4 ms·

Shady and unethical are strong words that, in my opinion, don't apply here. My girlfriend just booked a 10 week trip to Paris through AirBnb and there was no co

by fmw 16y ago

Shady and unethical are strong words that, in my opinion, don't apply here. My girlfriend just booked a 10 week trip to Paris through AirBnb and there was no confusion about the processing fee. It is clearly listed under "More info" in the price segment of the product page. I suppose we could have a conversation about whether the fees should be listed more prominently (e.g. not folded in by default; even though its perfectly obvious as it is now), but not in this tone which such a distasteful choice of words. I'm not affiliated with AirBnb, but as one of their users I'm very happy with their value proposition and I like their website in general. Even if I wouldn't like the company, however, I'd still consider it bad form to bring their ethics in question without any basis whatsoever.

stop 16y ago
Even if I wouldn't like the company, however, I'd still consider it bad form to bring their ethics in question without any basis whatsoever. That's why he explained clearly why is bringing their ethics into question: To adverise net price and hide their fee until the very end and then smack it to the total just before you book is fucking disgrace, it's unethical, shady and disgusting business practice. (edited for spelling) So, are you saying it's always out of bounds to question the ethics of a company - or only when you happen to like their business?
- dualogy 16y ago
  Is it ethical for customers to through legislation enforce the business practice of a service provider they simply do not have to deal with and can fully opt out of using?
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- fmw 16y ago
  The answer to your question is in the line you're already quoting: whether you like them or not shouldn't make a difference. My point is that its bad form to use strong words like shady, unethical, disgusting and "fucking disgrace" this lightly. I'd reserve those for situations where you have a clear reason to believe customers are being purposely misled with (bordering on) criminal intent, which is clearly not the case here. This is rude and doesn't help in regard to fixing the issue (assuming there is one), nor does it facilitate reasonable discussion about the matter. Could they display their fee more prominently? Sure. Should they? Maybe, but it's not like they are hiding it either. Additional fees that aren't included in the quoted price are pretty common in the travel business, so I'd call their fee structure relatively simple and transparent. Are you going to call budget air travel companies unethical for charging an additional baggage fee, too? It is a reasonable expectation to be charged a commission by a site like AirBnb. I'm happy with the fact that they display the commission before ordering anything or even starting the order process. I'm also glad that they transparently charge it to the end-user, instead of making it a hidden fee by increasing the price.

by fmw 16y ago

stop 16y ago

Even if I wouldn't like the company, however, I'd still consider it bad form to bring their ethics in question without any basis whatsoever. That's why he explained clearly why is bringing their ethics into question: To adverise net price and hide their fee until the very end and then smack it to the total just before you book is fucking disgrace, it's unethical, shady and disgusting business practice. (edited for spelling) So, are you saying it's always out of bounds to question the ethics of a company - or only when you happen to like their business?

dualogy 16y ago
Is it ethical for customers to through legislation enforce the business practice of a service provider they simply do not have to deal with and can fully opt out of using?
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fmw 16y ago
The answer to your question is in the line you're already quoting: whether you like them or not shouldn't make a difference. My point is that its bad form to use strong words like shady, unethical, disgusting and "fucking disgrace" this lightly. I'd reserve those for situations where you have a clear reason to believe customers are being purposely misled with (bordering on) criminal intent, which is clearly not the case here. This is rude and doesn't help in regard to fixing the issue (assuming there is one), nor does it facilitate reasonable discussion about the matter. Could they display their fee more prominently? Sure. Should they? Maybe, but it's not like they are hiding it either. Additional fees that aren't included in the quoted price are pretty common in the travel business, so I'd call their fee structure relatively simple and transparent. Are you going to call budget air travel companies unethical for charging an additional baggage fee, too? It is a reasonable expectation to be charged a commission by a site like AirBnb. I'm happy with the fact that they display the commission before ordering anything or even starting the order process. I'm also glad that they transparently charge it to the end-user, instead of making it a hidden fee by increasing the price.