5 ms·

We recently rented a house at Niagara Falls, which looked nice in pictures, although a few people in reviews mentioned it's kind of old. When we arrived, the sh

by avaku 8y ago

We recently rented a house at Niagara Falls, which looked nice in pictures, although a few people in reviews mentioned it's kind of old. When we arrived, the shower wasn't working. An hour later police showed up, as someone reported property break in. The following day, in the morning the electric company showed up and turned off electricity, at the request of the previous property manager, who was recently fired, and decided to have a revenge. Finally, when we came back after a day at the falls, there were police notices on the house stating that it's illegal for anyone to occupy the property, as it was being used as illegal vacation rental. We got our stuff and got out to a nearby hotel, which luckily had prices on last minute discount... When I though about raising a complaint with AirBnB for a refund, I've imagined exactly the same situation as happened to the author here. I've also though about all the time I would need to waste to provide the evidence to the AirBnB... In light of this, we settled for an owner's offer to refund us privately over PayPal (including AirBnB fees) in exchange for not leaving a negative feedback. Take whatever you want out of this, but the reason we settled (and didn't provide feedback which could be useful to other people) is precisely because we knew how it is to fight with the giants. Been recently fighting for a compensation from BA for 24 hour delay, and it's seriously not worth the time I had to spend on getting these 600 euro, as the number of hours spent times my salary is higher.

ceejayoz 8y ago
Yeah, this is a major problem. I can't ever issue a chargeback on an Amazon charge, as doing so would risk thousands of dollars of Kindle books as well as some fairly important stuff in AWS. (And no, a separate AWS account doesn't help. If they can link them both to you, they'll take action against both.)
- gruez 8y ago
  >as doing so would risk thousands of dollars of Kindle books OT: this is exactly the reason why DRM/"licensed content" only harms legitimate users.
- ballenf 8y ago
  I had fraudulent Amazon charges once and worked through their support. According to Amazon, someone had added my card to their account and bought stuff. They had already identified the fraud before I called, but hadn't bothered to let me know or initiate a refund (!?). Their final advice was to initiate a chargeback on the Visa card with my bank (this wasn't an Amazon card) and they wouldn't challenge the chargeback. I confirmed 3 times with Amazon support whether this would be counted against me in any way. They assured me, no, it wouldn't. I don't believe them but did the chargeback anyway. So far, so good, but I'm super hesitant to do returns with Amazon anymore. These giants are really doing a good job training their customers to bend over.
  - ceejayoz 8y ago
    I'm not surprised that went OK. My concern is more the "I got a counterfeit, going through support didn't work" sort of scenario, where Amazon tells me they've investigated and don't agree I deserve a refund.
    - WrtCdEvrydy 8y ago
      So, here's my story on this. I am probably the worst Amazon customer ever. I have had packages left outside my door (and stolen), I have had packages sent empty (like not opened... empty), I have called Amazon to complain about a microphone (and then found out it was the sound card output that was fucked) Every single time they have sided with me. I'm sure they bring the banhammer on people who do really fradulent stuff but I've never had an issue with chargebacks.
      - bradstewart 8y ago
        Same story here. One of the major reasons I continue to buy almost everything from Amazon is the fantastic customer service I've always received. I've literally never asked for a refund and not gotten it, granted that's been < 1% of my total orders.
gwbas1c 8y ago
Honestly, a situation that bad should be handled through AirBNB.
- avaku 8y ago
  Yes, maybe they wouldn't have banned me, as we had photos of all the evidence. However, I don't have time for uploading, describing, following up etc. Maybe a great idea for some conflict resolution startup? :)
  - cham74 8y ago
    At least a simplified complaint bot. In Sweden there is a bot that automatically makes a complaint about faulty parking tickets for you by answering some questions. https://botboten.se/ https://botboten.se/
    - FireBeyond 8y ago
      As opposed to the US version, which is more akin to this episode of The Simpsons - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VBiTHckkH8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VBiTHckkH8 "Thank you for calling the Parking Violations Bureau. To plead Not Guilty, press 1 now." "Your plea has been [no pause] rejected."
  - mieseratte 8y ago
    > Maybe a great idea for some conflict resolution startup? :) My inner cynic can't help but think this would be filled with the digital equivalent of vexatious litigants with the end result being yet another firm that will ban you at the drop of a hat.
  - unethical_ban 8y ago
    I think simply giving them the feedback you just gave would be worth it.
tclancy 8y ago
>in exchange for not leaving a negative feedback This is the same reason I roll my eyes when a ride sharing app asks me to rate a driver - I assume anything less than 5 stars is going to kill their work so I just give 5 stars. The one time I had a bad experience (nice driver, liked to talk, but could not drive and talk and almost got us killed), I just skipped the review entirely. I have this working theory that we (people privileged enough to spend lots of time per day on the Internet) are getting close to being able to spend our time in fictional spaces; one of the reasons for that is the fact we spend a lot of goddamn time lying about things in order to make systems work the way we want. Now let's you and I sit down and talk about what 4 stars in iTunes/ Spotify/ whatever means in your personal system . . .
- dawnerd 8y ago
  please please please rate bad drivers correctly. Number of times I've been in 4.7+ star ubers where the driver ran red lights is too high. Uber/lyft will definitely refund you if you let them know. Those drivers should not be driving for any service.
- pavel_lishin 8y ago
  > I assume anything less than 5 stars is going to kill their work > almost got us killed This seems like a perfectly acceptable time to kill someone's ability to do a job, if they're bad enough at it that they can literally kill the people they're working with.
  - mirceal 8y ago
    You don’t want to kill their work, they might actually kill somebody. I’m all for the sharing economy and helping people out but I draw a line at safety. If you cannot drive you will get a bad rating. Sorry.
    - tajen 8y ago
      If I left bad rating to carpooling drivers who drive unsafely... I’d do it every time. For some reason, although I’m ok with one offense at a time, drivers really want to both phone and drive over the speed limit, and tail the next guy, at the same time, and the 4 witnesses in the car don’t worry them...
dawnerd 8y ago
Hah, I recently stayed at once which sounds similar. Was it on the Canada side?
sjdbwixb 8y ago
Interesting, airlines in the united states will often give a voucher for a delay if you just ask for it, even if they legally don't have to.

by avaku 8y ago

ceejayoz 8y ago

Yeah, this is a major problem. I can't ever issue a chargeback on an Amazon charge, as doing so would risk thousands of dollars of Kindle books as well as some fairly important stuff in AWS. (And no, a separate AWS account doesn't help. If they can link them both to you, they'll take action against both.)

gruez 8y ago
>as doing so would risk thousands of dollars of Kindle books OT: this is exactly the reason why DRM/"licensed content" only harms legitimate users.
ballenf 8y ago
I had fraudulent Amazon charges once and worked through their support. According to Amazon, someone had added my card to their account and bought stuff. They had already identified the fraud before I called, but hadn't bothered to let me know or initiate a refund (!?). Their final advice was to initiate a chargeback on the Visa card with my bank (this wasn't an Amazon card) and they wouldn't challenge the chargeback. I confirmed 3 times with Amazon support whether this would be counted against me in any way. They assured me, no, it wouldn't. I don't believe them but did the chargeback anyway. So far, so good, but I'm super hesitant to do returns with Amazon anymore. These giants are really doing a good job training their customers to bend over.
- ceejayoz 8y ago
  I'm not surprised that went OK. My concern is more the "I got a counterfeit, going through support didn't work" sort of scenario, where Amazon tells me they've investigated and don't agree I deserve a refund.
  - WrtCdEvrydy 8y ago
    So, here's my story on this. I am probably the worst Amazon customer ever. I have had packages left outside my door (and stolen), I have had packages sent empty (like not opened... empty), I have called Amazon to complain about a microphone (and then found out it was the sound card output that was fucked) Every single time they have sided with me. I'm sure they bring the banhammer on people who do really fradulent stuff but I've never had an issue with chargebacks.
    - bradstewart 8y ago
      Same story here. One of the major reasons I continue to buy almost everything from Amazon is the fantastic customer service I've always received. I've literally never asked for a refund and not gotten it, granted that's been < 1% of my total orders.

gwbas1c 8y ago

Honestly, a situation that bad should be handled through AirBNB.

avaku 8y ago
Yes, maybe they wouldn't have banned me, as we had photos of all the evidence. However, I don't have time for uploading, describing, following up etc. Maybe a great idea for some conflict resolution startup? :)
- cham74 8y ago
  At least a simplified complaint bot. In Sweden there is a bot that automatically makes a complaint about faulty parking tickets for you by answering some questions. https://botboten.se/ https://botboten.se/
  - FireBeyond 8y ago
    As opposed to the US version, which is more akin to this episode of The Simpsons - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VBiTHckkH8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VBiTHckkH8 "Thank you for calling the Parking Violations Bureau. To plead Not Guilty, press 1 now." "Your plea has been [no pause] rejected."
- mieseratte 8y ago
  > Maybe a great idea for some conflict resolution startup? :) My inner cynic can't help but think this would be filled with the digital equivalent of vexatious litigants with the end result being yet another firm that will ban you at the drop of a hat.
- unethical_ban 8y ago
  I think simply giving them the feedback you just gave would be worth it.

tclancy 8y ago

>in exchange for not leaving a negative feedback This is the same reason I roll my eyes when a ride sharing app asks me to rate a driver - I assume anything less than 5 stars is going to kill their work so I just give 5 stars. The one time I had a bad experience (nice driver, liked to talk, but could not drive and talk and almost got us killed), I just skipped the review entirely. I have this working theory that we (people privileged enough to spend lots of time per day on the Internet) are getting close to being able to spend our time in fictional spaces; one of the reasons for that is the fact we spend a lot of goddamn time lying about things in order to make systems work the way we want. Now let's you and I sit down and talk about what 4 stars in iTunes/ Spotify/ whatever means in your personal system . . .

dawnerd 8y ago
please please please rate bad drivers correctly. Number of times I've been in 4.7+ star ubers where the driver ran red lights is too high. Uber/lyft will definitely refund you if you let them know. Those drivers should not be driving for any service.
pavel_lishin 8y ago
> I assume anything less than 5 stars is going to kill their work > almost got us killed This seems like a perfectly acceptable time to kill someone's ability to do a job, if they're bad enough at it that they can literally kill the people they're working with.
- mirceal 8y ago
  You don’t want to kill their work, they might actually kill somebody. I’m all for the sharing economy and helping people out but I draw a line at safety. If you cannot drive you will get a bad rating. Sorry.
  - tajen 8y ago
    If I left bad rating to carpooling drivers who drive unsafely... I’d do it every time. For some reason, although I’m ok with one offense at a time, drivers really want to both phone and drive over the speed limit, and tail the next guy, at the same time, and the 4 witnesses in the car don’t worry them...

dawnerd 8y ago

Hah, I recently stayed at once which sounds similar. Was it on the Canada side?

sjdbwixb 8y ago

Interesting, airlines in the united states will often give a voucher for a delay if you just ask for it, even if they legally don't have to.