I found the Airbnb: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/53946710 (or https://archive.ph/2fO1l)
Illegal host, electric shocks, slugs, leaks and no support – How Airbnb failed
121–130 of 427 posts
Re: Illegal host, electric shocks, slugs, leaks and no support – How Airbnb failed
#122Earlier quoted context omitted.
My family went to an Airbnb (basically they were selling themselves as sort of resort) and when my wife saw she had to cook, etc... She was really mad. The listing didn't say it. Long history short, never again. We're going to resorts and hotels ever since. The extra money is not that much since Airbnb basically ramping up their prices.
The last two times we traveled, we looked at Airbnb versus hotels. The Airbnb's were all ~$150 for a bedroom in a shared space with shared bathroom/kitchen/living room, or ~1000-~1500 for a house or one floor of a two-story house. The hotel was $325 and $275 for a suite style in both cities. To me, it's worth it to get consistent quality, guaranteed privacy, no questions about safety, and again, consistency in qualit…
And I prefer Airbnb because sometimes I can't afford hotels. It means you're richer than me. I'm glad there are offerings for both of us.
Re: Illegal host, electric shocks, slugs, leaks and no support – How Airbnb failed
#123FWIW I stayed with my wife and 2 teenagers in airbnbs this summer in Norway, Germany, Czechia and Italy and they were all great ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Same here, also europe, been doing airbnb and similar websites (before airbnb was popular) for more than 10 years and it’s been nothing but good. Went to a hotel this summer because prices were too high, kids complained how small it is. Besides airbnb, next is agro tourism, which is also great. Having breakfast at the hotel is nice though
Re: Illegal host, electric shocks, slugs, leaks and no support – How Airbnb failed
#124Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is a useful way to think about how markets/platforms evolve. I have yet to use Airbnb. But it seems that the target customer has changed. I have been aware of them since they first showed up on Hacker News. They were pitched as renting an airbed where hotels are not a useful choice. That target customer is a demographic that I had aged out of before they started. If they were still marketing only to very young p…
It changed when it turned into a big VC thing. All of the “Uber for X” models are fundamentally evil at scale. The founders vision is irrelevant to the investors need for return. The business model is to grow until the market is saturated, and then become one of the 3-4 entities that dominate their niche. VRBO chalked out the “vacation home” scope, hotels do their thing, so AirBnb dabbles in everything, but owns the…
It started as being intended for VC, right? I remember YC being an investor and Paul Graham saying great things about the founders. Certainly they must have been counting on growth. Did they plan to just capture every airbed? Or to do to hotels what Uber did to taxis (both good and bad)?
Re: Illegal host, electric shocks, slugs, leaks and no support – How Airbnb failed
#125Quite surprised by the amount of pitchforks here. I certainly don't think of AirBNB as a failure and I doubt most others would. Is there a problem with scams? Totally. But that's hardly exclusive to AirBNB, wherever there's a market, digital or physical, there will be scammers. This was the case for all of human history and it's on you to vet your stuff. I've used AirBNB for long and short term stays, in Europe and i…
Problem is not scam itself, but how airbnb handles it. If customer with 10 years old history, reports problem, it should by treated seriously. Not stole with "more proof needed" tactics.
If hotel chain electricuted people in shower, it would get fined and closed pronto.
Re: Illegal host, electric shocks, slugs, leaks and no support – How Airbnb failed
#126Oh my, oh my, how the tune has changed on hn and social media on this and uber.
Whereever people sense they can make a buck or save a buck, laws amd regulations be damned.
I have never swayed an inch off my view.
I knew first hand how this affects housing prices and wear, I live in a severly affected area and pay the price for it, literally.
Same for uber. Neither is cheaper than the previous thing, hotel offers better bang fpr the buck, uber has surges and exploits the drivers and isnt even cheaper. Nope, I dont qanna hear about these drivers wouldnt have a job at all without uber. Lol.
Just because some tech bros with sexist issues can make an app and a service without customer service does not mean jack shit.
Airheadbnb is being declared cosa non grata in more and more places, uber is literally outlawed in half of europe.
Theres your business, kalashnick and the other pajasos.
If I had my own country or my way, I would send these clowns to prison no questions asked, to, you know, disrupt them a bit.
Do not come have a shit in my place.
I am all for the strictest and heavy handed regulation on these matters.
Hotels expensive? Well, then stay at home or go to a motel or some cheaper destination. If its too expensive, your kin has no business being there, mate.
Taxi too expensive? Get a car, use public transport. Walk. Screw uber and the consumers of it.
I have sympathy for the drivers waiting in the dark on italian airports, but not uber, its a zero sum game to increase prices later on or to have a self driving fleet which then somehow makes this non viable business model good? Hell no, this is a deliberate scheme to burn through investor money.
Airbnb and Uber are the scum of the earth, its a shame the population let them get away with this stuff for a while. People are inherently and helplessly stupid on some things. In hindsight, its always easy to play the innocent one with a halo hovering over the head.
I wonder where the fierce hn defenders of these models are today.
Re: Illegal host, electric shocks, slugs, leaks and no support – How Airbnb failed
#127It's not surprising at all. All of these review-driven P2P marketplace businesses end up with the same problem. After the initial phase of early adopters that offer generally high quality products, a flood of fake or low-quality listing tries to squeeze money out of the platform. These people are not listing their homes on Airbnb, they are trying to make a living by extracting as much money from the platform as they…
Hotels are great. They create jobs, they don't distort property markets in the same way as AirBnB, and you get breakfast!
Having stayed in some truly shitty hotels I would have to disagree with this sentiment.
Re: Illegal host, electric shocks, slugs, leaks and no support – How Airbnb failed
#128Earlier quoted context omitted.
I’ve never seen an AirBnB listing say you have to cook, because it’s assumed.
“BnB” means bed and breakfast, which of course has lost its meaning with Airbnb. I knew someone whose family ran a small bed-and-breakfast (pre-web). I don’t think they cooked all 3 meals but they did at least provide breakfast and brownbag lunch.
Well the "Air" part is for air mattress, which is no longer true, if it ever was. The name was supposed to connotate a very spartan take on a traditional bed-and-breakfast. I've never heard of anyone booking all-inclusive travel through airbnb.
Re: Illegal host, electric shocks, slugs, leaks and no support – How Airbnb failed
#129Earlier quoted context omitted.
Artificially lowering prices? You mean basic supply and demand? The regulations aren't guests responsibility the hosts and airbnb should be compliant. AirBnB and competitors are very important despite their flaws. Standard rentals are too inflexible for long term (month long) travellers and the hotel industry is either too expensive or not designed for long term stays. As a digital nomad, I've had my share of bad acc…
The issue is that the service that you as a digital nomad enjoy turns the life of permanent residents into misery. Unregulated, private short term rentals are a blight upon cities. Is this a price worth paying for the convenience of vacationers/nomads? There's nothing wrong with AirBnb in principle, but I strongly suspect if they were properly regulated and actually carried out the necessary checks, provided an adequ…
It's always a complicated issue. Depending on the city/region, tourists can be the life blood. More than a few places that I've visited you're a welcome addition to the local ecosystem, bringing much needed revenue.
There is always a healthy layer of NIMBY, I want to be a tourist but I don't want tourists to come where I live.
Sure, they should be regulated, and in many places in Europe they are regulated.
Any business/housing has the potential to be bad for neighbours, which is why we have zoning and planning laws. Bars and nightclubs, industrial businesses, apartment buildings. Short term rentals are no different, rules and taxes should apply. Fines should be imposed for rowdy party behaviour (which is one of the more negative aspects of short-term rentals).
Re: Illegal host, electric shocks, slugs, leaks and no support – How Airbnb failed
#130They decided to ban me over a small misdemeanor weed charge from my younger days (6+ years ago).
For reference I have great reviews both staying and hosting in the US.
This was after an my first international booking when they ask for passport pic.
They let me know after I was in my room and told me I had to GTFO and where absolutely no help at all.
Been using booking.com, locations can be hit more miss still. The nice apartment I’m at now in Mexico City shower hardly works for instance.
Also it’s pretty much a meme now that hotels are about the same cost after fees and usually much better service.