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Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

theverge.com

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Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#371

Post by kube-system »

GJim wrote: post #364
kube-system wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some houses have areas where it is fairly reasonable that people wouldn't be running around naked, e.g common areas shared with others, or rooms with a large amount of glass open to the exterior of the home. And in some cases it might even be illegal for you to be naked in those areas if exposed to others.

[flagged]

I'm not defending it, I said I understood it. I have similar cameras in my own house, so why wouldn't others?

Further, expectation of privacy are commonly accepted to be more complicated than "indoor vs outdoor". To suggest otherwise is just hyperbolic pearl clutching.

My two examples above are perfectly normal situations in which expectations of privacy are lowered.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#372

Post by MissTake »

klinquist wrote: post #359
MissTake wrote: post #341

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Give it time. I'd not be surprised to read that Air BnB are going to curtail this behavior next. The only reason you're doing this is to game the system. Be honest and charge more.

How am I not honest? The listing shows my cleaning fee and checkout list. Everything is transparent.

Be honest and build the fee into your rates.

Why do you not do that?

What is your rationale for charging it separately?

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#373

Post by ghaff »

EasyMark wrote: post #245
pjerem wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

eBay could have fixed this a long time ago. Most marketplaces (at least in my country) manage the shipping transparently (by taking the shipping fee and providing a pre paid label to the seller). Idk in the US but I know nobody who still use eBay for anything, I don’t know how they are still alive.

I fix old electronics things like phonos, radios, and other sound related things as a hobby and resell(mostly 60s through 90s). Ebay is still great (well "good") for old parts and selling my warez. Although I do sell more locally as I've gotten some word of mouth, and it's more business than I can do with my day job. Anyway ebay still works for older products/parts for electronics and I reckon other fixable things.

They're still sometimes useful for old parts and the like. But there was a period when I used them all the time--admittedly as something of a novelty. Now, it's maybe a once a year sort of thing. Global supply chains have made a lot of the used market pretty tough for things you can just buy new. (I admittedly work a lot harder to get rid of stuff than acquire it these days.)

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#374

Post by throwway120385 »

lazyasciiart wrote: post #253
throwway120385 wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you rent an apartment in my neck of the woods, then this is exactly what the law is. If your landlord charges a cleaning fee you can feel free to let them clean it up at the end of the rental period.

The only reason anyone does the cleaning is because the host can then leave a poor review. Does the law cover this angle?

Well, if I'm a landlord I'll often call two or three of the tenant's last landlords and ask them if they left the place in decent condition, if they were a good tenant, etc.. So there is a review system for tenants as well. I'll also use someone's credit rating and derogatory notes on credit reports as a proxy for how diligent they are at following a contract. And finally nobody here rents anything long-term without a very high-quality contract either purchased boilerplate or custom-written by a lawyer.

So yeah, the law and custom both cover this angle.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#375

Post by klinquist »

MissTake wrote: post #372
klinquist wrote: post #359

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How am I not honest? The listing shows my cleaning fee and checkout list. Everything is transparent.

Be honest and build the fee into your rates. Why do you not do that? What is your rationale for charging it separately?

First, note that Airbnb shows it "built into the rates" when you put in the number of days you are staying when making a reservation. See this article from 2022: https://www.theverge.com/2022/11/7/23444561/airbnb-total-pri...

But to answer your question - because it is a fixed cost per stay.

If you stay two nights @ $250/night, you'll pay an additional $200 cleaning fee (so that would be $350 night if I were to "build cleaning in") If you stay 6 nights @ $250/night, you'll still only pay an additional $200 cleaning fee (so it would be $283/night if were to "build cleaning in").

Airbnb doesn't allow me to charge a different $ based on the number of nights stayed. But they are showing an all-inclusive cost to the user when the user is browsing with their # of days, so there is nothing hidden...

and to your "give it time" statement, it's been over 5 years...

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#376

Post by autoexec »

digging wrote: post #350
bonton89 wrote: post #298

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you reliably find cameras?

There are numerous techniques needed to search but, crucially, nothing can guarantee you've found them all. I'm struggling to find it, but I read an article a few months ago where a team placed about 30 cameras hidden in a home and tried to find them all. Most methods found low single digits. Even the best ("an advanced lens detector" for $400) brought the total up to fewer than 20. Really wish I could find that beca…

I guess we can always tape up tarps to cover the walls and then drape some over the furniture. That won't stop audio from being recorded though.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#377

Post by therealdrag0 »

MissTake wrote: post #370
therealdrag0 wrote: post #353

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No the logistics and economics don’t work to run an Airbnb the same as a hotel. Why would Airbnb add regulations that make their customers less profitable or financially viable?

Er, because they can. And do. As evidenced by the recent changes. The point is, you should either charge cleaning costs and not require the customer to do anything other than leave it in a “used” state - or - not charge cleaning costs but require the customer at least does some basic cleaning. Charging and also requiring customers to clean is unethical in my book.

Pardon what recent changes?

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#378

Post by SergeAx »

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…

What will they do if you refuse?

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#379

Post by yabatopia »

ipaddr wrote: post #325
EasyMark wrote: post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've rented out a couple rooms in my house in the past for airbnb during special events in Austin to make some hobby money, shared my kitchen, they have a private bathroom. It doesn't cost $200 to clean. I can clean up after them typically in less than an hour.

It cost you nothing but time and some supplies. If you asked a random person to clean it, they would refuse. So you have to pay them. Minimums for cleaning would be 3 hours. At 50 an hour plus taxes and travel $200 doesn't sound unreasonable.

I think nearly all the house cleaners will be extremely surprised to hear that they earn $50 an hour. Even more, they get all their travel-related costs reimbursed! Oddly enough, that's not what they see on their payslip. And that's assuming they get a payslip at all.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#380

Post by scarface_74 »

klinquist wrote: post #360
scarface_74 wrote: post #352

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why wouldn’t you clean the sheets regardless after each stay? But everything else seems reasonable. If a host left a note explaining the reasoning behind the dishwasher and the trash, I would understand completely.

6 beds (comprising of 4 different sizes of beds/sheets) make it quite wasteful if a bed is not used. It already takes ~5 hours to clean the home.

I would take the side of sanitation than taking a chance on having used sheets on the bed
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