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Airbnb Nightmare: No End In Sight

ejroundtheworld.blogspot.com

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Re: Airbnb Nightmare: No End In Sight

#101

Post by zachinglis »

danilocampos wrote: post #83
jrockway wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Writing well is extremely hard. It could be that the "second co-founder" is bad at writing rather than oblivious or indifferent. He did want to meet her in person, perhaps to lend assistance, after all. If he was oblivious, this is probably not the action he would have taken.

> Writing well is extremely hard. Please . Writing like Michael Chabon or Aaron Sorkin is hard. Having some basic compassion in how you interact with people is not. This email didn't need to win any awards — it just needed to have some minimum level of sensitivity. As I said in a cousin: "he 'would enjoy meeting' me" I don't think she really gives a damn in her current state what this guy would "enjoy" doing, is real…

I have to agree with you.

If someone falls over in the street, you probably ask if they're okay. If someone worse happens to them because your website failed to make someone safe, then you don't tell them you'd "enjoy meeting" them.

Re: Airbnb Nightmare: No End In Sight

#102

Post by LogicX »

pseudonym wrote: post #67
farrel wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not just the issue of accurate information. Hotels have a security infrastructure in place and the rooms are checked regularly. Had the criminals who did this tried it in a hotel there is a very good chance they would have been arrested straight away. They also have an agreement with the guest that the guest is liable for damages.

To be fair. I'd think a guest-liability thing wouldn't be too hard to work into AirBnB's infrastructure, although keeping the hosts honest is another question entirely. Thinking about it as a whole, I have to wonder if the proper response would be to have a host-to-guest feedback system. As a host, you can request that guests have a certain "level" of feedback, with the drawback of receiving a reduced amount of money…

They already have host and guest reviews and feedback. Granted, most people are new to the system, and don't have feedback. As an AirBNB host, I screen potential customers all the time, and definitely seeing positive reviews from others is helpful.

Re: Airbnb Nightmare: No End In Sight

#103

Post by urbanjunkie »

[deleted] wrote: post #97
urbanjunkie wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Be happy you don't get raped. If you do, we'd enjoy having a coffee with you. This should absolutely be AirBnB's marketing pitch.

[deleted]

So, by that logic, if I did get raped, I should be happy I didn't get tortured and killed, right?

Basically, nothing should ever bother me, because there's always something worse that could happen.

Re: Airbnb Nightmare: No End In Sight

#104

Post by [deleted] »

funthree wrote: post #14

A summary: As of today, July 28, I have received no confirmation from either the San Francisco Police Department or the District Attorney that any culprit is in custody for my case. I received a personal call from one of the co-founders of Airbnb. We had a lengthy conversation, in which he indicated having knowledge of the (previously mentioned) person who had been apprehended by the police, but that he could not dis…

[deleted]

Re: Airbnb Nightmare: No End In Sight

#105

Post by mattdeboard »

gojomo wrote: post #17
moonlighter wrote: post #2

EJ writes: "And I was - but no longer am - scared of Airbnb’s reaction, the pressure and the veiled threat I have received from them since I initially blogged this story." Wow. That sounds quite different from what Brian Chesky claims here: http://techcrunch.com/2011/07/27/on-safety-a-word-from-airbn...

'Veiled threat' is strong language not yet supported by the other details provided. It's not surprising that communication became colder after the initial blogpost. As soon as a company knows something is likely to be played out in the court of public opinion (or actual courts), there are new risks for them to consider in every interaction.

A photo op at a $10,000 check presentation would've short circuited all this shit anyway. AirBnB has blundered dramatically here. In no way have they handled this appropriately at any step.

edit: I say this even if the blog author is not representing the truth 100% accurately. A check and some photos of that check would've at least given people some positive news to latch onto. Instead we've just got her out here shooting AirBnB in the face.

This is the kind of story PR people put in slideshows at conferences and use to justify their existence to their boss. Absolutely classic public relations nightmare that has been handled in exactly the wrong way.

Re: Airbnb Nightmare: No End In Sight

#106

Post by funthree »

urbanjunkie wrote: post #103
[deleted] wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[deleted]

So, by that logic, if I did get raped, I should be happy I didn't get tortured and killed, right? Basically, nothing should ever bother me, because there's always something worse that could happen.

If you just crossed tracks with a criminal known for killing, then raping and torturing their victims. Then YES, you should be very happy that you avoided more terrible things. I thought this was common wisdom among people, but perhaps it is not shared by everyone.

EDIT: Look at the bright side of things.

Re: Airbnb Nightmare: No End In Sight

#107

Post by LogicX »

pontifier wrote: post #72

It seems like easy money, but being a landlord is a crummy business to be in. I haven't had an experience quite this bad, but we screen our tenants, don't keep our own valuables where they can get them, and take a large deposit up front. We have still had places trashed and had to pay repairs of well over $10k to return them to rentable condition when someone moves out... Luckily we have much of the tenants informati…

I would propose that being a landlord, and hosting on AirBNB have the potential to be quite different things. My father is a landlord, he shares similar stories of disaster. He also rents out in a low-income, remote area.

My AirBNB offering is near Boston, where 85% of my visitors are traveling here as tourists from far away. I keep my nightly price reasonable, but on the higher end. I ask plenty of questions about the visiting party, where they're coming from, what they do for work, what they plan to do while here, and I require a photo.

If I receive any questionable answers, they delay in providing the information, or just anything seems off, I call it off with that prospect.

I've hosted well over 100 people in the last 18 months for over 100 nights. With the exception of one of my first guests, I don't believe any of the people who have stayed with us are the kind of people that would cause damage, much less any trouble.

Re: Airbnb Nightmare: No End In Sight

#108

Post by temphn »

fletchowns wrote: post #31

He then addressed his concerns about my blog post, and the potentially negative impact it could have on his company’s growth and current round of funding. During this call and in messages thereafter, he requested that I shut down the blog altogether or limit its access, and a few weeks later, suggested that I update the blog with a “twist" of good news so as to “complete[s] the story”. If this is true it is downright…

Edit: bring on the downvotes! That's right, downvote a difference of opinion, and forget about logical or reasoned counterargument. Next time the internet lynch mob will come for your startup; hope that someone takes your side when they do.

----

Don't you think the CEO has to worry about the people he's paying? Who knows what their burn rate is; that funding could have been a life or death event, and in the event of death then a bunch more unemployed people would be hitting the streets.

And that wouldn't help anyone, least of all this woman.

AirBnB reported this to the police. They said they had someone in custody. What more do you want them to do? Go after them like Dirty Harry?

Dollars to donuts this woman is planning a lawsuit and looking for a payday. Not against the drug addicts who trashed her apartment, but against AirBnB. She rents out a room to people she's never met in person and then acts surprised when sometimes it goes wrong.

It's depressing to see the mob mentality here on Hacker News, and the extent to which Arrington delights in playing the organ grinder.

A pedestrian is hit by a DUI driver, does he sue or blame Honda? No? So why all the hate on AirBnB when it was a bunch of drug addicts who committed the crime? Sell them into old school bondage and send the income to her, by all means, but let's be real: it was the criminals' fault first, her fault second, and AirBnB in a distant third.

Re: Airbnb Nightmare: No End In Sight

#109

Post by palish »

Confusion wrote: post #100
danilocampos wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

EJ has demonstrated a keen grasp of English language, punctuation and rhetoric. I think regardless of her state communication is clearly her strong suit. What I'm saying is that I'd bet good money she knows what quotation marks mean.

True, but the rest of the point remains: you don't know the rest of the message and how well she's presenting it. That particular quoted phrase may have annoyed her so much, that it doesn't really matter anymore what the rest of the email said. Even though an objective outsider would say the email was otherwise decent and acceptable. What I'm saying, and why I'm responding, is that I'm seeing classic lynch mob behavi…

You're right.

But what you're missing is, it's not rash to be extremely upset in this situation. A woman's house was destroyed. Airbnb's response was to worry primarily about how she might impact their funding.

Personally, I don't want to live in that kind of world.

Re: Airbnb Nightmare: No End In Sight

#110

Post by dangrossman »

muhfuhkuh wrote: post #71

It's a sad state of affairs, to be sure. But the answers are simple, although it's going to be a real pain for AirBnB's "frictionless" transaction model. 1) You MUST put down a CREDIT CARD. Not a bank card, not a debit card, not a prepaid card. No plasticky no rentee. A major credit card to make a transaction. No bitcoin, no cash, no BS. Airbnb then puts a hold equal to transaction cost + 20% for the duration of the…

How do you do #1? The card you get with many bank check accounts is a bank card, is a debit card, and will auth through your payment gateway as a credit card just fine. AFAIK, you don't know what backs the number someone just gave your web form, only whether your auth/capture on it worked or not. Would they need to require a faxed copy of the card?
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