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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

#351

Post by ghaff »

lostlogin wrote: post #335
slivanes wrote: post #287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder if this is a chicken/egg thing? Host are charging this silly fee because guests were not cleaning up after themselves? Like at a cafe, it's socially accepted that you put away (bus) your finished utensils.

Just making sure I’m understanding you, at cafes where you live you clear your own dishes? I haven’t encountered this before.

You don't do your own dishes but it's common with counter service to put them in a designated container and to throw your trash out.

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

#352

Post by mancerayder »

ghaff wrote: post #310
mancerayder wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a real demand, but at one point the cost becomes too steep. The cleaning and service fees are being universally complained about. It definitely reduced some demand, especially since some of it seemed to have started recently - last year ? For long weekends, it becomes a very bad deal: the overhead of big service fees that are usually more than 1 day's rental, then you tack on the cleaning which can be 125-225…

>cleaning which can be 125-225 typically I agree with your point. Cleaning fees tend to make it hard to consider AirBnB for a weekend. That said, assuming the host doesn't just do it themselves, they're going to get a housekeeper in, rates are up for that sort of service, and that's about what it costs.

Then display it in the search criteria in the initial filter on the map view, instead of only when someone has selected the property and begins filling in dates.

It's a bait and switch by selecting which UI components are displayed in that search screen, and hiding the added costs ("service fee" and "cleaning fee").

Also, unlike a hotel an Airbnb host will give you a list of items to do upon leaving. And often passive-aggressively, "And it would be appreciated if you could put the towels and sheets in the washing machine for one wash as you leave so it's less work for the cleaning person" type commentary.

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

#353

Post by steveBK123 »

stickfigure wrote: post #262
nrmitchi wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A system, but not AirBNBs system.

It's unreasonable to expect AirBNB to enforce your HOA rules. That's a private contract between you and your neighbors.

No I think it is. A broker leasing a unit on an owners behalf would immediately confirm the lease is in compliance.

Why does a technology platform get to automate & scale in a less compliant manner?

Yeah, I'm sure the code is kind of hard to write, that doesn't mean you can violate laws & contracts, because the code is challenging.

We have so many examples of these platforms disrupting locals & human jobs to automate & scale globally, while ignoring laws, regulations, etc. Just because its easier to make money assisting illegality doesn't mean it should be legal to do so.

Look at all the work Banks have to do on AML/KYC/etc to make sure organized crime, narcotics, terrorism and sanctioned nationals money does not get to use the USD financial system. It's not perfect of course. And it's hard for sure, theres entire organizations at every banks with 100s or 1000s of employees responsible. Why does Silicon Valley always get a free pass?

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

#354

Post by aliqot »

pessimizer wrote: post #268
aliqot wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Holiday! Inn! Express!

A franchise is very comforting. All of those consistent, comfortable minimum standards constantly checked by employees from checklists; the excellent insurance; the ability to speak to someone in charge when something goes wrong and get a nearly instant reply... comforting. When I stay in them, I don't even have to wonder if I'm raising residential rents in the area (although I'm certainly raising commercial ones.)

You can give me an 80% product, and I won't be impressed. You can give me that same 80% product, but consistently, and I'll be your best customer. AirBNB can be great, but wow they can be very bad, and at the end of the day I'm too old for that type of shit.

Holiday Inn Express might have beds fit for a Baggins, but everything down to the fold of the sheets and the pen/notepad is the same every time, and I cansure appreciate that.

Last AirBNB I was at told me to just not smoke all the 'courtesy items' on the shelf left by previous tenants.

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

#355

Post by metalliqaz »

nneonneo wrote: post #277

I swear, we’ve gone over the hill with these dotcom companies. I stopped using Amazon and went back to shopping at my grocery store, Costco, IKEA, etc. You get to actually see what you’ll be getting, bring it back the same day, and know it’s not some fake that you need to ship back the next day. Hell, even the dollar store sells me better junk than Amazon does, and cheaper too. I stopped using Uber and went back to t…

a real wake-up moment for me was when I price checked something at CVS and it was more expensive on Amazon

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

#356

Post by MichaelZuo »

Dylan16807 wrote: post #322
MichaelZuo wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Competition from who? Every established, high trust, host will charge at least the minimum viable rate to break even. Anyone who charges lower then the minimum viable will simply never break even, given that the money spent to accumulate trust has an opportunity cost. The cheapest hotels will be priced about the same. Low or zero trust hosts can't compete against high trust folks without a huge discount as already di…

They will raise their prices until they are in the normal market range. That's different from jacking up the price "to compensate" for the losses at the start. They just have to eat the initial costs, and it will take a while for normal market profits to put them in the black.

No, because money has a time value, the break even rate will be higher because a dollar today is worth more than a dollar a few months from now. It by definition will cause the rates to be higher then they otherwise would be. This might be worth paying for to be guaranteed a high trust host. But that doesn’t the change the fact that the costs are shifted around instead of being reduced overall.

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

#357

Post by steveBK123 »

Dylan16807 wrote: post #327
michaelmrose wrote: post #282

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Basically even if it's not expressly forbidden it's an obvious misuse in pretty much any multi family dwelling. If your lease doesn't forbid you from keeping cows indoors it doesn't mean your not an asshole for keeping cows in your apartment.

As long as it's not damaging anything, why should I care about someone having cows? Damage is obviously a problem and not the issue at hand.

"As long as it's not damaging anything, why should I care about someone having cows?"

Noise, smells, sanitation, etc

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

#358

Post by mancerayder »

MichaelCollins wrote: post #320
lifeformed wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 225 in cleaning fees Ah yes, and then you read in the notes that you also have to do the laundry and wash the dishes.

There are almost certainly automatic machines for both of those. Throwing the sheets and dishes into the washers before leaving on your last day isn't an unreasonable request. It only takes a few minutes. (That said, fining somebody hundreds of dollars for not doing that is unreasonable for the same reason that the request is reasonable; because it's an easy thing to do.)

The question of reasonableness cuts both ways: the high cost for the Airbnb unit plus the added fees including the cleaning ones, and the lists of guest to-do items upon check-out. The two combine and quick it becomes the feeling that you're paying a lot more than a hotel and yet have a lot more servicing to do yourself. If there is a very high cleaning fee, it becomes increasingly unreasonable to ask a lot of your guests to spend time cleaning everything before they leave.

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

#359

Post by dorchadas »

archagon wrote: post #337
dorchadas wrote: post #307

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, they are accounted for. The issue is entitlement on the side of tourists -- thinking they should have access to all the local amenities and stuff they do at home, while on vacation. This was a problem, but it was never a huge problem, from how I understand it, before AirBnB. Basically AirBnB changed the expectations for tourists, at the harm of the local communities. > however there are times when you want an ent…

If a local wants to open their home to me, even if it’s a second home, why should that make me feel “entitled” to enjoy a taste of local life? (Ignoring Airbnb slumlords, which should probably be fought with regulation and/or Airbnb policy changes.)

There's rules and regulations against it, for one. Should locals be allowed to do whatever they want on their property with no regards to how it will impact neighbours and local economy? There's a reason we have zoning laws, etc, in place. There's lots of things we stop locals from doing because it's for the better of the community as a whole, and renting out short-term to tourists should be one (and, again, it sometimes already is but AirBnB allows them to skirt the regulations).

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

#360

Post by mancerayder »

tediousdemise wrote: post #234
mancerayder wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But it's also Airbnb themselves. It's well known that negative reviews are scrubbed and even edited, this is something many people including myself have experienced. Any doubts, spend some time on the Airbnb subreddit, which is run by hosts, and check out both their attitudes and their advice about how to remove bad reviews. Airbnb needs hosts for its revenue. Clients are the product. I used to love Airbnb and used i…

I bet someone on Hacker News can set up a website that mirrors AirBnB reviews as they are posted. This would prevent revisionism. They can slap vacation ads on it and now they have a stable source of income!

That's an excellent idea. I'd even consider paying a subscription for it (assuming I used Airbnb again, which I might with this service).

Could Airbnb challenge it legally though?

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