Comment by kp98 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by kp98 | Hacker News Reader

As someone currently going through Airbnb hell, I’m really annoyed because on one hand a short term rental market is so necessary for so many people. On the other hand I despise Airbnb for enabling the following scenario: I rent an Airbnb in the Toronto suburbs, there is WiFi advertised, as a remote dev my livelihood depended on it. I get to the place, WiFi didn’t work, and there was zero bedding on my bed. I contact the host and he tells me he doesn’t speak English well (Chinese) but that I can just try fooling with the router. I do so. Another guest then proceeds to blame me for the broken WiFi and threatens my life (I literally have a picture of a note left addressing me on the router). I then call Airbnb saying I don’t feel safe. Airbnb legitimately sides with the host to my total shock. I sit there thinking what the hell and just eat the loss and rent the next place.

Airbnb is so supply constricted that it virtually always sides with the host. Compare that to NYC housing laws which are some of the most tenant friendly I could’ve written myself. So Airbnb screws individuals through various policies degrading consumer protection.

The world decided zero interest rates were good, so Chinese investors like the aforementioned buy places outright with minimal capital down and rent them out to local Canadians at a premium, driving rent and prices up. The result is that domestic markets have been brutalized and the rich have won in the zero rate economy, especially on housing.

I’ve had 8 Airbnb experiences and 4 turned out awful, the other four were fantastic. I used to think the company was amazing for building this new market now I’m completely jaded and feel bad for hoping this company rots

Before there was Airbnb, some people actually borrowed out their basement or spare room for free. It was called CouchSurfing and popular with students. At first, Airbnb was pretty similar and actually felt like sharing plus a small food donation. At one of my first Airbnb locations, I took turns with my hosts at cleaning and cooking...

Nowadays, all that good will and belief in helping out others has been replaced by an impersonal financial transaction. Surely, that has changed how the "guest" and the "host" interact with each other, and not in a good way. The "guest" is now a customer of paid services and gets treated accordingly.

I believe short term rentals should be organized by a government agency. That way, all the profits can be reinvested into the housing market instead of being siphoned into a tax haven by Airbnb.

After our recent month-long rent in US the host tried to bill us for some minor (and likely preexisting, anyways, who actually even tries to notice things like cooking pot wear on check in?) wear and tear in total for $1000 or so. Was a bit shocking since we are using the service for years and are far from destructive tenants. Airbnb sided with us and cancelled their request. What else to tell? Apparently Airbnb does not like to lose its own money, but also does not allow to extract unjustified value like that.

Even if you'd get some wear on your stupidly expensive handmade Japanese chef knife and overpriced cast iron pan and whatnot...why leave that in the place you rent out full time?

There's no way you get to 1000$ wear easily on multiple small things unless you have someone's making an effort to be trash or breaks a large appliance in which case it's provable and Airbnb probably knows it.

The story of someone getting scammed out of a lot of money like that can spread.

I have replied in the same manner: they should remove their petty items and include regular wear in the rate instead of bothering people with "$50 water stains" and such. Luckily airbnb also thinks so.

> I used to think the company was amazing for building this new market

I don’t understand what would make people think that a few programmers in SF and random people all over the world could provide quality housing? The big hotel brands spend tons of money on training and renovations and periodic inspections of each property, but a website that simply allows host and guest to rate each other is supposed to provide an even better experience?

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