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Why Airbnb is dead to me

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Re: Why Airbnb is dead to me

#51

Post by danmaz74 »

vinceguidry wrote: post #30
deveac wrote: post #13

>Airbnb do not care about guests and their safety at all. I don't know. It seems like it would be a nightmare to sort through a he-said she-said after the fact when the offended party didn't even book a stay (instead the room was booked by some other person that is insisting "no, it's cool, I know them"), and furthermore didn't even report the apartment not being available when the issue occurred. It's nice that they…

> It seems like it would be a nightmare to sort through a he-said she-said after the fact when the offended party didn't even book a stay (instead the room was booked by some other person that is insisting "no, it's cool, I know them"), and furthermore didn't even report the apartment not being available when the issue occurred. It's AirBnB's job to do this, sort out these kinds of situations. It's not that hard to c…

AirBnB can't slap wrists of hosts without very clear proof of their wrongdoing - which wasn't the case here.

In a p2p system like this, it's the bad ratings that need to make this kind of dealings unprofitable.

Re: Why Airbnb is dead to me

#52

Post by mkw5053 »

ermintrude wrote: post #14

I had a bad stay with airbnb. I can't be bothered to repost the whole situation but their customer service was fucking shit.

Same here. They still owe me $500 (which they claimed in emails) and have since completely stopped responding to any emails.

Re: Why Airbnb is dead to me

#53

Post by notlisted »

icebraining wrote: post #23
notlisted wrote: post #20

Hmmm. I won't repeat my qualms with AirBnB. I'm afraid that this comment will get downvoted/banned in a bit, and like any negative post/discussion about AirBnB, the discussion will mysteriously disappear from the front page…

Do you have any links to those previous discussions?

I don't want to tick anyone off here, I enjoy HN, and have for a long time (over 6 years). Perhaps I don't understand the ranking, but more than once active discussions just went away, with low-vote/low-interaction topics replacing them.

I only see articles in my comment history from over a year ago. Search here isn't great, e.g. I can't find the article where PG himself commented on something I said.

Here's a few where I participated https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7923849 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7939414 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8222687

In this one I reacted to someone else with the same impression https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9332889 I asked for clarification on the policy, instead I got a downvote.

Since that time, I'm keeping quiet.

Re: Why Airbnb is dead to me

#54

Post by drzaiusapelord »

aianus wrote: post #41
bachmeier wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Welcome to the lemons problem. Information problems are very real in the hotel industry. Most of the customers have limited information. Akerlof (husband of Fed chair Janet Yellen) got the Nobel Prize for starting the literature. No, I do not have plans to use Airbnb. It sounded like a really bad idea from the start.

You're well-compensated for the risk you take on Airbnb, it's not like it costs the same as the Four Seasons.

Except prices gradually moved up from "hey look at this bargain" to being at hotel parity. I live in a trendy Chicago neighborhood and have people visit now and again. My spare room is in the basement, which is fairly unappealing, so people try airbnb. The rates they get are comparable to some hotels downtown if you do a little legwork on Expedia.

In places that aren't the middle of nowhere, there aren't a lot of savings, if any. Its a lot of people hoping the hotels get booked for some meeting or trade event and now tourists get fucked and have to use their shitty service, at the same price but no housekeeping, security, etc. In Chicago this happens every so often due to all the events we host here.

Re: Why Airbnb is dead to me

#55

Post by s73v3r »

pi-err wrote: post #17

TL;DR: friends had a bad experience once with Airbnb, will not use again. This is not about Airbnb as a business strategy or work place or UX etc. Speaking of UX, I do find that Airbnb does a pretty good job at managing expectations and making sure people find their fit (I don't have any figure though).

It is entirely about AirBnB's UX. Going to the rental is the largest part of their UX. If that's a bad experience, why would anyone want to try it again.

Re: Why Airbnb is dead to me

#56

Post by grishas »

Several months ago, members of my team at work booked various Airbnbs for a large conference in San Francisco.

We booked early to get a better deal, and I'm pretty sure a lot of Airbnb hosts didn't know the conference was coming up (or was that big).

As we got closer to the conference time, pretty much all of us had our stays canceled on us by the hosts. We were then forced to rebook at significantly higher rates. In some instances, even THESE got canceled by the hosts.

We're 99% sure that the hosts were given better offers and made the deals privately.

Having used Airbnb a few times now, I'm definitely seeing the benefits of hotels for peace of mind.

Re: Why Airbnb is dead to me

#58

Post by mattdotc »

icebraining wrote: post #48
aianus wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're well-compensated for the risk you take on Airbnb, it's not like it costs the same as the Four Seasons.

And the risk is overrated - if the host seems dishonest or the place isn't as described/shown, you can still check-in to an hotel. I find it depressing how this will probably go away, and people like me who can't afford to pay for a stay at an hotel will just lose the option of taking the risk. Hurray for the infantilization of society! /s

> if the host seems dishonest or the place isn't as described/shown, you can still check-in to an hotel.

When I am traveling - for business or pleasure - the last thing I want to do is scramble to figure out where I will sleep that night. I value my time too much, especially for a pleasure trip, to go through that kind of ordeal.

Also, you can save money if you pay in advance for your hotel. You won't have time to even comparison shop if you're rushing at the very very last minute.

So, I wouldn't say the risk is overrated, but instead that people can stomach different amount of risk.

I like to be well prepared and have firm plans on my trips, but I know other friends will just book the first things they find and figure out what they're doing when they get there.

Re: Why Airbnb is dead to me

#59

Post by archagon »

scottmcdot wrote: post #36
antr wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Back in May I went to Barcelona with a friend. We booked the apartment with Airbnb. Among other issues (the address Airbnb gave us was wrong, and had to wonder the streets for a couple of hours with no response from the host, then the host turns out to be a real estate broker of some sort)... once we found the place at 10pm, it turns out that the beds had no sheets, and the broker asked us for €15 for "fresh" sheets.…

The reviews were all very positive, so I think this may have been because the host has been caught up somewhere or has been busy with something. But it's still very irresponsible. I managed to find the host's Facebook and I would say he is around 24 years' old and studying at a university in Vienna. Had I known this, I probably would have told my mother to look elsewhere.

Yeah, the problem is that people review based on their expectations. A beautiful vacation home and a ratty student flat can both get 5 stars, depending on who's visiting.
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