wrote: post #3

I guess I am in the minority, but I have never understood this business. You would have to pay me to stay in someone else's house vs a hotel.

I enjoy it when traveling alone, I usually look for hosts that are more open to interacting with their guests. Have met loads of interesting people through the app, some I still talk to occasionally.

Re: Airbnb Is Spending Millions of Dollars to Make Nightmares Go Away

#34

Post by tyingq »

bko wrote: post #5

The article mentions a rape in an Airbnb in New York. The suspect had keys, presumably picked up from a lax key exchange in a nearby bodega. The cops were called and Airbnb was notified. Airbnb payed for a hotel, offered to fly the victim's mother out, paid for their return flight, and paid $7 million to the victim. The perp was caught by police shortly after the incident. Part of the payout was that she couldn't tal…

"and paid $7 million to the victim."

I am assuming after the victim decided to file a lawsuit. I would be surprised if that was a preemptive offer.

Re: Airbnb Is Spending Millions of Dollars to Make Nightmares Go Away

#35

Post by mc32 »

lumost wrote: post #30
mc32 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whatever shortcuts ABB is taking, how are they responsible for a rapist? Let’s say i absentmindedly leave my door unlocked at home and someone comes in and raped me. Am I partially responsible for my own rape because I left the door unlocked? Why isn’t it 100% the fault of the rapist?

Buying a transportation ticket or renting a room from a hotelier is a frightfully risky activity on its own. There have historically been limited reasons to trust either transporters or hoteliers as you'd only interact with them once and you may never have come into contact with someone who used their services. Hence there is a "duty to guests" in most hospitality law. That requires that the proprietor maintain a pro…

Thank you for bringing this to light. That explains it well.

It certainly indicts ABB for not meeting their obligations here.

Re: Airbnb Is Spending Millions of Dollars to Make Nightmares Go Away

#36

Post by leesalminen »

cmrdporcupine wrote: post #31
miked85 wrote: post #3

I guess I am in the minority, but I have never understood this business. You would have to pay me to stay in someone else's house vs a hotel.

I was always skeptical but once I started travelling with kids it became clear to me the giant holes in the hotel business model that AirBnB has disrupted. Want to find a place with a separate room / bed for your teenage daughter? A hotel's answer is to book a second hotel room, or you might luck out with multiroom hotels but good luck even searching for them. AirBnB makes it easy to search their inventory for that.…

We’re also starting to find that out now that we have kids ;). There’s also just odd situations that don’t fit into the hotel model.

Right now, I need a place to stay in Denver for 8 weeks with my wife, child, mother-in-law, and 2 dogs.

We’re staying with my MIL for her knee replacement surgery recuperation. So, there can’t be any stairs, has to have a walk in shower, must have a kitchen and have 3 bedrooms.

Impossible to find a hotel like this. We found a suitable AirBNB in about an hour.

Re: Airbnb Is Spending Millions of Dollars to Make Nightmares Go Away

#37

Post by snypher »

dannyw wrote: post #17
bko wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry, I missed that. I'll edit my comment. The perpetrator was caught and presumably prosecuted. Again, what alternative chain of events would you have preferred?

It's great that the perpetrator was caught, and I don't think there's anything more that Airbnb could have done in this specific instance. But the article then highlights more (separate) incidents where Airbnb potentially has more responsibility because it was the hosts themselves taking the actions, highlighting weaknesses in Airbnb's background check process: "Lapayowker’s lawyer, Teresa Li, says the suit was able…

>Airbnb only flags prior convictions, and though the host had previously been charged with battery, he wasn’t convicted."

Is the implication here people should be punished for pre-crime as well?

Re: Airbnb Is Spending Millions of Dollars to Make Nightmares Go Away

#38

Post by CJefferson »

bko wrote: post #5

The article mentions a rape in an Airbnb in New York. The suspect had keys, presumably picked up from a lax key exchange in a nearby bodega. The cops were called and Airbnb was notified. Airbnb payed for a hotel, offered to fly the victim's mother out, paid for their return flight, and paid $7 million to the victim. The perp was caught by police shortly after the incident. Part of the payout was that she couldn't tal…

How do we know they are incredibly rare? AirBnB is trying to silence everyone this happens to.

Re: Airbnb Is Spending Millions of Dollars to Make Nightmares Go Away

#39

Post by noobermin »

dannyw wrote: post #17
bko wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry, I missed that. I'll edit my comment. The perpetrator was caught and presumably prosecuted. Again, what alternative chain of events would you have preferred?

It's great that the perpetrator was caught, and I don't think there's anything more that Airbnb could have done in this specific instance. But the article then highlights more (separate) incidents where Airbnb potentially has more responsibility because it was the hosts themselves taking the actions, highlighting weaknesses in Airbnb's background check process: "Lapayowker’s lawyer, Teresa Li, says the suit was able…

Being charged with a crime but not convicted shouldn't be held against anyone, even if in this case they were to commit actual crime later. To do otherwise is an injustice.

Re: Airbnb Is Spending Millions of Dollars to Make Nightmares Go Away

#40

Post by jdminhbg »

CJefferson wrote: post #38
bko wrote: post #5

The article mentions a rape in an Airbnb in New York. The suspect had keys, presumably picked up from a lax key exchange in a nearby bodega. The cops were called and Airbnb was notified. Airbnb payed for a hotel, offered to fly the victim's mother out, paid for their return flight, and paid $7 million to the victim. The perp was caught by police shortly after the incident. Part of the payout was that she couldn't tal…

How do we know they are incredibly rare? AirBnB is trying to silence everyone this happens to.

At $7M a pop, they’d show up in their operating expenses pretty quickly if they were common.
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