Acquaintances have said they'd probably not use Airbnb for fear of problems like this. After this incident and Airbnb's response, they will never even consider it. And they will tell all their acquaintances, etc, etc.. Airbnb's Achilles' heel is the deep-rooted fear of someone fucking up home. That they did not patch this with a good backup-plan should be a warning to investors.
Airbnb Victim Speaks Again: Homeless, Scared And Angry
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Re: Airbnb Victim Speaks Again: Homeless, Scared And Angry
#12This article on TC adds nothing at all. Original blog post: http://ejroundtheworld.blogspot.com/2011/07/airbnb-nightmare... HN submission of that blog post for discussion: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2820615 ======== ADDED IN EDIT: Clearly this is contentious - it went up to two points, now as I write this it's down to zero, and who knows where it will go next. Yes, I agree, sometimes TechCrunch adds informat…
I disagree - people are always interested in TechCrunch's take on things. Indeed, AirBNB used it as their PR channel the other day ( http://techcrunch.com/2011/07/27/on-safety-a-word-from-airbn... ) so linking to the TC article certainly has value.
Agree to disagree - I'm content with that. In my opinion sometimes TC actually adds something, but this time it really doesn't.
Re: Airbnb Victim Speaks Again: Homeless, Scared And Angry
#13Worth noting that, despite recent large valuations and funding rounds, the founders of Airbnb are still driving their baby and have a massive emotional attachment to it. (As do all business owners.) This is their first significant black eye (the Craigslist stuff was far more limited in its audience reach), and has the potential to derail a company that's only 2 years old. Of course they're going to be responding emot…
I donwvoted you. I don't see how what you write is relevant. Everybody is emotionally attached to their startups, including me, so?
Re: Airbnb Victim Speaks Again: Homeless, Scared And Angry
#14This is really crappy and airbnb fucked up big time, twice now.
But... there's something odd about the way the victim writes, and I don't understand why it's jumping out at me:
"bouncing between friends’ homes".. "clutching my pillow".. "breathing through panic attacks".. "scouring the city’s pawn shops".. "this too shall pass and I will be made whole again."
Re: Airbnb Victim Speaks Again: Homeless, Scared And Angry
#15I was the main anti-AirBnB poster last time around...but..
I gotta say, something about all this now seems like it's a set up for a big fat lawsuit. I've never been violated this way (or anything close to it), so maybe I'm being insensitive, but this is crossing into whining territory to me.
If you want to complain about a _really_ bad experience, a lack of customer support, and insensitive and money-focused founders, that's fine. But I don't really need to hear about your pillow-clutching and fading normalcy.
Re: Airbnb Victim Speaks Again: Homeless, Scared And Angry
#16I'm using airbnb in Berlin right now. Two days ago I received a knock on my door. Turns out it was the real owner of the apartment and he had the Paperwork to prove it. Fortunately he was nice enough to let us stay without compensation. When I went to the airbnb website to try and call them all I got was a web message box. I filled out a message and sent it on its way but that's a pretty lousy system. Luckily for me…
Exactly.
Based on EJ's description of AirBnB customer service, and the 2,000,000 bookings the founders cited earlier today, we'd be fools to think this was the first time someone broke the law using AirBnB -- I'm guessing the others just gave up on support after being ignored, and focused on talking to the police.
The real black eye here is the kind of support EJ received before she wrote her blog post -- most people can't write that well and don't have readers who will submit the story to HN.
Re: Airbnb Victim Speaks Again: Homeless, Scared And Angry
#17I was the main anti-AirBnB poster last time around...but.. I gotta say, something about all this now seems like it's a set up for a big fat lawsuit. I've never been violated this way (or anything close to it), so maybe I'm being insensitive, but this is crossing into whining territory to me. If you want to complain about a _really_ bad experience, a lack of customer support, and insensitive and money-focused founders…
Well, if it's fraudulent that's one thing. But if the story is entirely true, then who really gives a fuck what you need to hear?
Re: Airbnb Victim Speaks Again: Homeless, Scared And Angry
#18This is really crappy and airbnb fucked up big time, twice now. But... there's something odd about the way the victim writes, and I don't understand why it's jumping out at me: " bouncing between friends’ homes".. " clutching my pillow".. " breathing through panic attacks".. " scouring the city’s pawn shops".. " this too shall pass and I will be made whole again. "
She is just trying to convey her emotions. I think her style is appropriate for the situation.
Re: Airbnb Victim Speaks Again: Homeless, Scared And Angry
#19This is really crappy and airbnb fucked up big time, twice now. But... there's something odd about the way the victim writes, and I don't understand why it's jumping out at me: " bouncing between friends’ homes".. " clutching my pillow".. " breathing through panic attacks".. " scouring the city’s pawn shops".. " this too shall pass and I will be made whole again. "
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Re: Airbnb Victim Speaks Again: Homeless, Scared And Angry
#20I barely invite my friends over, why would I let a random into my house, even for $(amount)?