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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

#71

Post by Fnoord »

brabel wrote: post #28

I hope the OP is well and managed to find better accomodation. If it was me, I would bit the bullet and just write off the place and check into the nearest hotel as soon as possible. But regarding fake hosts: I think this is standard practice on BnB. Nobody wants to expose their real names on Bnb and be subject to abuse by unhappy guests... unfortunately that's the reality of it. From the host's point of view, I can…

If you cannot trust your client (who pays you) to give you your real name, show a real profile picture, show a recent, accurate picture of the place (every room), or promise a discount based on irregularities then the customer gets screwed. They pay for a place, they depend on you once they arrived.

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

#72

Post by nathanaldensr »

hidelooktropic wrote: post #12

When I alerted AirBNB about a safety issue, they responded that they had completed their investigation (which apparently did not involve talking to me) and said the hosts were "elite" and basically took their side. AirBNB is not safe. https://www.businessinsider.com/airbnb-faces-thousands-sexua... https://feeneylawfirm.com/airbnb-spends-millions-to-keep-sex...

Thanks for posting these.

Forced arbitration is an evil practice that must end. This is an example of why. There are behaviors companies allow and even encourage that affect their population of customers as a whole (e.g., with increased risk to personal safety), and not just specific victims.

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

#73

Post by ceejayoz »

elforce002 wrote: post #58
mudrockbestgirl wrote: post #16

It's not surprising at all. All of these review-driven P2P marketplace businesses end up with the same problem. After the initial phase of early adopters that offer generally high quality products, a flood of fake or low-quality listing tries to squeeze money out of the platform. These people are not listing their homes on Airbnb, they are trying to make a living by extracting as much money from the platform as they…

My family went to an Airbnb (basically they were selling themselves as sort of resort) and when my wife saw she had to cook, etc... She was really mad. The listing didn't say it. Long history short, never again. We're going to resorts and hotels ever since. The extra money is not that much since Airbnb basically ramping up their prices.

I’ve never seen an AirBnB listing say you have to cook, because it’s assumed.

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

#74

Post by nathanaldensr »

steveBK123 wrote: post #68

This stuff is incredibly common in short term rental market. You are scraping the bottom of the barrel on landlord scruples. There was a recent fire in a summer vacation town popular with NYers. The town requires summer short term rental landlords to get a permit & inspection. The landlord did not get one. The landlord also had sketchy kitchen wiring that was probably some sort of DIY and not up to code. The landlord…

That is horrible. Let's just call it what it is: Airbnb are professional liars who use disgusting legal tactics like forced arbitration to sweep things under the carpet--all to make quarterly numbers.

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

#75

Post by tallanvor »

steveBK123 wrote: post #68

This stuff is incredibly common in short term rental market. You are scraping the bottom of the barrel on landlord scruples. There was a recent fire in a summer vacation town popular with NYers. The town requires summer short term rental landlords to get a permit & inspection. The landlord did not get one. The landlord also had sketchy kitchen wiring that was probably some sort of DIY and not up to code. The landlord…

I'm on the board of the Norwegian equivalent of a condo association, and I wish we could fine an owner every time we got complaints from other residents! Unfortunately the laws still have loopholes that make it very hard for us to hold him accountable as long as he claims to actually be living there. --In Norway you have to have a primary residence registered, and you're allowed to rent out spare rooms in your primary residence, even on short-term sites. We'd basically have to spend a lot of money to have a 3rd party come knocking on the door every night for several months to prove whether or not he's really living there so that we can take proper action.

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

#76

Post by jkepler »

mudrockbestgirl wrote: post #38
netsharc wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Makes me think that there's a market for a 3rd party website for reviews for AirBnB hosts (and probably guests). But a new host might not get any guests if they don't have a review on this site, and if the guests avoid them, then no one will review them. An idea would be for a host to pay a refundable deposit, and the website could indicate them as so, "We have no reviews for this host, but they have guaranteed with…

It's fundamentally a problem of trust. Hotels and big brands work because you can trust them. Why do you trust them? Because they have skin in the game. If their products suck their brand suffers and that's what they want to avoid the most. If Apple releases crappy products they can't just create a new "BtwNotApple" brand. They can sell overpriced products because you're paying for trust/brand. In these semi-anonymou…

> It's fundamentally a problem of trust.

Absolutely. That's where bitcoin could help a new platform, as a decentralized trust protocol. The bisq.network protocol requires people to put up significant bonds to perform roles that are trusted, and then if they fail to perform well, they can loose some or all of their bond. The bisq token holders (bisq tokens are simply colored satoshis, i.e. they've built functional governance directly on bitcoin) vote monthly on various governance proposals, and can thus hold people doing bonded roles accountable.

The tough question is whether such a system could make to individual apartment rentals in the real world. Its an oracle question: how to you establish the truth of competing claimed about the state if an apartment? Not an easy problem to solve, but if its solveable it could provide an amazing new marketplace.

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

#77

Post by short_sells_poo »

vertis wrote: post #43
sschueller wrote: post #14

If only there was some regulation for such services that would require some sort of standard. You know some sort of licensing by the state. /s This is what you get when you skirt laws, artificially lowering prices to kill competition and exploit workers. Stop complaining, it's your own doing for supporting this type of economy. Only because maybe some of those existing laws were cumbersome or outdated doesn't mean yo…

Artificially lowering prices? You mean basic supply and demand? The regulations aren't guests responsibility the hosts and airbnb should be compliant. AirBnB and competitors are very important despite their flaws. Standard rentals are too inflexible for long term (month long) travellers and the hotel industry is either too expensive or not designed for long term stays. As a digital nomad, I've had my share of bad acc…

The issue is that the service that you as a digital nomad enjoy turns the life of permanent residents into misery. Unregulated, private short term rentals are a blight upon cities. Is this a price worth paying for the convenience of vacationers/nomads?

There's nothing wrong with AirBnb in principle, but I strongly suspect if they were properly regulated and actually carried out the necessary checks, provided an adequate level of guarantees and service, suddenly their business model would be much less viable.

In effect, AirBnb externalizes the cost of their business to local residents and authorities, but they harvest the profits. They are not the only industry operating under such framework of course.

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

#78

Post by Nextgrid »

ThunderSizzle wrote: post #31
EZ-E wrote: post #18

I see more and more "middleman" apps such as airbnb or food delivery apps piling up more and more fees as they probably feel the pressure from an environment with increasing interest rates - without improving the service more than before. Back when these apps were released they were disruptive and competitive, but I wonder that in front of the increasing fees for a decreasing added value, the pendulum will swing back…

Personally, the pendulum already swang on food apps. I found it way too expensive and promoted too much personal laziness. I dont mind paying for a real service, but these apps have also encouraged tipping culture, which was already going crazy. Now everyone wants a tip. Just charge me the real cost, pay them a real wage, and if no wants to pay for it, then society doesn't want it.

In some cases they even stole tips. Given that the precedent of no significant legal consequences for such theft has already been set, I no longer trust the tipping feature even if I otherwise would've been fine with tipping.

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

#79

Post by mavu »

> AirBnB might seem like they care, they might seem like they have processes and teams in place to take care of you but they do not.

I am always surprised that people are surprised by this. This is what those companies do. AirBnB, Uber, deliveroo, twitter, whatever.

It's what they mean when they talk about "disrupt the market". Offer a service with the bare minimum of humans (underpaid as much as possible). No concern for communities they "disrupt", or their customers, or taxes.

They are the company equivalent of vermin infesting society.

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