Airbnb “Bribes” Host with Cash Under NDA After Partiers Destroy Apartment

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Mar 31, 2017, 4:45 AM UTC

srtjstjsj wrote: post #203

tptacek wrote: post #87

The irony of YC's flagship startup forcing exploding term sheets on their customers is a bit much to take. [ ps ] Airbnb's statement concluding this story says that this interaction fell short of their expectations. Maybe they can go a bit farther. Can they commit (just a comment here would suffice) to not using the exploding-settlement tactic with their clients? Maybe all they'd really need to say is that nobody out…

AirBnB was YC's original poster child for "we invest in them because they are so passionate that can't be hamstrung by obeying the law, website terms and conditions, or being honest in general" http://www.businessinsider.com/airbnb-harvested-craigslist-t...

Post by mvindahl » Fri, Mar 31, 2017, 7:03 AM UTC

kazinator wrote: post #60

mikeash wrote: post #41

What's going on here? The first half of the story sounds like routine corporate incompetency. Representatives don't read your stuff, can't be bothered to follow their own procedures, and screw you over. Unacceptable but, alas, fairly common when dealing with big companies. The NDA is where it goes off the rails. He's entitled to that money, so why would they try to put conditions on it? I'm sure they're not thrilled…

It's not unusual for settlements to have conditions attached, which makes this NDA thing somewhat less outlandish than it seems at first. For instance, if you settle with an insurance company after a car accident, you may have to sign something which says "that is it", waiving your right to sue anyone for anything more. If the person is properly compensated 100%, but keeps talking, it can be argued that their materia…

Post by dmurray » Fri, Mar 31, 2017, 8:20 AM UTC

tptacek wrote: post #90

jsmthrowaway wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no settlement involved, because there is no legal claim, technically. None of the logic around legal settlements comes into play at all, so the devil's advocacy here is misguided. The NDA is outlandish and is clearly designed to shut him up and cover up the mishandling of the case. This might be different under UK law, but if he had sued you might have a point. Then I'd expect gag, non-disparagement, forefei…

I think the logic is pretty much identical. Abnb could, of course, simply refuse to pay anything. His recourse would be to the courts. The most likely outcome of that would be a settlement. The highest-dollar settlement would likely include confidentiality terms. The incentive structure Abnb is creating here is not great, though: if you know their settlement terms will include confidentiality, and you know they have…

Post by Asooka » Fri, Mar 31, 2017, 8:33 AM UTC

shados wrote: post #134

m-i-l wrote: post #122

Not defending Airbnb's behaviour, but this sort of thing happens outside of Airbnb too. I had some tenants (sons of a well known rock star) cause around £10K worth of damage to my flat in Shoreditch (plus around £5K in lost rent given the amount of time it took to repair) a few years back. In that case the letting agency I used was no help because they said it was a private matter between myself and the tenants, the…

With normal tenants, you gamble once every couple of months or years. With AirBNB, you roll the dice possibly every few days or more. It's the same difference as owner occupancy vs renters, but taken to the next order of magnitude.

Post by m-i-l » Fri, Mar 31, 2017, 9:06 AM UTC

shados wrote: post #134

m-i-l wrote: post #122

Not defending Airbnb's behaviour, but this sort of thing happens outside of Airbnb too. I had some tenants (sons of a well known rock star) cause around £10K worth of damage to my flat in Shoreditch (plus around £5K in lost rent given the amount of time it took to repair) a few years back. In that case the letting agency I used was no help because they said it was a private matter between myself and the tenants, the…

With normal tenants, you gamble once every couple of months or years. With AirBNB, you roll the dice possibly every few days or more. It's the same difference as owner occupancy vs renters, but taken to the next order of magnitude.