Violated: A traveler’s lost faith, a difficult lesson learned • Hacker News Board

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

#251

Post by mseebach » Wed, Jul 27, 2011, 3:50 PM UTC

mikecaron wrote: post #191

mseebach wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, after the booking is completed, still well before keys are handed over, personal contact information is made available. Sure, it's inconvenient if you have to turn someone down after researching them but after they paid, but that's hardly the issue here.

But the author of the article makes a point to say this was too late a point in time, as they were already out of town.

He also writes:

If anything, I blame myself. In retrospect, and as I read through my initial email exchanges with Dj, I recognize now that something was “off” in his manner of communication, that I trusted too easily, and probably did not do my due diligence to properly protect myself and my home.

There is nothing in the article that indicates that the situation would have turned out any different if he had access to "Dj"s contact information earlier.

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

#252

Post by bh42222 » Wed, Jul 27, 2011, 3:51 PM UTC

edw519 wrote: post #147

I get angry when I realize I will never again be who I've always been before, someone who lived strong and free by the creed that people are essentially good, that if you think optimistically, trust others. Please don't let them steal this too. I'm really sorry for your bad experience, but remember: - You can still live strong and free. - People are still essentially good. - You can still think optimistically. - You…

But you can be almost the same person

Some people are very badly affected by trauma. But most do get over it and the almost same person is actually a wiser slightly more careful person. A bit less idealist, yep, but that's growing up.

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

#253

Post by danberger » Wed, Jul 27, 2011, 3:52 PM UTC

YooLi wrote: post #159

danberger wrote: post #152

Just out of curiosity, why didn't the victim post any pictures of the damage?

They stole his camera?

I would hope she took pictures for documentation purposes... even if her camera was stolen, she should have borrowed one or bought one for this purpose.

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

#254

Post by xster » Wed, Jul 27, 2011, 3:53 PM UTC

edw519 wrote: post #147

I get angry when I realize I will never again be who I've always been before, someone who lived strong and free by the creed that people are essentially good, that if you think optimistically, trust others. Please don't let them steal this too. I'm really sorry for your bad experience, but remember: - You can still live strong and free. - People are still essentially good. - You can still think optimistically. - You…

Key takeaway from your story: you're still healthy and unharmed. All the material stuff is superficial, the only thing of real value is you.

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

#255

Post by Syama » Wed, Jul 27, 2011, 3:56 PM UTC

Personally I think the poster is stupid as f@#&, leaving her apt to complete strangers and then blaming her loss on someone else. What did she expect? B&B's usually have someone onsite to prevent things like this from happening. The person to blame here is the poster and of course the tweakers, not Airbnb.

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

#256

Post by ern » Wed, Jul 27, 2011, 3:56 PM UTC

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…

A hotel is likely to have CCTV in the lobby, full time security, contacts with local police and lots of institutional experience dealing with disruptive guests. All things that the average part-time innkeeper doesn't have.

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

#257

Post by sjs » Wed, Jul 27, 2011, 3:56 PM UTC

jeffool wrote: post #200

vladd wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hey brian, - what's your side of the story on being unreachable 14 hours after the event? - did you offer AirBnB credit or compensation to the victim to stay elsewhere during this?

Purely pulling this out of my ass, but I'm hoping whoever took his initial call(s) just severely misunderstood the situation. Maybe people have had trashy guests or items broken and became irate over them, and that's what this person thought was happening. I hope. I don't know the company's "side of the story", and would be surprised if it was ever really discussed in any way aside from steps taken to remedy this sit…

That doesn't matter. They are obligated to investigate each and every phone call to their fullest extent. Only if the same person called repeatedly could they even begin to think about the "boy who cried wolf" excuse.

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

#258

Post by 100k » Wed, Jul 27, 2011, 3:59 PM UTC

achivetta wrote: post #5

tonystubblebine wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My home was burglarized once and among all the serious stuff that they took they also took: tortillas, salsa, ground beef, and cheddar cheese. I still can't believe that.

A jar of coins and... pajamas.

My house was robbed in college. They also took a jar of coins. Heaviest $20 ever.

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

#259

Post by atourgates » Wed, Jul 27, 2011, 4:01 PM UTC

ajays wrote: post #190

hammock wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Emotionally devastating story, but it seems like there is an easy solution to this. Have AirBnb contract include an insurance policy (superseding the homeowners insurance) for the time of rental. Also, have Airbnb keep credit card info on hand and hold guest responsible for any damage. Pretty standard business practices.

But an insurance policy would further cut into their revenue stream. A credit card number doesn't help much when you're dealing with anti-social elements (they'll just use a stolen one).

I would imagine that homeowners being terrified of having their homes trashed by guests would also cut into their revenue stream, and, if the "97% of airbnb guests are wonderful people" bit is true, the premiums should be fairly negligible.

At the very least, it should be an option for property owners to purchase.

Even if you do have homeowners / renters insurance, I wouldn't be surprised if most policies have exclusions for operating your home as a rental.

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

#260

Post by robjohnson » Wed, Jul 27, 2011, 4:03 PM UTC

sylvinus wrote: post #93

brianchesky wrote: post #87

Hey everyone - we were shocked when we heard about this unsettling event. We have been working closely with the authorities, and we want to reassure our community that, with the help of our security infrastructure, we were able to assist the police in their investigation, and we understand from authorities that a suspect is now in custody. We've created a marketplace built on trust, transparency and authenticity with…

Thanks for taking care of it, also good to know they got a suspect. What can you say on the 24/7 "urgent" line, which sounds like an important feature even for cases less dramatic than this one?

This seems to be the crux of the issue right here. When I heard the airbnb business model, this type of situation was the first thing that came to my mind. Airbnb absolutely does provide an incredible service, but these types of issues need to be solved. A 24/7 line should be step 1.