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Another Airbnb Victim Tells His Story: “There Were Meth Pipes Everywhere”

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Re: Another Airbnb Victim Tells His Story: “There Were Meth Pipes Everywhere”

#231

Post by rdouble »

fedd wrote: post #230
rdouble wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My landlady saw a crackhead in our yard but since SF is filled with zorched looking lurkers she didn't think much of it and just told him to leave. I came home from work, and noticed my apartment was a real mess and my TV was missing. Went to the closet and noticed everything was dumped out and an old laptop was missing. I actually found the laptop in a garbage can next to the house. The thieves did a few weird thing…

sorry, do you have metal doors there in SF? as we do in Moscow, Russia. the doors that can be opened only with the help of special forces

I'd guess that half the apartments in SF are in old wooden houses, with wood doors.

Re: Another Airbnb Victim Tells His Story: “There Were Meth Pipes Everywhere”

#232

Post by tripzilch »

cletus wrote: post #18

As much as some people might view this as "sometimes things go wrong", which is basically true, that's not the whole story. The story here is that people are doing things that in most jurisdictions are illegal. AirBnB is profiting off this. Do something illegal and you can't insure against any negative consequences. The whole EJ situation is a potential inflection point. Without knowing the full facts (which no one s…

> Why exactly is a vandalized apartment leaving her homeless? Is it too damaged to occupy? Does she simply not feel safe there?

Yes and yes. I'm assuming you've never had your appartment broken into and ransacked.

And reading EJ's story, it's somewhat worse than your average break-in-plus-digging-for-valuables. Same for the guy in this article, seems about just as bad. My initial thought was "sounds like the same people", but more likely the common denominator is "meth-crazed junkie binge".

If there's one thing you can blame EJ is that her stories are a bit of the rambling-longwinded-trying-to-be-a-writer-please-get-to-the-point sort. But that's neither here nor there.

What I don't quite understand is, I read that in order to prevent under-the-table deals (where AirBnB wont get commission), AirBnB won't let you communicate with the guest until just before they go there? Anyone got some details on that? Cause if that's so, they DO have some responsibility to make sure these people are trustworthy, preventing the subletter from finding out themselves. Maybe not legally, but definitely practically, ethically and not-being-a-bunch-of-dicks-ically.

Re: Another Airbnb Victim Tells His Story: “There Were Meth Pipes Everywhere”

#233

Post by jsavimbi »

tptacek wrote: post #174
pbreit wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well who knows what keys they might still have? Everyone i know has lots of keys and doesn't get all of them changed immediately.

Then they have the keys to a set of locks that have since been changed.

> I then traded the cat for the return of my keys.

Does that settle your obsession with the keys? The tweakers kept them.

Re: Another Airbnb Victim Tells His Story: “There Were Meth Pipes Everywhere”

#234

Post by jsavimbi »

Luyt wrote: post #191
jsavimbi wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You should see what happens when you rent to friends, or worse: family.

What would happen in such a case? You sound like you have experience with it. They stay forever?

They pee'd on the radiators before they left.

Re: Another Airbnb Victim Tells His Story: “There Were Meth Pipes Everywhere”

#235

Post by tripzilch »

tptacek wrote: post #68
timr wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"But there's something "off" about EJ's position here. Why is a vandalized apartment leaving her homeless?" Put yourself in the position of a person who has just had their apartment burglarized (remember: they stole her personal documents and valuables) and their keys stolen by probable drug addicts. Also, remember that the police have arrested one of the vandals, but probably not all of them. Ignoring, for the momen…

Most everyone on HN is going to agree with what you are saying: that there is a reasonable narrative in which "EJ" is unable to return to her home due to fear. As a recent victim of a comparatively pathetic "violent" crime: that is absolutely something you are concerned about. And that's before we even get to the topic of "can EJ repair the damage done to her home without diminishing the expected return from a settle…

No.

Even if she didn't "lawyer up", she wouldn't return to her home for feeling unsafe until everything is cleaned up and restored. Especially since she got friends and family to stay with. Especially since she's probably waiting to see how much AirBnB will reimburse her. And especially cause she's probably going to find a new place to live after all this and I wouldn't blame her. They defiled and shat on her home.

Now if she did "lawyer up", and her lawyer advised her to do pretty much the same thing, then it's all the same, right?

So what's your point? That she's exaggerating the condition she found her home in? Really?

Re: Another Airbnb Victim Tells His Story: “There Were Meth Pipes Everywhere”

#236

Post by tripzilch »

llambda wrote: post #219
ulisesroche wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, it wasn't when the inquisition came, it was in response to the airbnb post. We've gone through this already, llambda. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2823714 .

And as I've said, ulisesroche, that is one side of the story. No more likely to be true or accurate than the other based on the available facts. In your own words: we've been through this. How long is it going to take for you to admit we just don't know the full story? What will persuade you that it's possible EJ has reframed the situation just as it's possible Airbnb has done so as well? Your insistence on standing…

Well, Troy provided pictures but probably EJ's nearly-identical story must be false.

Right?

Re: Another Airbnb Victim Tells His Story: “There Were Meth Pipes Everywhere”

#237

Post by tripzilch »

fedd wrote: post #230
rdouble wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My landlady saw a crackhead in our yard but since SF is filled with zorched looking lurkers she didn't think much of it and just told him to leave. I came home from work, and noticed my apartment was a real mess and my TV was missing. Went to the closet and noticed everything was dumped out and an old laptop was missing. I actually found the laptop in a garbage can next to the house. The thieves did a few weird thing…

sorry, do you have metal doors there in SF? as we do in Moscow, Russia. the doors that can be opened only with the help of special forces

Metal doors are not really useful if all the houses are made of wood. Seriously.

I don't get it either, there was this fairytale about the big bad wolf, but I guess they must all think "hey at least it's better than straw", or something.

It's a really strange experience. You don't notice until you see the first solid stone house after two weeks of flimsy wooden cottages, it's a feeling, solid. "Stands like a house" is a saying in Dutch, meaning "solid as a rock", except in the USA it wouldn't make much sense :)

Re: Another Airbnb Victim Tells His Story: “There Were Meth Pipes Everywhere”

#238

Post by lawnchair_larry »

philwelch wrote: post #222
lawnchair_larry wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Slightly off-topic, but what's with Americans and thinking it is acceptable to run credit checks for everything? Credit history is not an indicator of whether you are deserving of sleeping somewhere for a night. Maybe a criminal record check.

Credit checks are great for verifying that someone pays their bills, which is an important part of commercial transactions. It also indicates responsibility and the ability to fulfill obligations.

No, actually it doesn't at all. And frankly, it is none of your business. It's important for giving certain types of loans, not for doing pre-paid transactions like renting a room for a night.

Credit information should be need-to-know, and you should be respectful of others' privacy (and perhaps more cautious of your own). You're nuts if you think I am giving you 7 years of address history, all my credit accounts, my spouse's accounts, and how much is on my mortgages, just so I can rent your guest house for a weekend vacation.

You can verify that you're able to put a reasonable deposit on my credit card, and that I'm not a criminal, and that's all you need.

I've actually been a landlord for about 3 years, and I don't even do credit checks on a 12 month lease. I've never had to keep a dollar of anyone's damage deposit.

Re: Another Airbnb Victim Tells His Story: “There Were Meth Pipes Everywhere”

#239

Post by anonymous »

What if the hotel industry is setting up these unsuspecting customers of AirBnB? They, the hotel chains really don't like this business model. Create enough negative press, a carefully crafted situation that will cause a busienss to fail and they you can cash in on how "safe" a Hotel chain is...

Re: Another Airbnb Victim Tells His Story: “There Were Meth Pipes Everywhere”

#240

Post by fedd »

rdouble wrote: post #231
fedd wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

sorry, do you have metal doors there in SF? as we do in Moscow, Russia. the doors that can be opened only with the help of special forces

I'd guess that half the apartments in SF are in old wooden houses, with wood doors.

i'd say, i'd feel unsafe there even if such a story didn't happen to me... or, while there are houses of thin wood, maybe you are allowed to wear/keep a gun?
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