6 ms·

Why would anyone give the keys to their home to a total stranger? (And leave them on their own for a whole week?)

by adnam 15y ago

ed209 15y ago
And if you do, you should take as many precautions as possible. Airbnb handled this badly, but in truth it can just as easily happen to anyone renting out a property. I don't understand why Airbnb aren't as rigorous as regular rental companies? And why they are not better educating their customers on security and crime prevention.
- hack_edu 15y ago
  > I don't understand why Airbnb aren't as rigorous as regular rental companies? Because they wouldn't be profitable if they were, it's too complicated and doesn't fit in their model. The regular rental companies would soon copy their model outpace them if they went that route. Did anyone ask about this in their YC interviews? ;)
ry0ohki 15y ago
One word that answers most of these types of questions: money
xd 15y ago
I'd like to think that most people go through life being trustful of their fellow human .. no matter how horrid a world the media paints.
- danparsonson 15y ago
  As a famous man once said: "Trust, but verify".
  - sausagefeet 15y ago
    Citation plz.
    - nickolai 15y ago
      The quote is usually assigned to Reagan. Quoting a russian proverb (that really does exist). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trust,_but_verify http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trust,_but_verify
      - sausagefeet 15y ago
        I know....twas a joke.
        walrus 15y ago
        That's clever. By the extreme grayness of your text, I don't think many people got it.
    - apgwoz 15y ago
      Since I laughed out loud at this, perhaps I should explain the joke, since it's obvious that no one "got it." You see, the original quote was "As a famous man once said: "Trust, but verify"." Now, if you heed this advice in full, you can only trust that the famous man actually said "Trust, but verify" if you verify it first. A citation is simply a way to verify that a famous man actually said it.
limedaring 15y ago
What I don't understand is renting to a stranger... but leaving valuables in the house. At least put that stuff in storage while you're out.
- mentat 15y ago
  Yes, this exactly. You're not letting your friends use your house. Trusting random strangers, getting burnt, and then saying that it's all the fault of the person who introduced you to them as a stranger makes no sense. Airbnb wasn't vouching for their renters any more than a hotel booking site does. You think hotels leave expensive unsecured items in all their rooms? Do you think hotels don't have a way of charging for damage? This person didn't think their actions through at all and now they're blaming everyone but who they should, themselves. My eastern European friends have told me that Americans are strange with the example being that they need their coffee labeled hot whereas "normal" people know that coffee is hot. This is the same thing. Leaving very valuable things out when inviting strangers to stay in your house when you're not going to be present is just something "normal" people know not to do.
  - ryusage 15y ago
    > Airbnb wasn't vouching for their renters any more than a hotel booking site does The victim in this case stated that, before using Airbnb, she would normally perform background checks on potential renters. Airbnb, though, marketed themselves as a safe and reliable way of vacation renting, and implied that they took on the responsibility of this sort of screening. In fact, they make it impossible for users to do it themselves. Whether or not they do in fact screen renters, it doesn't sound unreasonable for the victim to have believed that they do. > Leaving very valuable things out when inviting strangers to stay in your house At one point in her blog, she does mention that she had taken everything of value and locked it in a closet that the guests did not have access to (and presumably did not know the contents). They literally broke the locked door down. Valuables aside, they also went on to damage or destroy nearly everything else in the house, valuable or not. Removing valuable items from the house entirely would still not have prevented the violation of her home. I don't think it's at all fair to blame the victim here. It's not a simple matter of an American lacking common sense.

Why would anyone give the keys to their home to a total stranger? (And leave them on their own for a whole week?)

by adnam 15y ago

Why would anyone give the keys to their home to a total stranger? (And leave them on their own for a whole week?)

ed209 15y ago

And if you do, you should take as many precautions as possible. Airbnb handled this badly, but in truth it can just as easily happen to anyone renting out a property. I don't understand why Airbnb aren't as rigorous as regular rental companies? And why they are not better educating their customers on security and crime prevention.

hack_edu 15y ago
> I don't understand why Airbnb aren't as rigorous as regular rental companies? Because they wouldn't be profitable if they were, it's too complicated and doesn't fit in their model. The regular rental companies would soon copy their model outpace them if they went that route. Did anyone ask about this in their YC interviews? ;)

ry0ohki 15y ago

One word that answers most of these types of questions: money

xd 15y ago

I'd like to think that most people go through life being trustful of their fellow human .. no matter how horrid a world the media paints.

danparsonson 15y ago
As a famous man once said: "Trust, but verify".
- sausagefeet 15y ago
  Citation plz.
  - nickolai 15y ago
    The quote is usually assigned to Reagan. Quoting a russian proverb (that really does exist). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trust,_but_verify http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trust,_but_verify
    - sausagefeet 15y ago
      I know....twas a joke.
      - walrus 15y ago
        That's clever. By the extreme grayness of your text, I don't think many people got it.
  - apgwoz 15y ago
    Since I laughed out loud at this, perhaps I should explain the joke, since it's obvious that no one "got it." You see, the original quote was "As a famous man once said: "Trust, but verify"." Now, if you heed this advice in full, you can only trust that the famous man actually said "Trust, but verify" if you verify it first. A citation is simply a way to verify that a famous man actually said it.

limedaring 15y ago

What I don't understand is renting to a stranger... but leaving valuables in the house. At least put that stuff in storage while you're out.

mentat 15y ago
Yes, this exactly. You're not letting your friends use your house. Trusting random strangers, getting burnt, and then saying that it's all the fault of the person who introduced you to them as a stranger makes no sense. Airbnb wasn't vouching for their renters any more than a hotel booking site does. You think hotels leave expensive unsecured items in all their rooms? Do you think hotels don't have a way of charging for damage? This person didn't think their actions through at all and now they're blaming everyone but who they should, themselves. My eastern European friends have told me that Americans are strange with the example being that they need their coffee labeled hot whereas "normal" people know that coffee is hot. This is the same thing. Leaving very valuable things out when inviting strangers to stay in your house when you're not going to be present is just something "normal" people know not to do.
- ryusage 15y ago
  > Airbnb wasn't vouching for their renters any more than a hotel booking site does The victim in this case stated that, before using Airbnb, she would normally perform background checks on potential renters. Airbnb, though, marketed themselves as a safe and reliable way of vacation renting, and implied that they took on the responsibility of this sort of screening. In fact, they make it impossible for users to do it themselves. Whether or not they do in fact screen renters, it doesn't sound unreasonable for the victim to have believed that they do. > Leaving very valuable things out when inviting strangers to stay in your house At one point in her blog, she does mention that she had taken everything of value and locked it in a closet that the guests did not have access to (and presumably did not know the contents). They literally broke the locked door down. Valuables aside, they also went on to damage or destroy nearly everything else in the house, valuable or not. Removing valuable items from the house entirely would still not have prevented the violation of her home. I don't think it's at all fair to blame the victim here. It's not a simple matter of an American lacking common sense.