Our Commitment to Trust & Safety • Hacker News Board

Re: Our Commitment to Trust & Safety

#131

Post by statictype » Tue, Aug 02, 2011, 1:25 AM UTC

swombat wrote: post #15

scarmig wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The point of that article was more that this had hit CNN than any new information about the event itself. Pretty meta, but not unreasonable.

Worth noting that my original title said just that ("Airbnb horror" story hits CNN) - and that this was corrected by a mod or automated process within a minute of posting... but not instantly. And from http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2834426 I hear that EJ's story was also retitled to be less enticing. Sounds like some nice double-standard going on here, considering this one maintains its title. I'm sure it will…

Even if it is because they favored YC startups - so what? This message board is run by the founder of YC and isn't meant for posting sensational articles whenever one of their companies gets caught in the spotlight.

Re: Our Commitment to Trust & Safety

#132

Post by statictype » Tue, Aug 02, 2011, 1:27 AM UTC

cosgroveb wrote: post #9

A $50,000 guarantee seems a bit low. Condos in OK neighborhoods here in Chicago start at around 200K so theoretically a lot more than 50K in damage could be done.

If you're worried about completely having to rebuild your 200K+ house, maybe you shouldn't be using AirBnB?

I don't use AirBnB - not because I don't trust them but because I don't trust random strangers to use my home. But that's just me.

Re: Our Commitment to Trust & Safety

#133

Post by Duff » Tue, Aug 02, 2011, 1:34 AM UTC

biturd wrote: post #105

Anyone else think bringing on a 10 year veteran of eBay support is a bad idea. I don't know of a single case in which I heard eBay helped the end user in support. eBay is probably on the top 5 of worst customer support experiences of any dot com.

I thought the same thing. I cannot think of a company that more flagrantly demonstrates their disdain for customers every day more than eBay.

Re: Our Commitment to Trust & Safety

#134

Post by Duff » Tue, Aug 02, 2011, 1:37 AM UTC

shoota wrote: post #86

drgath wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True. I was just thinking of typical airbnb apartment rentals, where the property owner only owns the "walls-in" portion of the unit.

Yet a renter will still be held responsible by the owners of the building if anything outside of their possessions is destroyed.

Only if they are negligent or worse. Landlords carry insurance on the structure. Tenants are responsible for contents of their apartment.

Hopefully if you rent and use Airbnb, you have a renter's insurance policy with high liability limits.

Re: Our Commitment to Trust & Safety

#135

Post by waterlesscloud » Tue, Aug 02, 2011, 1:50 AM UTC

Glad they did this, though I expect it to be quite thorny in practice.

For example, what about cases where they can positively identify the renter who was responsible?

That's bound to be the vast majority of incidents.

Are they going to pay out in those cases?

Or leave it to the owner to pursue in court themselves?

This is a good solid step, but it's only one piece of a comprehensive policy.

Re: Our Commitment to Trust & Safety

#136

Post by bane » Tue, Aug 02, 2011, 1:51 AM UTC

Well done. I'm sure it's been a difficult learning process, but this was most definitely the kind of humble, unconditional apology, followed by a set of hard action items that I wish more businesses followed.

It tales big people to acknowledge a screw up, apologize for it, and work hard to make it right.

Re: Our Commitment to Trust & Safety

#137

Post by alohahacker » Tue, Aug 02, 2011, 1:54 AM UTC

wheels wrote: post #98

So, this is a totally superficial comment, but here we go. Brian, as part of all of this crisis stuff, I think it's time to have a new profile picture taken. One where you don't look so, how should I say... 20. From rough calculation, I'm only a couple years older, but one thing that's stood out for me visually in all of this is that ... well, let's just say that it's one of those times where looking like the young s…

this is so true. i was thinking the exact thing especially in all his pics on techcrunch.

perception is everything and all those pics give the reader a different image for sure. more cocky, im the man kind of image.

its just that the pics dont seem right for the situation.

on a side note...i think hes a good looking dude (no homo of course lol)

Re: Our Commitment to Trust & Safety

#138

Post by rsbrown » Tue, Aug 02, 2011, 2:20 AM UTC

wheels wrote: post #98

So, this is a totally superficial comment, but here we go. Brian, as part of all of this crisis stuff, I think it's time to have a new profile picture taken. One where you don't look so, how should I say... 20. From rough calculation, I'm only a couple years older, but one thing that's stood out for me visually in all of this is that ... well, let's just say that it's one of those times where looking like the young s…

I was very surprised to read your comment. Mainly because I also received a very negative first impression from his profile photo, but I thought it was just me.

The post itself was great. Since Airbnb is mostly waging a battle of perception in all of this, then the image presented by the CEO's profile picture is actually a relevant issue in this discussion.

Good call.

Re: Our Commitment to Trust & Safety

#139

Post by nikhilpandit » Tue, Aug 02, 2011, 2:24 AM UTC

rdl wrote: post #48

I'm impressed. This goes beyond what was reasonable to expect, and goes a long way toward resolving the issue. It's interesting that 1-15 August is now the only uncovered period. They should also let everyone cancel all reservations during that window without penalty, if they'd like.

I think the phrasing makes it look like the 1st to 15th August period is uncovered, but it actually is covered. See: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2834589

Re: Our Commitment to Trust & Safety

#140

Post by rsbrown » Tue, Aug 02, 2011, 2:24 AM UTC

mashmac2 wrote: post #4

Well, this certainly drags AirBnb into the eBay and PayPal sized fraud prevention industry... and I wonder how this will affect the vibe of the website. Certainly, AirBnB will survive this ordeal, and gain more name recognition from this event. Hopefully it doesn't do things like kill their profit margins or harm the ease of renting through AirBnb.

Implementing a 24-hour customer service phone line for their host partners immediately puts Airbnb head-and-shoulders above eBay and PayPal in the trust and reliability department.