3 ms·

Hi, Lisbeth Kaufman here (CoFounder and CEO of KitSplit). This is a shitty situation, I feel terribly for Yohahn and the other owner who had their gear stolen.

Hi, Lisbeth Kaufman here (CoFounder and CEO of KitSplit). This is a shitty situation, I feel terribly for Yohahn and the other owner who had their gear stolen. I wanted to personally respond to let you all know that we are fixing this and making them whole- and then some. Since we launched in 2015, tens of thousands of filmmakers and creators have safely rented gear to and from each other on KitSplit with incredibly positive experiences. Recently, however, someone stole $3,500 cameras from two of our owners. To put it mildly, this was an awful experience for the owners. One of them wrote about it on the internet, as you know. At first, we reacted by basically telling him “sorry, you knew the risks (or should have). It’s all in our terms of service!” And technically speaking, it’s true. Traditional gear rental insurance that we (and all rental platforms) offer doesn’t cover theft by the renter. But traditional gear rental insurance is inadequate. And so is our policy. We’ve been pondering this problem for a while. With this recent theft, it is clearly time to solve this problem. So we’ve decided to create a new insurance product for our owners: the KitSplit Theft Protection Owner Guarantee. The Owner Guarantee means that KitSplit owners will be covered in all scenarios, whether damage, loss, or theft. To make good on this promise, we’re starting by reimbursing the two owners who’s gear was recently stolen. We are the first rental platform to offer coverage of this kind. It fills a major insurance loophole, and it’s the right thing to do for our customers. You are welcome to read more about the problem and how we are fixing it here. https://blog.kitsplit.com/announcing-kitsplit-theft-protection-owner-guarantee/ https://blog.kitsplit.com/announcing-kitsplit-theft-protecti...

justin66 7y ago
Since we launched in 2015, tens of thousands of filmmakers and creators have safely rented gear to and from each other on KitSplit with incredibly positive experiences. Recently, however, someone stole $3,500 cameras from two of our owners. Approximately how many of your owners experienced thefts prior to these two recent events?
dx7tnt 7y ago
Thanks for the information. Next time I want someone to split with my kit, I'll definitely check out your service. One thing - how do you keep a straight face when using bone-headed marketese like "voluntary parting" when writing your T&C's and communicating with the customers who fall for it?
- HankB99 7y ago
  > bone-headed marketese like "voluntary parting" I suspect this is a legal term that is the key to absolving them of any liability in situations like this. In the article it was echoed by the equipment owner's insurance company when they denied the claim.
- dang 7y ago
  Personal attacks are not ok on HN. New users with expertise or knowledge about a topic are welcome here. If existing users harass them and hound them away, does that benefit this community? No it does not. This comment was so far beyond the pale (plus you posted so many unsubstantive comments elsewhere today) that we've banned this account. If you don't want to be banned, we'll happily reinstate you; just email hn@ycombinator.com and give us reason to believe that you'll follow the rules in the future. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
  - dx7tnt 7y ago
    Why did the community upvote it then? Haven't you heard of irony?
    - dang 7y ago
      Alas, the community regularly upvotes snark, rage, and indignation. HN can't live by upvotes alone. The guidelines are there to correct what the voting system can't. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
mturmon 7y ago
>> "It’s all in our terms of service!” This smells to high heaven. As pointed out by OP, your TOS are written to gloss over who holds liability if a renter splits with your kit.
lskdjfklf 7y ago
Launched in 2015 and only now (2019) getting around to attempting to solve this problem (ie. instead of trying to come up with air-tight legalese to absolve yourselves). It shocks me that you're not embarrassed to admit that.
TomVDB 7y ago
Post-mortems are a great way to repair some of your standing at HN. It'd be really interesting to see a post-mortem that explained how your kick-ass vetting system was able to get "Kobe B" and "Hokey Pokey Artichoke" verified as legitimate users?
dkarras 7y ago
I don't get it, if your 40 point system is so great (it isn't someone above just created a verified account with photoshopped documents) and theft is that rare (when you say theft is rare, do you mean "voluntary parting"? like, the case where the renter steals?) you shouldn't have any problems to self insure this anyways. So it doesn't add up.

justin66 7y ago

Since we launched in 2015, tens of thousands of filmmakers and creators have safely rented gear to and from each other on KitSplit with incredibly positive experiences. Recently, however, someone stole $3,500 cameras from two of our owners. Approximately how many of your owners experienced thefts prior to these two recent events?

dx7tnt 7y ago

Thanks for the information. Next time I want someone to split with my kit, I'll definitely check out your service. One thing - how do you keep a straight face when using bone-headed marketese like "voluntary parting" when writing your T&C's and communicating with the customers who fall for it?

HankB99 7y ago
> bone-headed marketese like "voluntary parting" I suspect this is a legal term that is the key to absolving them of any liability in situations like this. In the article it was echoed by the equipment owner's insurance company when they denied the claim.
dang 7y ago
Personal attacks are not ok on HN. New users with expertise or knowledge about a topic are welcome here. If existing users harass them and hound them away, does that benefit this community? No it does not. This comment was so far beyond the pale (plus you posted so many unsubstantive comments elsewhere today) that we've banned this account. If you don't want to be banned, we'll happily reinstate you; just email hn@ycombinator.com and give us reason to believe that you'll follow the rules in the future. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- dx7tnt 7y ago
  Why did the community upvote it then? Haven't you heard of irony?
  - dang 7y ago
    Alas, the community regularly upvotes snark, rage, and indignation. HN can't live by upvotes alone. The guidelines are there to correct what the voting system can't. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

mturmon 7y ago

>> "It’s all in our terms of service!” This smells to high heaven. As pointed out by OP, your TOS are written to gloss over who holds liability if a renter splits with your kit.

lskdjfklf 7y ago

Launched in 2015 and only now (2019) getting around to attempting to solve this problem (ie. instead of trying to come up with air-tight legalese to absolve yourselves). It shocks me that you're not embarrassed to admit that.

TomVDB 7y ago

Post-mortems are a great way to repair some of your standing at HN. It'd be really interesting to see a post-mortem that explained how your kick-ass vetting system was able to get "Kobe B" and "Hokey Pokey Artichoke" verified as legitimate users?

dkarras 7y ago

I don't get it, if your 40 point system is so great (it isn't someone above just created a verified account with photoshopped documents) and theft is that rare (when you say theft is rare, do you mean "voluntary parting"? like, the case where the renter steals?) you shouldn't have any problems to self insure this anyways. So it doesn't add up.