5 ms·

> 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

> 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 come up with a 'nuclear option' to exercise in these situations, where the customer can get a resolution and the host gets a sharp enough slap on the wrist to where it's unprofitable to build a business out of bilking people on AirBnB's platform. Seems to me that there might be a bit of a leadership vacuum at the company, running AirBnB in as many countries as they're running it in, I imagine not all of the outfits are going to be fully competent. If not even Twitter escalation is solving the problem though, maybe its the executives sleeping at the wheel.

danmaz74 11y ago
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.
- jellicle 11y ago
  Oh, that's not true at all. Ebay showed - and the writer of this article realizes - that you can fuck sellers around all day long. AirBNB could implement a "if any customer complains, for any reason, the landlord doesn't get paid" 100% guarantee policy, and the landlords would have to take it. They not only don't need "very clear proof", they don't need any proof at all.
  - ghaff 11y ago
    That does require however, for better or worse, a deliberate decision to operate in that manner. Certainly many eBay sellers, many of whom were doubtless perfectly respectable, became very disillusioned with eBay once they tilted in that direction.
    - vinceguidry 11y ago
      Being that AirBnB is in the customer service field, not really a true marketplace, a customer-centric dispute policy makes total sense. Hosts that can't grasp the concept of "make your customers happy" are only going to hurt the overall AirBnB brand and should be sussed out and expelled quickly.
      - ghaff 11y ago
        Oh, I have no disagreement that the default should be to err on the side of keeping customers (renters) happy or at least mitigating unhappiness. At the same time, that doesn't mean that the customer, however unreasonable, is always right. Even hotel chains with great reputations for customer service aren't going to give out refunds like popcorn to every guest who asks for their money back for random trivial reasons. So there's always going to be some judgment involved at the margins especially when the facts are unclear.
      - notahacker 11y ago
        The main difference between being in the customer service field rather than a true marketplace is that people are far more likely to complain - reasonably or otherwise - about service than goods they've received. Especially when the customer is used to experiencing (and paying more for) a much higher level of service. Having very limited accommodation is also damaging to AirBNB's brand.
- pyre 11y ago
  Well, a really good question is whether or not ABnB is recording all of these claims. If several people file similar complaints even without "proof" a pattern starts to emerge. If they are not recording these complaints, but ignoring them because they can't "prove" anything, then they are being reckless.

danmaz74 11y ago

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.

jellicle 11y ago
Oh, that's not true at all. Ebay showed - and the writer of this article realizes - that you can fuck sellers around all day long. AirBNB could implement a "if any customer complains, for any reason, the landlord doesn't get paid" 100% guarantee policy, and the landlords would have to take it. They not only don't need "very clear proof", they don't need any proof at all.
- ghaff 11y ago
  That does require however, for better or worse, a deliberate decision to operate in that manner. Certainly many eBay sellers, many of whom were doubtless perfectly respectable, became very disillusioned with eBay once they tilted in that direction.
  - vinceguidry 11y ago
    Being that AirBnB is in the customer service field, not really a true marketplace, a customer-centric dispute policy makes total sense. Hosts that can't grasp the concept of "make your customers happy" are only going to hurt the overall AirBnB brand and should be sussed out and expelled quickly.
    - ghaff 11y ago
      Oh, I have no disagreement that the default should be to err on the side of keeping customers (renters) happy or at least mitigating unhappiness. At the same time, that doesn't mean that the customer, however unreasonable, is always right. Even hotel chains with great reputations for customer service aren't going to give out refunds like popcorn to every guest who asks for their money back for random trivial reasons. So there's always going to be some judgment involved at the margins especially when the facts are unclear.
    - notahacker 11y ago
      The main difference between being in the customer service field rather than a true marketplace is that people are far more likely to complain - reasonably or otherwise - about service than goods they've received. Especially when the customer is used to experiencing (and paying more for) a much higher level of service. Having very limited accommodation is also damaging to AirBNB's brand.
pyre 11y ago
Well, a really good question is whether or not ABnB is recording all of these claims. If several people file similar complaints even without "proof" a pattern starts to emerge. If they are not recording these complaints, but ignoring them because they can't "prove" anything, then they are being reckless.