Introducing Airbnb Plus • Hacker News Board

Re: Introducing Airbnb Plus

#171

Post by CaptainZapp » Fri, Feb 23, 2018, 9:55 AM UTC

epanchin wrote: post #41

Gys wrote: post #5

Airbnb is trying to make more money by offering experiences (events that generally seem very expensive to me) and moving to a more high-end branding. If I open the website I mostly see the more exclusive places first. I think this opens opportunities at the bottom. A website that focusses on functionality and cheaper rooms. The public is now familiar with the concept. Some people do not want to pay above hotel prices…

I agree there’s room for a lower end competitor. I used to rent out a room on Airbnb, it was a great experience. Both renting and staying I met cool people, as they were often keen to chat or hang out. And cheaper than a hotel, usually hostel prices. I never minded that staying in someone’s house would often mean a haphazardly tidied room with no available cupboard space. Fast forwards a few years and I rent out a sp…

  what are their fees even for?

If you're referring to the resort fee I've only ever heard that that's charged by hotels in the US and I think it's a scam.

I've never ever encountered mandatory fees for (often shitty) WiFi and a daily paper, which I don't want. Some hotels (usually at the upper scale) may charge for WiFi if I chose to use it, but won't just tack it to the bill if I don't.

Offering a low price to then switch to a higher price, which is not even visible when you book, but only when you're about to use the service and can't turn back without penalty is a bait and switch it's fraud; plain and simple.

I don't get why the law doesn't hammer down hard on such practices.

Re: Introducing Airbnb Plus

#172

Post by CaptainZapp » Fri, Feb 23, 2018, 10:03 AM UTC

apetresc wrote: post #170

ultraflux wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This often only happens in Cities where Airbnb is either illegal or is fighting with local cities.

Exactly - in which case, I don't understand why AirBNB allows listings in those places, or at least warn you. It's a terrible user experience to find out you're an unwitting co-conspirator in someone else's crime.

Because they don't give a shit. They make money on the rental anyway and as long it doesn't threaten to wind up with terrible PR or cost them tangible money why would they care?

I used AirBnB twice in Japan and booked a couple experiences (which I thought were really expensive for what they were) and I always cringed at their email sig :

From AirBnb with Love

It's not about spreading love. It's about a pretty ruthless business. Externalities be damned.

Re: Introducing Airbnb Plus

#173

Post by kelnos » Sat, Feb 24, 2018, 11:08 AM UTC

calbear81 wrote: post #131

kelnos wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for the clarification. In this case, I don't see why anyone would ever hesitate to leave a negative review or feedback if they've had a bad time. The parent who claimed he always leaves a positive review regardless of the experience is just admitting to being part of the problem.

I think review inflation is a problem in general across any service where there might be a more human/personal interaction element where you might feel compelled to be nicer or more generous. It's very different than buying a product from a retailer or rating a product from a company you've never had a direct personal interaction with. I think for most of us, it's in our human nature to be more generous unless there'…

I think it depends on what the bad experience has cost you, and about the dynamics about the particular platform/system.

If I have a bad Lyft ride, I usually won't rate any lower than 4 stars, because of exactly what you're talking about, and because I know that an average rating of below something in the mid-4s can get a driver "fired". The ride may have been sub-par, but its purpose (getting me from A to B) has been fulfilled, and that's that. It's also probably on the order of single- or low-double-digit dollars, so I didn't spend too much on the bad experience. And again, the actual purpose of spending that money has been fulfilled. (Now, if a driver is actually driving unsafely, they get 1 star, plus an email to Lyft customer service, no matter what.)

If I've planned a vacation, however, and the Airbnb ended up being a bad experience, I'm absolutely going to write a bad review. I've likely spent a decent chunk of change on it, and I'm specifically spending that money (plus the money spent for transportation to get to this place) to have a good time. If the accommodations aren't as promised, and it impacts my ability to have a good time, then I'll leave an honest negative review because I haven't gotten the value I expected for that money.

I rented a place in Tahoe for New Years this year that ended up having some significant negatives. My friends and I still had a good time overall, but having to deal with the issues was frustrating and definitely detracted from our fun. It wasn't through Airbnb, so I left a detailed negative review of the management company on Yelp. I didn't feel bad about this; the people from the company I interacted with were friendly and attempted to be helpful (but fell a bit short in execution), but the cleanliness and condition of the property was below what I expected, so... bad review.

Re: Introducing Airbnb Plus

#174

Post by kelnos » Sat, Feb 24, 2018, 11:16 AM UTC

splintercell wrote: post #154

calbear81 wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Airbnb employee here: both parties have to leave a review before you can both see the review posted to prevent retaliatory reviews. Also, you can leave public feedback, private feedback, and feedback to Airbnb if you have specific issues with the guest/host that you want us to address.

Quoting myself from other place: > My reason for not writing a negative review is because before staying at their place we exchanged phone numbers and other things, and now I don't feel comfortable writing a negative review and possibly having a confrontation. YMMV but I avoid writing negative reviews despite the 'double blind' review system. Despite the double blind system, AirBnb's review system still requires you…

Ok, that's completely different. If you don't feel physically safe about leaving a bad review, then you absolutely did the right thing. (Ignoring for a moment that it's pretty bad that you ended up in that position.)

The rest of what you're describing is definitely tricky. The host made you guys whole by offering an extra, unexpected benefit that was worth a great deal to you. I think you're absolutely justified in giving them points for that; it's maybe even a tacit admission that they might have known they let you down on amenities and offered to go above and beyond in a different dimension to make up for it.

However (assuming for a minute that you weren't worried about a confrontation), wouldn't it make sense to just give a high star rating that reflected your overall experience (sure, you might dock a star for the missing amenities, but then add it back for helping you out with luggage storage at the end), and then in the free-form text, describe both those negatives, and the positives as well? The host would hopefully be able to take the criticism constructively as intended, and future potential guests would also note that the host can be incredibly accommodating in the face of extraordinary needs.