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Too late for that. I don't live in my AirBNB's. I don't want to be friends with all of the people who stay at my places. I am running hotels where maid service

by drakaal 12y ago

Too late for that. I don't live in my AirBNB's. I don't want to be friends with all of the people who stay at my places. I am running hotels where maid service is your responsibility, or you can pay an additional fee. I have really nice places. They are cheaper than hotels, and you get way more space. I would love to stay at their equivalents in other places. But I don't want to make friends with all the people who stay at my places, or the places I might stay. If AirBNB is going to work, it needs to be looking at ways to be more like TimeShares that you buy on a moment's notice, and less like a couch surfing site. It needs to be mainstream, not more hippy. Yes, it needed that hippy core to get started, but to really grow it has to transition from the hippy core to mainstream. You can't be a $10B company with a target audience that is only people who all want to be friends. That may be sad, but it is the truth of business.

EricDeb 12y ago
I think he meant culture of the workplace. It would have been interesting if he would have described the core components of the workplace and what character traits the average airBnB employee possesses.
babo 12y ago
How is that related to the content of this article?
- joeblau 12y ago
  They obviously didn't read the article, just the title.
  - drakaal 12y ago
    I read it. Have you talked to the support people there? My phone support people have sounded stoned, made inappropriate jokes, and been horribly unprofessional. They are slow to respond, and worthless if anything goes wrong. How many changes have you seen to the website over the last 100 days? How many of those had a positive impact? AirBNB needs to grow up, they need to think mainstream, and they need to learn how to deal with real people at scale.
    - logicallee 12y ago
      It sounds like you need to be using Hyatt or DoubleTree's online franchised timeshare offering. What, there is none? Then be thankful that the culture you hate has created something you value. You sound like the complaints that Google doesn't offer phone support, just correct software and a knowledge base. If you want to deal with a traditional, huge, corporate juggernaut, feel free to check out their offerings. Let us know if you find anything.
      - drakaal 12y ago
        The difference is Google mostly works. And yes I hate that Google has lousy support. AirBNB's corporate culture is based on the idea that nobody will care because the users would do it for free but it is nice to get paid. When you raise 500M on a 10B valuation, people start to care more that your stuff works. If you get a moldy muffin at a bake sale you say, "no big deal that was a nice guy". If you get a moldy muffin at Starbucks you get a lawyer. I am now a "Starbucks Franchisee" and so people expect more. I am also betting big on AirBNB with multiple properties, so I need them to do their part. As to the "dig" that I should be using Hyatt or Doubletree to do this... I expect I will soon. You don't expect them to stay out of the market do you? I expect Expedia to be in the space in the next 3 years as the legality of running a hotel (and that's what I do) gets shaken out in NYC and SF.
        logicallee 12y ago
        Well, you are clearly doing more than they communicate to you. I read you as being a franchisee in a franchise program that doesn't exist. Do they actively support buying apartments to lease out using Airbnb? So while I understand that you are already using them, that you see that they've raised money, and that you expect more from their franchise program than non-existence - indeed, you've set your stake down and established yourself in it - it strikes me as less than fair that you would show this level of entitlement toward a non-existent program. It's a bit like complaining to a bakery that your customers no longer wake up to the nice fresh smell of croissants in your apartment upstairs from them, now that the bakery get their croissants delivered from another baking location. Well, okay. But that's not their model. This is what your tone sounds like to me: "Dear airbnb: I've taken it upon myself to set up as a franchisee in your non-existent franchise program. And as an airbnb franchise owner, boy am I pissed. Your level of support for what I'm doing is appalling. Orders of magnitude worse than what I would get from a program that exists. As a $10B company, you cannot afford to stop supporting what I'm doing. It's a travesty. Make no mistake, I am upset and fully intend to abandon you and start using your competition - just as soon as it starts existing. Your days are numbered." I understand that you think they should go in the direction of supporting you (which may not even be legal!) but I would seriously consider the level of entitlement you show when making these requests. At the end of the day, you're not entitled to be a franchisee if they don't have a franchise program.

by drakaal 12y ago

EricDeb 12y ago

I think he meant culture of the workplace. It would have been interesting if he would have described the core components of the workplace and what character traits the average airBnB employee possesses.

babo 12y ago

How is that related to the content of this article?

joeblau 12y ago
They obviously didn't read the article, just the title.
- drakaal 12y ago
  I read it. Have you talked to the support people there? My phone support people have sounded stoned, made inappropriate jokes, and been horribly unprofessional. They are slow to respond, and worthless if anything goes wrong. How many changes have you seen to the website over the last 100 days? How many of those had a positive impact? AirBNB needs to grow up, they need to think mainstream, and they need to learn how to deal with real people at scale.
  - logicallee 12y ago
    It sounds like you need to be using Hyatt or DoubleTree's online franchised timeshare offering. What, there is none? Then be thankful that the culture you hate has created something you value. You sound like the complaints that Google doesn't offer phone support, just correct software and a knowledge base. If you want to deal with a traditional, huge, corporate juggernaut, feel free to check out their offerings. Let us know if you find anything.
    - drakaal 12y ago
      The difference is Google mostly works. And yes I hate that Google has lousy support. AirBNB's corporate culture is based on the idea that nobody will care because the users would do it for free but it is nice to get paid. When you raise 500M on a 10B valuation, people start to care more that your stuff works. If you get a moldy muffin at a bake sale you say, "no big deal that was a nice guy". If you get a moldy muffin at Starbucks you get a lawyer. I am now a "Starbucks Franchisee" and so people expect more. I am also betting big on AirBNB with multiple properties, so I need them to do their part. As to the "dig" that I should be using Hyatt or Doubletree to do this... I expect I will soon. You don't expect them to stay out of the market do you? I expect Expedia to be in the space in the next 3 years as the legality of running a hotel (and that's what I do) gets shaken out in NYC and SF.
      - logicallee 12y ago
        Well, you are clearly doing more than they communicate to you. I read you as being a franchisee in a franchise program that doesn't exist. Do they actively support buying apartments to lease out using Airbnb? So while I understand that you are already using them, that you see that they've raised money, and that you expect more from their franchise program than non-existence - indeed, you've set your stake down and established yourself in it - it strikes me as less than fair that you would show this level of entitlement toward a non-existent program. It's a bit like complaining to a bakery that your customers no longer wake up to the nice fresh smell of croissants in your apartment upstairs from them, now that the bakery get their croissants delivered from another baking location. Well, okay. But that's not their model. This is what your tone sounds like to me: "Dear airbnb: I've taken it upon myself to set up as a franchisee in your non-existent franchise program. And as an airbnb franchise owner, boy am I pissed. Your level of support for what I'm doing is appalling. Orders of magnitude worse than what I would get from a program that exists. As a $10B company, you cannot afford to stop supporting what I'm doing. It's a travesty. Make no mistake, I am upset and fully intend to abandon you and start using your competition - just as soon as it starts existing. Your days are numbered." I understand that you think they should go in the direction of supporting you (which may not even be legal!) but I would seriously consider the level of entitlement you show when making these requests. At the end of the day, you're not entitled to be a franchisee if they don't have a franchise program.