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Just When I Was Ready to Give AirBnB a Try

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Re: Just When I Was Ready to Give AirBnB a Try

#41

Post by etherael »

robobenjie wrote: post #8

That was a very unfortunate experience, but in some ways I'd count it as a win for Airbnb. You were going to stay at this person's house, but because of their messaging interface you were able to screen them and realize that they were, in fact, a crazy person. I think it is very important to look at the reviews of people you stay with. If someone has more that 7-8 reviews, and everyone has positive things to say then…

I'm about to start hosting a room in Sydney for a while, any non obvious tips for new hosts? Should I make sure the rooms have locks? I'm leaning towards yes on this already because I think it will just make them feel safer and such, but I don't know anyone else who actually hosts so I'm pretty lost at this stage. Any advice appreciated.

Re: Just When I Was Ready to Give AirBnB a Try

#42

Post by tptacek »

makmanalp wrote: post #37
tptacek wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How well have pictures and reviews worked for eBay? And how do the standards for eBay compare to those for AirBnB?

I don't know about the pictures thing, but the reputation system works pretty damn well. I buy stuff off of ebay regularly and find that especially high profile sellers do everything they can to keep their reputation up, because otherwise they lose potential clients. You just really do need to ingrain into the community that a good reputation is essential, damnit, and don't buy from someone that doesn't have one. The…

I was under the impression that reputation on eBay was gameable, so much so that I actively avoid eBay.

Re: Just When I Was Ready to Give AirBnB a Try

#43

Post by chrstphrwrght »

It seems like the host thought you were stringing them along and has overreacted. I'd try to imagine how they were feeling before we call them crazy though, whether you book or not might affect them in all sorts of ways. Do they need to change their plans for the weekend to accommodate you being there? Did they decline a booking from someone else while waiting for you to commit? Are they hard up for cash and really need the extra dollars your booking could bring? They might be pressured by all sorts of things and just waiting for that confirmation email. For a weekend booking, still no commitment by Thursday would have made me a bit nervous as a host too.

Of course they could just be imbalanced, and that's a risk you take. Part of Airbnb's appeal is that it creates experiences for you that you wouldn't get staying at a hotel. If you are travelling with children, this might be less of a draw for you as safety becomes a bigger concern; you can minimise the risk by only booking somewhere that has a lot of positive reviews and a good feel to it.

Re: Just When I Was Ready to Give AirBnB a Try

#44

Post by nostrademons »

netcan wrote: post #23
DevX101 wrote: post #12

Prediction: Someone will eventually get assaulted or worse at a host's place. The media will then take that incident and run headlines like "The AirBNB rapist", "AirBNB, Is it SAFE??". Local mayors urged by hotel campaign donors will launch an aggressive campaign against the company based on this one incident in tens of thousands.

"However, it’s (the internet) very new to us. Newsreaders still feel it is worth a special and rather worrying mention if, for instance, a crime was planned by people ‘over the Internet.’ They don’t bother to mention when criminals use the telephone or the M4, or discuss their dastardly plans ‘over a cup of tea,’ though each of these was new and controversial in their day" Douglas Adams, 1999 http://www.douglasadams.…

Nowadays, people are plotting revolutions and toppling governments "over the Internet". So if anything, it's just gotten worse.

Re: Just When I Was Ready to Give AirBnB a Try

#45

Post by makmanalp »

tptacek wrote: post #42
makmanalp wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know about the pictures thing, but the reputation system works pretty damn well. I buy stuff off of ebay regularly and find that especially high profile sellers do everything they can to keep their reputation up, because otherwise they lose potential clients. You just really do need to ingrain into the community that a good reputation is essential, damnit, and don't buy from someone that doesn't have one. The…

I was under the impression that reputation on eBay was gameable, so much so that I actively avoid eBay.

How so? I think you can trick people into reviewing before they get their item by prompting feedback with an email, but not everyone falls for that and also it's sort of hard to gather substantial reputation like that (100+)

Re: Just When I Was Ready to Give AirBnB a Try

#46

Post by clukezic »

Hey Erik,

I'm very sorry that you had this experience on Airbnb. However, I'm very glad that it has come to our attention.

Airbnb operates as a trusted community marketplace that thrives on community engagement, not anonymity. Building trust is not an easy mission, but it is a mission to which we very are committed. We have very stringent quality and conduct control standards that we require both hosts and guests to abide by. We rely heavily on direct feedback from our users through our community support team and transaction based reviews in order to remain a trusted place for people from around the world to book, list and discover unique spaces. We find the behavior of this host to be unacceptable and have since followed up with them directly. We invite anyone who has similar experiences to reach out to us directly in these instances, which we take very seriously.

As mentioned by someone else, taking payments offline is not something we allow our hosts to do. Hosts, if they so require it, have the ability to charge cleaning fees and security deposits through our service, allowing the guest a seamless, safe and secure booking experience. Our payment process was designed to prevent fraud and scams which are rampant on other sites, where payments are often sent through the mail between strangers, with no recourse.

Instances like this remind us that we have a long way to go to making Airbnb the best place in the world for people to find the space they need. While we are disappointed that you had a bad experience, we truly appreciate your honest feedback, which challenges us to keep building to achieve our mission.

Christopher Lukezic, Airbnb employee

Re: Just When I Was Ready to Give AirBnB a Try

#47

Post by joebottherobot »

tptacek wrote: post #17

We were/are planning on using AirBnB to book a place for us and the kids in NYC. This is exactly the kind of thing that will keep us from doing it. Note that you don't even have to be a psychopath to create a nuclear problem for our trip; all you have to do is, at the last minute, decide "your profile is too hidden!" and cancel our room, so that we show up and have no place to stay. I reallllly want this service to w…

I really believe that Airbnb is far safer than VRBO. With VRBO you are exchanging personal information and money directly with an unknown 3rd party. In contrast, Airbnb has a trusted reputation system and handles all payments (i.e., both guest and host have verified financial accounts in order for money to be transfered). Airbnb even witholds payment to the host until 24 hours after you check-in, giving you time to contact customer service if you're not getting what you signed-up for.

Re: Just When I Was Ready to Give AirBnB a Try

#49

Post by joebottherobot »

p09p09p09 wrote: post #10

The worst enemy an online community has are trolls. The worst enemy an online community like AirBnB has are psychos and serial killers. I really don't get this startup. Might as well post "I need somewhere to crash" on Craigslist.

Staying on Airbnb is really quite different than crashing somewhere on Craigslist.

Airbnb: - has a fair reputation system with real user reviews - handles all payments - withholds payment to the host until 24 hours after your stay begins - has 24 hour customer service line to help

With Craigslist: - there's no reputation system - you have to coordinate payments directly with an unknown 3rd party - there's no one you can call

I haven't even gone into the differences in how Airbnb facilitates your search for accommodations. Airbnb and Craigslist are fundamentally different services.

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