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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

#61

Post by uberdru »

Mizza wrote: post #54
ok_coo wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know if there's a special tax in place in Chicago, but AirBnbs have been almost double the price of hotels recently. Uber/Lyft have been super expensive as well. I wonder if we're seeing that these company's original pricing model was unsustainable, or if something else is going on.

My guess it's that the VC subsidies have come to an end and it's time to pay the piper.

Yes, also the market is saturated and they are desperate to show revenue growth. I think many companies of AirB&B's generation are in the same bind.

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

#62

Post by bena »

Mizza wrote: post #52

Is anybody else kind of over AirBnb? I loved it for a while, but now prices have gone way up, the "cleaning fees" are exorbitant and make navigating/browsing a minefield, and I've had a few sketchy incidents (which were, admittedly, a side effect of choosing the cheapest place I could find), including one where the apartment manager came in, went through our clothes and _stole the bed_. I've found myself just using h…

Wouldn't they be the owners of the bed in the first place? Or were they managing it for the owners? That's so weird.

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

#63

Post by WhompingWindows »

Why doesn't AirBNB just vertically integrate to make some of these issues go away? They could have AirBnB locks, which only open via the app after payment and approval for the guest is received.

For cleaning, they could hire out cleaning to the hosts or even the guests for a discount, or they could acquire someone like TaskRabbit or an Uber-for-cleaning type app.

To me, it seems they're taking the easy way out by not doing much about the issues and letting hosts deal with it.

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

#64

Post by z0ltan »

okprod wrote: post #13
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?

That Airbnb take responsibility for its service offering end-to-end, in this case the key exchange. From the article it's obvious the company has no ethics and has tried to cover up shoddy/lax business practices from the beginning, so another alternative that could have helped is Airbnb being liable for damages in the millions/billions until they learn their lesson, or fold if they don't. Oh, it might also have been…

Welcome to the real world.

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

#65

Post by z0ltan »

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.…

Sounds like an American problem.

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

#66

Post by WhompingWindows »

Mizza wrote: post #52

Is anybody else kind of over AirBnb? I loved it for a while, but now prices have gone way up, the "cleaning fees" are exorbitant and make navigating/browsing a minefield, and I've had a few sketchy incidents (which were, admittedly, a side effect of choosing the cheapest place I could find), including one where the apartment manager came in, went through our clothes and _stole the bed_. I've found myself just using h…

Hotels are more reliable and organized, but I prefer AirBnB in general. I like feeling a part of the neighborhood or city, I like the home-y vibe of most AirBnBs. Hotels in contrast are a bit sterile and cookie-cutter, for obvious reasons, and some may prefer this vibe. Different strokes for different folks.

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

#67

Post by staticman2 »

noobermin wrote: post #39
dannyw wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

There's no reason it would have to be an injustice. The standards of proof for getting banned from Airbnb should be less than thrown in jail.

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

#68

Post by Mizza »

bena wrote: post #62
Mizza wrote: post #52

Is anybody else kind of over AirBnb? I loved it for a while, but now prices have gone way up, the "cleaning fees" are exorbitant and make navigating/browsing a minefield, and I've had a few sketchy incidents (which were, admittedly, a side effect of choosing the cheapest place I could find), including one where the apartment manager came in, went through our clothes and _stole the bed_. I've found myself just using h…

Wouldn't they be the owners of the bed in the first place? Or were they managing it for the owners? That's so weird.

I am baffled to this day.

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

#69

Post by halfmatthalfcat »

ok_coo wrote: post #53
Mizza wrote: post #52

Is anybody else kind of over AirBnb? I loved it for a while, but now prices have gone way up, the "cleaning fees" are exorbitant and make navigating/browsing a minefield, and I've had a few sketchy incidents (which were, admittedly, a side effect of choosing the cheapest place I could find), including one where the apartment manager came in, went through our clothes and _stole the bed_. I've found myself just using h…

I don't know if there's a special tax in place in Chicago, but AirBnbs have been almost double the price of hotels recently. Uber/Lyft have been super expensive as well. I wonder if we're seeing that these company's original pricing model was unsustainable, or if something else is going on.

As a Chi resident, Uber/Lyft is super expensive because lack of drivers due to COVID and carjackings. A couple months ago people would call Uber/Lyft just to jack the car and it scared a lot of drivers away.

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

#70

Post by danpalmer »

WhompingWindows wrote: post #63

Why doesn't AirBNB just vertically integrate to make some of these issues go away? They could have AirBnB locks, which only open via the app after payment and approval for the guest is received. For cleaning, they could hire out cleaning to the hosts or even the guests for a discount, or they could acquire someone like TaskRabbit or an Uber-for-cleaning type app. To me, it seems they're taking the easy way out by not…

One Fine Stay did this in London, NY, Paris, maybe a few other cities. Locks, cleaning, laundry, even an iPhone with local maps and unlimited data (big deal in 2015). I think they found it hard to make money on, even though they were targeting the high end ($$$-$$$$ per night).
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