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Too bad the customers didn’t have their questions answered before they booked.
I wonder if the owners are hiding something they don’t want to lie about? Or did they just get overwhelmed by the customer and decided to walk away sensing a problem customer that they know they can’t satisfy? My last few bookings on airbnb left me feeling like I’m under investigation and that if I didn’t play nice with their questions then I would be denied a room… it happened. (And I’m ok with that, I don’t really want to be in someone’s space that is suspicious of me but plays nice just because they want my money. But then again, add in race and cultural differences and this whole thing gets really complicated so I also don’t feel good about it.)
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That’s the thing though - just say that in the listing! “We have cameras in the following locations, we record video and audio, this is for our mutual protection and we will delete the data after X days.”. Done!
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Not everyone is great at customer service, even ones that willingly put themselves in that position.
1 Like
I know, because most AirBnB hosts do just that [please check if you don’t believe me], this to my knowledge is an anomaly. Case in hand, I and my Dear Wife are about to stay at one in North California. Check in via a cam when you arrive, identify yourself, then get code for the unit. I agree with you, it’s very simple. It stymies me that folks pucker themselves up regarding the security cams, when likely they have them in their own homes. I add, that if illicit content of AirBnB guests actually exists, I’d like to see that very evidence, and that evidence would be contrary to the reason [extra cash] to people host with AirBnB. This all smacks of hyperbole and false intrigued to me.
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You seem to be assuming the only reason to record people illicitly would be to sell that footage somehow. You should not underestimate people’s own prurient interest, of which you can expect to find no evidence on the web.
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Well, I think the point is, if you as a host kick out a rental that asks about cameras, that in and of itself is a red flag, regardless of how upfront you’ve been in answering.
IMHO it’s not about the liklihood that you’re going to do bad things, but that all of this stuff involves trust, and in those sorts of situations clarity and transparency are king.
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Again, I agree with you. Vote with your feet, if the place doesn’t add up to you, just don’t rent it. AirBnB is rife with listings, in any given area there are 100’s if not 1000’s, the issue/solution easy to resolve. Again, this all smacks of hyperbole and false intrigued to me.
7 Likes
We have decided to stop using Air B and B or VRBO because of the outrageous discriminatory policies they often have. At least in the United States. For instance, VRBO sent me a link so I could share the listing with my son who I was visiting. I did, my son’s name sounds maybe Hispanic. All of a sudden the host wanted a copy of my driver’s license, which I presume was to check my age and my race.
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This is part of the problem when you remove the sort of regulatory frameworks that hotels and other larger orgs have to work within. It’s all fine and well to have vrbo/airbnb have non-discrimination policies, but anyone who rents in any region where rental supply is scarce is likely familiar with the sorts of questions one is asked that aren’t legal (or even appropriate in some cases). Because in those environments the weight is so heavily shifted to the lessor vs lessee, you often have no choice but to accept them. The time it would take to take the lessor to task on the discrimination isn’t worth it.
I am not a visible minority but I am an immigrant, and the process to apply for rental properties changed frequently as soon as that was known (and in our case we had to pay a double-down payment even though that’s illegal). And that’s even in a state with a fairly strong commission to adjudicate those sorts of cases - it just wasn’t worth our time and effort to do it. And that’s with government oversight. No way are the VRBO/Airbnb’s of the world going to be able to enforce their rules any better.
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Next time I’m near Joshua Tree national monument I’ll stay at Casa de Papasan
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Foods good, the drinks are strong, and the company passable.
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Whereabouts in NORCAL are y’all headed?
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Thanks for this!Could have used one of these last year at my previous totalitarian apartment building.
I have trust issues.
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Sonoma County, the place is in the small town of Petaluma. We got a nice spot in the middle of town, walking to everything. No plans, just chilling with my Dear Wife and puppy dog.
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I think they dodged a bullet here. Questions about where cameras are, and what they record are simple and painless to answer, unless you’re up to something creepy.
I personally would never rent a place that had internal security cameras. When I rent, what I expect is what the contract offers: peaceful enjoyment of the premises in return for money. Having a security camera recording me at all times is no different than having a creepy stranger in the room staring at me and taking notes at all times. That’s the absolute opposite of peaceful enjoyment.
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And this is why I won’t stay in an AirBnB.
Well, that and the habit of hosts to cancel a reservation if they think they can relist the rental and make more. Or decide to just use the property themselves that month. And the lack of a professional management company. The lack of standards. Is it even cleaned by a professional with standards between each guest? And all those additional fees tacked on to everything…
And of course the rampant racism, even though most of the racists would be happy to rent to me.
And then there’s the larger issues of what short-term mercenary rentals do to the local rental market, the neighborhoods that they are in, and the problems with the availability of housing in those markets.
Honestly… the whole thing seems pretty problematic…
Which is kind of sad. The concept of renting an entire house at the lake or by the beach or an apartment in a vibrant downtown neighborhood seems really cool. It just enables so much bad behavior…
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Why is the primary gimmick of all these “disruptive technologies” simply a way of avoiding regulation? You could practically just generate “disruptive technologies” by just looking at what gets regulated and then somehow trying to push all the risk onto gig workers in their place. Don’t want to have health regulations for restaurants? Start an app that let’s people cook meals from their home and send it to you. Don’t want to deal with getting licensed to be a therapist? Start an app that let’s anybody be a “counselor” via zoom meeting, etc.
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And [it seems like] you think a camera sees the truth through its lens? Weird.
Exactly! People forget that most of the regulations now in place are the direct result of tragedies that occurred due to the lack of same. Workplace safety and building codes spring immediately to mind.
Re: AirBnB in general, in addition to the creepy spying, there are plenty of stories of safety issues, like CO poisoning, which wouldn’t have happened in a regulated facility.
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