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Violated: A traveler’s lost faith, a difficult lesson learned

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Re: Violated: A traveler’s lost faith, a difficult lesson learned

#51

Post by gojomo »

The guests sound like drug addicts. (Maybe meth? Tweakers do bizarre things like move furniture at odd hours or burn fires without opening the flue.)

I've been a happy AirBnb guest on a few occasions; the one time I had someone's whole usual studio apartment I found it a bit strange how much of their life was left on display for me – like the host's prescriptions still in the fridge! – but of course respected their privacy.

Each time I've been a guest, we've seen photos of each other on the site, and the keys were handed off in person. While I didn't expect anyone to stop by and check on me during my stays, I always had the impression the host or host's friends were nearby.

A guest with criminal intent would try to pick a place for a longer stay, in a more anonymous building, with a host known to be out-of-town. But then again, that's also what someone seeking to burglarize any vacation-emptied residence would do. More or less this same sort of crime could happen without AirBnb, or perhaps be enabled by nothing more than tracking public tweets/'check-ins' to predict unit vacancy.

(Another development I eventually expect in this progression of tech-mediated sharing: a bad-faith host who surveils their guests.)

Re: Violated: A traveler’s lost faith, a difficult lesson learned

#52

Post by Jach »

rdl wrote: post #11

I am non-representatively paranoid, and have always been afraid of this kind of thing when having guests not personally known to me, visitors to "open house" office events, etc. I think there is little actual risk with almost anyone as a guest (most people ARE good, or at least non-malicious, or at least lazy), but this is why the AirBnB reputation system is so key to their value (and why they'll have a strong networ…

It'd be awesomer if AirBnB just replaced all the material things that are replaceable, relocated this person, and in general made them feel happy/safe again. One time only, introduce a better model to prevent/mitigate/insure (as you suggest) for future occurrences.

Re: Violated: A traveler’s lost faith, a difficult lesson learned

#53

Post by bandushrew »

joshfraser wrote: post #32
patrickod wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you any links for this? Those sound like pretty big accusations to be making without citations.

No links. Just first hand stories from people I trust.

so this kind of abuse has happened so frequently that multiple people you know and trust are able to give first hand stories.

That is shocking.

Re: Violated: A traveler’s lost faith, a difficult lesson learned

#55

Post by ffffruit »

Is there anything stopping the renter from taking extra precautions? Like for example photocopy the tenants passport?

I am finding it hard to believe that somebody would drop off the keys to his own apartment to a total stranger, regardless of any guarantees the site does, without even wanting to briefly meet them.

Re: Violated: A traveler’s lost faith, a difficult lesson learned

#56

Post by g123g »

With internet almost run over by all kinds of scam artists, spammers, pedos etc. is there any surprise that such a thing can happen? You have crackers trying their level best to install keyloggers and other tools to read the passwords to your accounts. And in this environment if you hand over the key of your apartment to some complete stranger, I think the writer should also take some blame for his naivety. Just because airbnb is current flavor of the month it does not mean you throw your basic common sense out the door.

Even if you are present in an apartment yourself, it is still too risky to allow a complete stranger to sleep in the room next to you. How much verification can be done by you or airbnb? The Norwegian shooter had no criminal history that could have been caught by any verification. So how can you be comfortable with allowing a stranger into your home with no verification done at all from your side?

I think there should be a service which will allow you to rent the room only to your friends or to friends of friends but no further than that. This friend list can be from facebook, linkedin or Google+. This will reduce the chances of getting a rental but give peace of mind that you are not letting some hardened criminal into your home.

Re: Violated: A traveler’s lost faith, a difficult lesson learned

#57

Post by dlss »

barkingcat wrote: post #49
dlss wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Um, this is incorrect. Hotels are vandalized all the time... having a "reception-like place from where you can monitor the situation", and "inspect[ing] the place when they leave" doesn't prevent people from trashing your room/apt. It sounds like the person who trashed the OP's apartment /enjoyed/ trashing it -- it didn't sound like someone inconsiderate, or in a hurry; it sounded like someone who deliberately and kn…

But if you have their passport and secured their credit card info, you can report them to the police, and perhaps keep them from leaving the country if the place was trashed totally (ie burned down the building maliciously)

So if you register and book via AirBnB you will see that much of that information is required (email, credit card, and billing info specifically).

The attacker in the story must have somehow gotten stolen credit card information...

Re: Violated: A traveler’s lost faith, a difficult lesson learned

#58

Post by VladRussian »

dlss wrote: post #37
vladd wrote: post #27

AirBnB can be used without issues if you own a property and you're willing to operate it like a hotel: you're present on the premises to check in the guests, you have a room or a reception-like place from where you can monitor the situation, and you're able to inspect the place when they leave. Operating a property remotely via AirBnB implies all sorts of risks, which makes me think that it might be an unsustainable…

Um, this is incorrect. Hotels are vandalized all the time... having a "reception-like place from where you can monitor the situation", and "inspect[ing] the place when they leave" doesn't prevent people from trashing your room/apt. It sounds like the person who trashed the OP's apartment /enjoyed/ trashing it -- it didn't sound like someone inconsiderate, or in a hurry; it sounded like someone who deliberately and kn…

>Um, this is incorrect. Hotels are vandalized all the time...

that is the point why they take down your credit card data before giving you the keys. Your vandalizing after that is just an entertainment your card will be charged for.

>The security measures you suggest won't stop that sort of attacker.

so you think the attacker has perfect credit history and there is absolutely no sense in checking it?

Re: Violated: A traveler’s lost faith, a difficult lesson learned

#59

Post by hluska »

There is a big chicken or egg problem right at the core Of this sad case. On one hand, why would anyone trust someone they have only had limited conversations with to stay in their home...alone? On the other hand, if Airbnb allows renters to do background checks before the agreement is finalized, how do they avoid private sales?

I can't resolve this, so I wouldn't dream of renting my place out unless I was going to be there. And even then, I'd sleep with one eye open!

Re: Violated: A traveler’s lost faith, a difficult lesson learned

#60

Post by urbanjunkie »

vladd wrote: post #27

AirBnB can be used without issues if you own a property and you're willing to operate it like a hotel: you're present on the premises to check in the guests, you have a room or a reception-like place from where you can monitor the situation, and you're able to inspect the place when they leave. Operating a property remotely via AirBnB implies all sorts of risks, which makes me think that it might be an unsustainable…

This isn't really a 'black swan' event.

A black swan event is something that is very difficult to predict,often because it lies outside normal parameters and expectations.

Renting your place out to strangers who then trash it might be surprising, but hardly beyond the realms of imagination or expectation.

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