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Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

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Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#61

Post by smelendez »

ransom1538 wrote: post #23
endisneigh wrote: post #17

In my experience Airbnb isn’t even cheaper, just has more “interesting” housing available. Back to the topic - removing listings isn’t a sufficient enough punishment imho. And how would you even prove it from the guests side? Take a picture I suppose? But how do you stop bad actors? Not sure what the correct solution is. Someone who wants to spy can purchase a spy camera which is very abundant these days.

"In my experience Airbnb isn’t even cheaper, just has more “interesting” housing available." I still, can not wrap my head around this. The idea behind airbnb was to rent out unused parts of your house. You STILL can not do this. Motel 6 is cheaper all day everyday. I will keep giving my $80 to Motel 6, but, I KNOW there is someone out there that has a room and needs $80. The original problem still exists. I can't pa…

My suspicion is those cheap single rooms were never worth it for the hosts once you consider the long tail of things that can go wrong.

One bad guest who upsets the other residents and leaves the property in bad condition will sap your earnings and throw off your life. Airbnb might eventually reimburse you for damage, but there’s still your time and aggravation.

Also any household maintenance issue, like an internet outage or finicky toilet or a microwave on the fritz becomes an emergency if it’s an amenity you promised to a guest. Even realizing the guest towels are getting a little worn might be a cause for panic. Motel 6 has a handyman on call, maybe the owner or a relative, and can take a room out of rotation if they’re not booked solid, but Joe Airbnb is stuck begging a plumber to come out on short notice or rushing to Target before check in time.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#62

Post by statguy »

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…

You knew this when making the booking? Why didn’t you book a hotel instead? Airbnb or the host have no incentive to change if people like you keep going back. They will change only when it starts to hurt their bottom line.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#63

Post by standardUser »

bombcar wrote: post #33
vundercind wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Airbnbs are amazing for: - Group get-aways where the point is being together at the place, not seeing the sights of whatever area you’re in. - Families traveling, especially when not staying in a city core - Trial runs at living in a place - Areas poorly served by decent hotels They’re bad for lots of other scenarios. [edit] oh and the less time you’re staying the worse they tend to be—stuff like cleaning fees and ha…

I've often felt a bunch of the "love" for AirBNB comes from people who didn't realize that you could do short-term rentals of entire properties before it hit the market (and where you'd go for those).

>> and where you'd go for those

Where would that be?

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#64

Post by scarface_74 »

digging wrote: post #12

Making small changes to policy like this will continue to have no effect on the negative externalities of AirBNB rentals. Will this improve guest privacy? No, hidden cameras are too difficult to detect and too easy to install. Will this prevent AirBNBs becoming party houses/apartments in residential areas? No, obviously not, since that's apparently already banned. Will this collect commercial taxes from investment pr…

You know what you could do?

1. Not allow Airbnbs in residential areas

2. Force each Airbnb host to list the address

You know, like hotels

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#65

Post by Ekaros »

cowpig wrote: post #14

Next they need to ban giving my personal info to 3rd party services. It's becoming common now to upload guests' personal info into cloud property management systems, and set up things like wifi with services that offer a discount if you provide guest info. It's gross and when I complain about it to AirBnB they do nothing.

As usual with tech companies, you are also the product...

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#66

Post by nick12r55t1 »

alistairSH wrote: post #40
ohnoitsahuman wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's hard to gauge cleaning effort: if a guest uses every dish in the kitchen without doing a wash up, they cleaning crew could be there for hours. But if a guest is tidy, then the cleaning fee should be nothing. The hard part is that you need to reserve and pay for a cleaning crew as if it was always a disaster.

you need to reserve and pay for a cleaning crew as if it was always a disaster. Yet hotels manage this fine - it's just baked into the price. I don't have a problem paying a cleaning fee. I just don't want to pay the fee AND be required to do 90% of the cleaning myself. I'm happy to put the dishes in and then start the dishwasher. I'm not going to wait around for it to finish and then put them away. I'm happy to pile…

My wife and I have an airbnb and this is exactly how we structure our check-out. It still costs $250 per turnover for a reliable cleaning crew to come and clean the 3br, 3ba two level house.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#67

Post by Cheer2171 »

statguy wrote: post #62
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…

You knew this when making the booking? Why didn’t you book a hotel instead? Airbnb or the host have no incentive to change if people like you keep going back. They will change only when it starts to hurt their bottom line.

> You knew this when making the booking?

You know about the cleaning fees at booking, but not necessarily the "rules" about cleaning.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#68

Post by colechristensen »

bombcar wrote: post #28
dylan604 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the punishment needs to continue to flow uphill, and start hitting AirBnB directly. If I run an operation that continuously provides safe harbor to people knowingly and willfully breaking the rules, I get in trouble.

It could be "solved" in some way by requiring surety bonds to be provided to the city for each rental; bonds that could be seized if malfeasance was proven (now given that it is a physical property, that can also be seized). I suspect that AirBNB (like Uber) will eventually split into various affiliated but somewhat isolated entities, primarily to avoid liabilities.

Or just by banning these unlicensed rentals and treating them with the same qualifications, zoning, inspections, etc. as every other hospitality business.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#69

Post by lupusreal »

throwaway290 wrote: post #46
ohnoitsahuman wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's hard to gauge cleaning effort: if a guest uses every dish in the kitchen without doing a wash up, they cleaning crew could be there for hours. But if a guest is tidy, then the cleaning fee should be nothing. The hard part is that you need to reserve and pay for a cleaning crew as if it was always a disaster.

> if a guest uses every dish in the kitchen without doing a wash up, they cleaning crew could be there for hours If it is $200 then that should cover 10 man hours of cleaning in a developed country. I had similar issues as a guest on Airbnb, paid a cleaning fee $100+ and then had complaints that I left food in the fridge (like normal a pack of milk or something not growing new lifeforms) and couch pillow on the floor…

Have you tried to hire a cleaning person recently? $200 will get a small apartment cleaned, maybe. For a thorough cleaning of a modest house prepare to pay 2-3x that at least.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#70

Post by lukan »

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…

"I'm worried this ban will only affect honest hosts."

EMF meters(like in the airplane to spot mobiles) are quite cheap and if you find an active one, you can probably sue the host, but at least reporting should have some effect, even though no instaban.

"If a guest reports the presence of an indoor camera after that, Airbnb says it will investigate and that it could remove the host’s listing or account as a result."

I do think that many hosts are scared of loosing the income, so they will comply.

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