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Illegal host, electric shocks, slugs, leaks and no support – How Airbnb failed

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Re: Illegal host, electric shocks, slugs, leaks and no support – How Airbnb failed

#131

Post by respondo2134 »

hfbff wrote: post #122
Loughla wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

In many markets the prices are very close, once you factor in Airbnb's fees, cleaning services and local taxes/levies. Airbnb is most useful for non-traditional stays, like a cabin at the lake.

Re: Illegal host, electric shocks, slugs, leaks and no support – How Airbnb failed

#132

Post by vertis »

elforce002 wrote: post #59
sschueller wrote: post #14

If only there was some regulation for such services that would require some sort of standard. You know some sort of licensing by the state. /s This is what you get when you skirt laws, artificially lowering prices to kill competition and exploit workers. Stop complaining, it's your own doing for supporting this type of economy. Only because maybe some of those existing laws were cumbersome or outdated doesn't mean yo…

Guilty as charged. I saw this and went back to use hotels ans resorts (they employ thousands and help local economy).

AirBnBs tend to employ people as well (cleaning, maintenannce, administration).

With many hotels the money is actually flowing out of the local community as the business is owned by a big multi-national. It's not really so cut and dried in favour of hotels.

Re: Illegal host, electric shocks, slugs, leaks and no support – How Airbnb failed

#133

Post by MikePlacid »

specproc wrote: post #66
mudrockbestgirl wrote: post #16

It'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!

> Hotels are great.

You got to be kidding?

Last time I’ve used AirBnb it was a 1 bedroom half of the house, shady, private area with a creek, private yes - but in a walking distance to the downtown. I had a full kitchen, an office place to put my computer and monitor in and a personal, fast Internet connection. I even had a shed to put my bicycle in without a need to drag it into the house. The host configured the lock to be the last digits of my phone number - extremely convenient without a need to carry a piece of paper even to enter.

All that for a hundred dollars a day - same as nearby hotels where you get a crappy little room smelling of disinfectant, just a microwave and a small fridge, and my bike - last time I took my bike to a hotel it was stolen…

> and you get breakfast!

Ok, now I see that you’ve got me.

Re: Illegal host, electric shocks, slugs, leaks and no support – How Airbnb failed

#134

Post by sofixa »

roenxi wrote: post #87
mudrockbestgirl wrote: post #16

It'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…

> They don't care if they're banned or reported. They'll just make a new fake account. Low ratings? No problem, just pay for some fake reviews. Sorry, just a quick check - are you saying that rhetorically or do you mean it? Because as far as I know AirBNB relies on getting a genuine address in the system to work, and that is difficult to fake.

And genuine government-issued ID, which is also difficult to fake.

Re: Illegal host, electric shocks, slugs, leaks and no support – How Airbnb failed

#135

Post by lambic »

Loughla wrote: post #99
brabel wrote: post #28

I hope the OP is well and managed to find better accomodation. If it was me, I would bit the bullet and just write off the place and check into the nearest hotel as soon as possible. But regarding fake hosts: I think this is standard practice on BnB. Nobody wants to expose their real names on Bnb and be subject to abuse by unhappy guests... unfortunately that's the reality of it. From the host's point of view, I can…

Can we stop using the PR term "host"? That is only valid if it is a space you live in and are hosting someone, like a guest. So I don't have statistics behind this next sentence, but my anecdotal data has shown that most Airbnb rentals are not where people live. They are specific spaces purchased and maintained for renting out short term via services like Airbnb. These are renters. They are renting the space. Languag…

This has definitely changed over time, the first few airbnbs I stayed in had actual hosts who were friendly and helpful but it's been a while since I've found anything that isn't just an empty apartment or the equivalent of a self-service boarding house.

Re: Illegal host, electric shocks, slugs, leaks and no support – How Airbnb failed

#136

Post by threemux »

As bad as this person's experience was, Airbnb fills a niche for me that I haven't seen anyone else compete in: larger (ideally detached) accommodations in non-vacation destinations. I have young children and having separate bedrooms is great when we're visiting family for example.

Re: Illegal host, electric shocks, slugs, leaks and no support – How Airbnb failed

#137

Post by rjsw »

VBprogrammer wrote: post #106
hef19898 wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What AirBnB missed was to include hotels in its listings, which would have allowed them to over a complete experience for travelers in general. booking.com started with hotels and included more AirBnB style listings.

Expanding into different niches like that is difficult. It's like Booking.com expanding into the camping market. They end up trying to shoehorn camping into the same database tables as hotel stays and it just becomes an abomination which misses many of the subtleties in the market.

I think Booking.com expanding into camping would work fine in Europe, most campsites are busineses with a defined set of facilities that they offer.

Re: Illegal host, electric shocks, slugs, leaks and no support – How Airbnb failed

#138

Post by codexjourneys »

netsharc wrote: post #34
mudrockbestgirl wrote: post #16

It'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…

Makes me think that there's a market for a 3rd party website for reviews for AirBnB hosts (and probably guests). But a new host might not get any guests if they don't have a review on this site, and if the guests avoid them, then no one will review them. An idea would be for a host to pay a refundable deposit, and the website could indicate them as so, "We have no reviews for this host, but they have guaranteed with…

Reviews of the hosts are already informally available in the reviews of the rooms and apartments. It's the number-one thing I look for when booking: the reviews should be raving about not only the place, but also the host. If this is not happening, or the reviews are mainly short and neutral, I don't book.

I did get tripped up despite this rule once, when I booked a private room in an apartment and arrived to find the host going on vacation. After he left, a massive mouse infestation stirred up by basement construction the prior week surfaced, and I escaped down several flights of stairs in the dark surrounded by a cacophony of squeaking in the walls. I think a mouse ran over my foot. I have mostly stayed in hotels since.

But I've had many wonderful Airbnb experiences in the past, and I do believe my one terrible experience was an outlier (albeit traumatic). I would have started using it again, but high-quality Airbnb listings exceeded hotels in price in my country, so I stick with hotels, especially since I earned status with some programs.

Re: Illegal host, electric shocks, slugs, leaks and no support – How Airbnb failed

#139

Post by stewx »

fareed79 wrote: post #21
mudrockbestgirl wrote: post #16

It'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…

basically, author expects calibrated minimal services, good support, and a minimal standard of quality. This is what you call a classic hotel/lodge. I fully agree with you, and those living close to these miserable BnB businesses surely would agree as well. This "model" is rotting city centers and popular places. AirBnB will never care about that poor lady. AirBnB will know how to make her anger disappear into the ze…

There's no good reason AirBnb could not offer proper support. Showing contempt for your customers like this is a choice.

Re: Illegal host, electric shocks, slugs, leaks and no support – How Airbnb failed

#140

Post by MichaelZuo »

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #109
netsharc wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Makes me think that there's a market for a 3rd party website for reviews for AirBnB hosts (and probably guests). But a new host might not get any guests if they don't have a review on this site, and if the guests avoid them, then no one will review them. An idea would be for a host to pay a refundable deposit, and the website could indicate them as so, "We have no reviews for this host, but they have guaranteed with…

> But a new host might not get any guests if they don't have a review on this site, and if the guests avoid them, then no one will review them. The new host needs to price their listing substantially below competitors, to the point where some poor bloke is willing to take a risk, in order to build up a review base.

But then won't they have to jack up the price, after earning a sufficient threshold of trust, to compensate for the huge losses their making at the beginning?

i.e. price their beds the same as hotels, or higher?

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