141–150 of 254 posts
Right now they are just hooking people up and handling payments. They could go from that to learning how to put in place the best verification/insurance/customer service/emergency handling mechanisms in order to beat competitors in service quality.
It's analagous to how paypal won payments by learning to be the best at handling fraud.
Just in case anyone's curious, CouchSurfing has been around a bit longer than AirBnb and they have their own safety tips and tools: http://www.couchsurfing.org/safety.html Here's the AirBnb page about safety: http://www.airbnb.com/home/safety CouchSurfing is similar in that it's about strangers staying at people's places. The biggest difference is that people let others stay at their houses for free. Usually both par…
That AirBnb page was added like a week or two ago in response to the EJ affair.
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This already happens on classified ad sites, people regularly go into strangers homes to purchase a wide range of goods with close to zero pre-checks. And yes people do get killed when they turn up at someone's house with 5k in cash to buy a car. Doesn't seem to have stopped the classified business from working...
Then why do we need airbnb at all? Use craigslist for hotels too. The big issue here is that airbnb claims from the start that they are more than just classifieds, giving people a sense of security which is false.
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"But there's something "off" about EJ's position here. Why is a vandalized apartment leaving her homeless?" Put yourself in the position of a person who has just had their apartment burglarized (remember: they stole her personal documents and valuables) and their keys stolen by probable drug addicts. Also, remember that the police have arrested one of the vandals, but probably not all of them. Ignoring, for the momen…
A home is invaded; robbed. Personal property is destroyed or stolen in the process. This happens everyday. Homes are cased, the victims watched, their habits noted. Ultimately they're broken into. In some instances criminals look for homes where the victims appear to be on vacation and set up labs. What do rational individuals do? They call the police, they change the locks, and they carry on with their lives. The di…
Where it has all gone wrong - is that AirBnB started stating that they were going above and beyond to help her after that first post. But, in the background, according to EJ, AirBnB cut off support and allegedly asked her to take her blog post down because it would affect their funding.
That is what people have been slamming AirBnB for - that ham fisted way of dealing with a victim. It's nothing about whether AirBnB is responsible for the crime (obviously not), nor is it about EJ trying to leverage a payout (not that either). The'outrage' is purely around either AirBnB's inexperience in dealing with a crisis (at best) or a desire to try and hide a flaw in their business model and protect their funding (at worst).
People commenting that EJ is lawyering up to maximise her benefits, or EJ is just lashing out to hurt people, or that break ins happen all the time ('just get over it') are really misguided arguments IMHO made by people who have not really read and digested EJ's posts.
Might have even been the same meth c[r]ooks. Kudos to Dayton for keeping a balanced perspective on the situation, and not equating customer service clumsiness with indifference. I like AirBnb. I will continue to use AirBnb as a guest. (Hypothetically if I were to be a host, I would only rent a hardened/rental-only property with careful assessment of the potential guests.) I am also still bullish on the general theme…
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Craigslist is a classified site, and it's had it's share or rapes and killings: http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=craigslist%20killing
Though interestingly, there wasn't nearly as much blame heaped on craigslist when this happened as is currently being heaped on airbnb.
i love the community aspect of couch surfing---the fact that it's about spending time with cool people in new places, rather than finding "a cheap hotel", is huge to me.
i get that there is a market for people who want cheap hotels rather than a community. however, there was a sense that you were getting more from paying more...like more security or something.
yet everyone in couch surfing knows the importance of community references, and to meet folks at a cafe before deciding whether to bring them over.
letting someone you've never met use your home while you're not there.....interesting culture screw up. i think adding a little money to the mix drastically changed what became emphasized.
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Craigslist is a classified site, and it's had it's share or rapes and killings: http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=craigslist%20killing
Though interestingly, there wasn't nearly as much blame heaped on craigslist when this happened as is currently being heaped on airbnb.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Craigslist is a classified site, and it's had it's share or rapes and killings: http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=craigslist%20killing
Though interestingly, there wasn't nearly as much blame heaped on craigslist when this happened as is currently being heaped on airbnb.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
"But there's something "off" about EJ's position here. Why is a vandalized apartment leaving her homeless?" Put yourself in the position of a person who has just had their apartment burglarized (remember: they stole her personal documents and valuables) and their keys stolen by probable drug addicts. Also, remember that the police have arrested one of the vandals, but probably not all of them. Ignoring, for the momen…
My apartment in San Francisco was burglarized in a similar manner,without the assistance of AirBnB. I did not develop PTSD. Based off my own experience, I also find that something seems off about EJ's story. I've found the internet's response at least strange as the incident itself.