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Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

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Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#151

Post by hklgny »

standardUser wrote: post #53
mholt wrote: post #22

I'm worried this ban will only affect honest hosts. Anyway, what Airbnb should really ban is hosts charging a mandatory cleaning fee when also requiring their guests to do the cleaning. We just stayed at one this weekend, and like almost all our previous bookings, the host asked us to: - Take off all bedding and towels and start a load of laundry - Do all the dishes and start the dishwasher (but required to hand-wash…

I've stayed at dozens of AirBnBs and I've never had an onerous list of chores or a noticeably high cleaning fee, so these complaints always baffle me a little. Are people reading the listing thoroughly? Are they choosing a place with lots of ratings and reading all of the reviews? I've definitely had some bad AirBnbs over the years despite my careful selection process, but my complains are usually about noise or a la…

I used to feel the same way, but over the past few months have started experiencing it quite a bit. I think it started in more touristy areas I didn't tend to go to, and now is spreading all over the platform.

It's a terrible experience. last 2 trips I've gone on I've ended up in hotels because all of the airbnb's had cleaning fees close to the nightly rate and an actual chore list for check out.

no thanks.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#152

Post by Scoundreller »

__derek__ wrote: post #142
usaar333 wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cleaning fees exist to charge a fixed fee for a reservation, regardless of the number of days. There's more overhead for a reservation beyond just "cleaning". The most consumer friendly thing would be for AirBnB to just explicitly have a fixed "stay" fee and a per-day fee. That said, AirBnB's site shows the total cost for a stay when browsing, so I don't really see this as particularly deceptive. I don't care how the…

Airbnb sellers can charge a fixed fee directly by setting minimum stay lengths or by charging different nightly rates based on the length of stay (e.g., weekly and monthly stay discounts).

What if I just want to stay 3 days and I’m willing to pay the fixed fee anyway?

What I do see is some booking automation that will dynamically set minimum stay lengths to avoid filling, say, a 3 day gap with a 1 or 2 day booking if it’s far enough out and set minimum stays to the duration of the gap.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#153

Post by eli »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #76
_yb2s wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At this point the cleaning fees are just a scam to make the listing fee seem artificially lower. People did the same thing on eBay by making the items almost free but the shipping expensive, until they fixed the eBay interface, e.g. by letting you sort by price + shipping and showing shipping fees before you click.

Cleaning fees aren't a "scam" - most property owners really do need to pay someone to clean the property at the end of a stay. But, as another commenter said, they can be used as a way to encourage longer stays, as with most places you only pay a single cleaning fee regardless of the length of your stay. But, again, it's just a fact that these rentals are usually just cleaned between guests (as opposed to a hotel whe…

The fee is obviously much more than they're paying the person who actually does the cleaning.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#154

Post by Scoundreller »

tentacleuno wrote: post #55
_yb2s wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At this point the cleaning fees are just a scam to make the listing fee seem artificially lower. People did the same thing on eBay by making the items almost free but the shipping expensive, until they fixed the eBay interface, e.g. by letting you sort by price + shipping and showing shipping fees before you click.

No, they've worked around that too -- now sellers typically include a [completely unrelated] 0.99p item as an option in the listing, which then moves them to the top of the price-sorted view.

Or on aliexpress, on items you’d usually buy multiples of, set the shipping to $cents for the first item, then it jumps to $$$ once you add a second to your cart.

Sometimes I’ve just bought individual items from several sellers as a workaround.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#155

Post by alistairSH »

cameldrv wrote: post #127
alistairSH wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you need to reserve and pay for a cleaning crew as if it was always a disaster. Yet hotels manage this fine - it's just baked into the price. I don't have a problem paying a cleaning fee. I just don't want to pay the fee AND be required to do 90% of the cleaning myself. I'm happy to put the dishes in and then start the dishwasher. I'm not going to wait around for it to finish and then put them away. I'm happy to pile…

This is the fundamental problem with AirBnb as a business instead of a side gig. The hotel has massive economies of scale in cleaning and other things, because they have dozens of rooms on site. If one room gets totally trashed, they just won’t use that one until they get around to cleaning it. If a guest checks out late or wants to extend their stay, they just put the next guest in a different room. Also the cleanin…

Absolutely, there's a lot more risk in renting a single unit vs a hotel. The fees should be higher. The check-in/check-out timing should be stricter and with more time in between. Etc.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#156

Post by ghaff »

notyourwork wrote: post #145
outside1234 wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Modern mobiles are not using frequencies anywhere close to those used by the plane for nav / comms anymore so this is not an issue (though your battery will run to zero as it frantically tries to find a tower)

IMO phone battery is relatively fine. I've forgotten to enable airplane mode on a few flights.

I try to remember but I know I don't always and the battery has been relatively fine. And over the course of hundreds of flights I've never once seen or heard a flight attendant come around to tell a passenger to put their phone into airplane mode when I'm sure that maybe the majority of people just ignore the instruction to do so.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#157

Post by bonestamp2 »

Scoundreller wrote: post #149
usaar333 wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cleaning fees exist to charge a fixed fee for a reservation, regardless of the number of days. There's more overhead for a reservation beyond just "cleaning". The most consumer friendly thing would be for AirBnB to just explicitly have a fixed "stay" fee and a per-day fee. That said, AirBnB's site shows the total cost for a stay when browsing, so I don't really see this as particularly deceptive. I don't care how the…

> That said, AirBnB's site shows the total cost for a stay when browsing This depends on which site you’re browsing on. I don’t think US does this, but you can browse the AU or Canada version and set your price in $USD because those geographic “editions” have to post the all-in cost up-front.

Yes, and I think the only exception might be California where it is now required that prices include previously hidden fees such as "resort fees" (and "landing fees", etc for airlines).

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#158

Post by booleandilemma »

mholt wrote: post #22

I'm worried this ban will only affect honest hosts. Anyway, what Airbnb should really ban is hosts charging a mandatory cleaning fee when also requiring their guests to do the cleaning. We just stayed at one this weekend, and like almost all our previous bookings, the host asked us to: - Take off all bedding and towels and start a load of laundry - Do all the dishes and start the dishwasher (but required to hand-wash…

A $200 cleaning fee is more expensive than a night at many Manhattan hotels. Actual hotels. With full service. Is airbnb even worth it?

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#159

Post by s1artibartfast »

greedo wrote: post #133
s1artibartfast wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get an itemized bill from the grocery store, but that doesn't make it a scam.

It's like putting a bunch of bananas in your basket, thinking the display price ($10 of course) is the real price, only to find out at the checkout, that it's $10 per banana...

Fees are stated up front, and completely to be expected.

I think getting shocked by cleaning fees is like getting shocked that there is a sales tax.. Every time you go to the store.

Showing the total with cleaning fees at the end is inconvenient and user hostile, but in no way a "scam".

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#160

Post by hn_throwaway_99 »

micromacrofoot wrote: post #122
usaar333 wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It could pretty easily be rolled into the advertised nightly rate. No it can't because the hosts are trying to charge a fixed fee per reservation.

If they need a fixed fee they should set bounds on the duration of stay. They keep shifting the burden to users when it should be on hosts. AirBnb hosts have had their hands on the scale for too long now because the company is terrified of a mass exodus of hosts (many of whom act just as entitled as your average landlord, who will beat every penny out of you). It used to be a much better service for the users.

But there aren't bounds on the duration of the stay. Many places will take you for 1 day or 4 weeks, and there is still just a single cleaning fee.

FWIW I think pretty much every vacation rental I booked pre-AirBnB (or, for that matter, pre-Internet) charged a cleaning fee in a similar manner.

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