3 ms·

My 0.02: Buy the woman a new home, what ever she wants, furnish it as she wants and pay her a largish sum of money to compensate for those things that cannot b

by bpd1069 15y ago

My 0.02: Buy the woman a new home, what ever she wants, furnish it as she wants and pay her a largish sum of money to compensate for those things that cannot be replaced. Get insurance to cover the renters in future cases of theft or damage, and there will be future events. Get a company that conducts background checks on applicants that wish to rent through their service. Anonymize the result and get the renter's approval before the transaction can proceed.

OpenAmazing 15y ago
Offering to give EJ a new house is like offering to buy a rape victim new clothes. And if you think the way EJ feels is not similar to what a rape victim feels, you probably haven't talked to one before.
tatsuke95 15y ago
"Getting insurance" isn't just a small expense to tack on. Depending on the cost - and after this incident and the public nature of the product, it won't be cheap - it may prohibitively harm the company. Who knows.
- justincormack 15y ago
  Maybe they are not in a viable business after all. This business has existed for a long time on a very small scale but other types of business such as hotels and b&bs have always dominated.
  - tatsuke95 15y ago
    Exactly. Insurance has to be accounted for, and it obviously isn't in the current model. It wouldn't be a complete shock if it turned out to be unsustainable. Bubbles and such...
prostoalex 15y ago
Add up insurance costs + background check costs + operating costs rising as a result of buying people new (!) homes in San Francisco (!!) + bs requirements such as entering personal information in order to run a background check, and I've got a new low-cost alternative for you. It's called hotel industry.
rick888 15y ago
The bad press is already out there. This isn't going to fix the problem of things like this happening in the future and buying a house for everyone that is vandalized is just not a scalable business model. It would also show the world that Airbnb is taking the blame for this. It isn't their fault. They are just as much a victim as this women. Victims shouldn't be paying for other victims. "Get insurance to cover the renters in future cases of theft or damage, and there will be future events." This will most likely increase the service fees substantially..maybe beyond what people are willing to pay. "Get a company that conducts background checks on applicants that wish to rent through their service. Anonymize the result and get the renter's approval before the transaction can proceed." This is probably the best suggestion.
- codeslush 15y ago
  Too many AirBnb stories, and too many comments - so it's possible my input is duplicated. But I COMPLETELY agree with you. A month or two ago, someone was visiting SoCal (San Diego) and needed some help - I was about to offer him a place to stay at my house, for free. But I had to think about things a little. It's unfortunate. I wanted to be kind, and help someone out. The problem: I have a large family - comprise d of boys and girls - teenagers at that. Would my charitable acts backfire on me? Not sure. Maybe, maybe not. Ultimately, I didn't make the offer. It wasn't a SAFE decision for me or my family. It would have been irresponsible, even though it would have been a nice gesture. I would NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER offer up my primary residence to a complete stranger - NEVER! I didn't do it when I would be "present" and I definitely wouldn't do it when I was an absentee. No way. It's IRRESPONSIBLE. A secondary residence? Maybe! Of course! Maybe they vomit on my couch, or piss on the carpet. No problem - that's, sadly, somewhat expected of "renters" --- but to provide a complete stranger to your primary residence, with all your private material, documents, property and what not in place, is just NAIVE! I'm sickened by what I have read, and I think AirBnb has no "social" or "business" obligation in this matter. In fact, I'm wondering where my mental wiring has gone wrong to have such a strong feeling. WHY on EARTH is everyone siding with this person? Because of her gender? Because she's a good writer? No? No... they've handled the whole thing, publicly, wrong. This is a great lesson for them - but they are NOT AT FAULT - not in my opinion! But, that's just my opinion, and clearly not that of the masses.

by bpd1069 15y ago

OpenAmazing 15y ago

Offering to give EJ a new house is like offering to buy a rape victim new clothes. And if you think the way EJ feels is not similar to what a rape victim feels, you probably haven't talked to one before.

tatsuke95 15y ago

"Getting insurance" isn't just a small expense to tack on. Depending on the cost - and after this incident and the public nature of the product, it won't be cheap - it may prohibitively harm the company. Who knows.

justincormack 15y ago
Maybe they are not in a viable business after all. This business has existed for a long time on a very small scale but other types of business such as hotels and b&bs have always dominated.
- tatsuke95 15y ago
  Exactly. Insurance has to be accounted for, and it obviously isn't in the current model. It wouldn't be a complete shock if it turned out to be unsustainable. Bubbles and such...

prostoalex 15y ago

Add up insurance costs + background check costs + operating costs rising as a result of buying people new (!) homes in San Francisco (!!) + bs requirements such as entering personal information in order to run a background check, and I've got a new low-cost alternative for you. It's called hotel industry.

rick888 15y ago

The bad press is already out there. This isn't going to fix the problem of things like this happening in the future and buying a house for everyone that is vandalized is just not a scalable business model. It would also show the world that Airbnb is taking the blame for this. It isn't their fault. They are just as much a victim as this women. Victims shouldn't be paying for other victims. "Get insurance to cover the renters in future cases of theft or damage, and there will be future events." This will most likely increase the service fees substantially..maybe beyond what people are willing to pay. "Get a company that conducts background checks on applicants that wish to rent through their service. Anonymize the result and get the renter's approval before the transaction can proceed." This is probably the best suggestion.

codeslush 15y ago
Too many AirBnb stories, and too many comments - so it's possible my input is duplicated. But I COMPLETELY agree with you. A month or two ago, someone was visiting SoCal (San Diego) and needed some help - I was about to offer him a place to stay at my house, for free. But I had to think about things a little. It's unfortunate. I wanted to be kind, and help someone out. The problem: I have a large family - comprise d of boys and girls - teenagers at that. Would my charitable acts backfire on me? Not sure. Maybe, maybe not. Ultimately, I didn't make the offer. It wasn't a SAFE decision for me or my family. It would have been irresponsible, even though it would have been a nice gesture. I would NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER offer up my primary residence to a complete stranger - NEVER! I didn't do it when I would be "present" and I definitely wouldn't do it when I was an absentee. No way. It's IRRESPONSIBLE. A secondary residence? Maybe! Of course! Maybe they vomit on my couch, or piss on the carpet. No problem - that's, sadly, somewhat expected of "renters" --- but to provide a complete stranger to your primary residence, with all your private material, documents, property and what not in place, is just NAIVE! I'm sickened by what I have read, and I think AirBnb has no "social" or "business" obligation in this matter. In fact, I'm wondering where my mental wiring has gone wrong to have such a strong feeling. WHY on EARTH is everyone siding with this person? Because of her gender? Because she's a good writer? No? No... they've handled the whole thing, publicly, wrong. This is a great lesson for them - but they are NOT AT FAULT - not in my opinion! But, that's just my opinion, and clearly not that of the masses.