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I can't really even explain how upset this makes me. I live in Brooklyn (where Kristina lives, and from where KitSplit operates). What can I do to help this sit

I can't really even explain how upset this makes me. I live in Brooklyn (where Kristina lives, and from where KitSplit operates). What can I do to help this situation? I'll do anything I can to help shine light on this company and fraud that their platform is facilitating. I'm not a fan of the call out culture, but I really want to see KitSplit take some action and fix this problem.

heliodor 7y ago
The core problem seems to be false advertising. It would be great for the author to take the company to small claims court and try to address that. However, a class-action lawsuit to address all the wronged people would probably just bankrupt the company. The hurt people would not receive restitution. The founders would not receive any punishment. They would just lose the easy stream of future income they currently enjoy. Stopping a bad company from doing further harm is worthwhile though. Calling out is exactly what's needed here. Our society and technology are at a point where it is easy for bad actors to cause damage, relocate, and repeat. Exposing them and shutting down their future opportunities is exactly what's necessary. Back in the days of small villages, everyone knew everyone's reputation and that provided a barrier against fraud. Unfortunately, our current legal framework prevents any company from offering a reputation platform because they would get sued out of existence with libel claims. Investors aren't very interested in the morality (or even legal technicalities) of the products in which they invest, as long as they make some money on their investments. Calling the founder out will slow her down in any future grey-zone endeavors but won't stop her completely.
- robocat 7y ago
  > Back in the days of small villages, everyone knew everyone's reputation and that provided a barrier against fraud. Surely there were also small villages where most commit fraud too? "Cheat and Grudger are an ESS" in The Selfish Gene.
danielfoster 7y ago
What I found most shocking is that if KitSplit claims that less than 0.1% of rentals result in voluntary parting, why not cover this person's losses? Maybe covering voluntary parting would result in too many fraudulent claims. If that's the case, they should clearly explain that theft is not covered and perhaps offer an insurance supplement.
- natrik 7y ago
  https://medium.com/p/4530d0062e60/responses/show https://medium.com/p/4530d0062e60/responses/show Read the CEO's comment above. She states their assessment has been effective at blocking 99.99% of bad actors and stopping millions of dollars of theft on the platform She's almost surely exaggerating and pulling those numbers out of thin air.
  - lalos 7y ago
    It's not theft, it's 'voluntary parting'. Lawyer speak probably.
    - droithomme 7y ago
      Their argument is that theft is when someone comes and takes your stuff. Voluntary parting is when you voluntarily hand it to someone, lending or renting, and they fail to return it. Theft on the other hand is called involuntary parting. Not sure how much of a gray area this is. If I don't return a car from the dealer for a test drive and am caught, I'll be charged by police with theft, not voluntary parting. Likewise with car and equipment rentals. It seems like the distinction is something that only comes up in the text of insurance policies, and is not an actual legal principle from criminal law. Police see it as theft and it's a criminal act. But the contract you agree to defines it as voluntary parting, doesn't cover it, and does cover theft, which never happens and isn't possible on their platform, so they never have to do anything except collect a big share of the rental fee.
      - emerongi 7y ago
droithomme 7y ago
> I'm not a fan of the call out culture, but I really want to see KitSplit take some action and fix this problem. Since this has happened before, it would be more beneficial to society at this point to convict the owners of KitSplit of fraud and put them in prison.
magic_beans 7y ago
Spread the word.

heliodor 7y ago

The core problem seems to be false advertising. It would be great for the author to take the company to small claims court and try to address that. However, a class-action lawsuit to address all the wronged people would probably just bankrupt the company. The hurt people would not receive restitution. The founders would not receive any punishment. They would just lose the easy stream of future income they currently enjoy. Stopping a bad company from doing further harm is worthwhile though. Calling out is exactly what's needed here. Our society and technology are at a point where it is easy for bad actors to cause damage, relocate, and repeat. Exposing them and shutting down their future opportunities is exactly what's necessary. Back in the days of small villages, everyone knew everyone's reputation and that provided a barrier against fraud. Unfortunately, our current legal framework prevents any company from offering a reputation platform because they would get sued out of existence with libel claims. Investors aren't very interested in the morality (or even legal technicalities) of the products in which they invest, as long as they make some money on their investments. Calling the founder out will slow her down in any future grey-zone endeavors but won't stop her completely.

robocat 7y ago
> Back in the days of small villages, everyone knew everyone's reputation and that provided a barrier against fraud. Surely there were also small villages where most commit fraud too? "Cheat and Grudger are an ESS" in The Selfish Gene.

danielfoster 7y ago

What I found most shocking is that if KitSplit claims that less than 0.1% of rentals result in voluntary parting, why not cover this person's losses? Maybe covering voluntary parting would result in too many fraudulent claims. If that's the case, they should clearly explain that theft is not covered and perhaps offer an insurance supplement.

natrik 7y ago
https://medium.com/p/4530d0062e60/responses/show https://medium.com/p/4530d0062e60/responses/show Read the CEO's comment above. She states their assessment has been effective at blocking 99.99% of bad actors and stopping millions of dollars of theft on the platform She's almost surely exaggerating and pulling those numbers out of thin air.
- lalos 7y ago
  It's not theft, it's 'voluntary parting'. Lawyer speak probably.
  - droithomme 7y ago
    Their argument is that theft is when someone comes and takes your stuff. Voluntary parting is when you voluntarily hand it to someone, lending or renting, and they fail to return it. Theft on the other hand is called involuntary parting. Not sure how much of a gray area this is. If I don't return a car from the dealer for a test drive and am caught, I'll be charged by police with theft, not voluntary parting. Likewise with car and equipment rentals. It seems like the distinction is something that only comes up in the text of insurance policies, and is not an actual legal principle from criminal law. Police see it as theft and it's a criminal act. But the contract you agree to defines it as voluntary parting, doesn't cover it, and does cover theft, which never happens and isn't possible on their platform, so they never have to do anything except collect a big share of the rental fee.
    - emerongi 7y ago

droithomme 7y ago

> I'm not a fan of the call out culture, but I really want to see KitSplit take some action and fix this problem. Since this has happened before, it would be more beneficial to society at this point to convict the owners of KitSplit of fraud and put them in prison.

magic_beans 7y ago

Spread the word.