Starting at the end of April, Airbnb will no longer allow hosts to have security cameras inside their rental properties, citing a commitment to prioritizing guest privacy.
But this policy may struggle to address the camera problem at large, as the company has already required hosts to disclose the indoor cameras, and guests have sometimes reported hidden and undisclosed cameras.
The new rules also require hosts to disclose to guests whether they are using noise decibel monitors or outdoor cameras before guests book.
“This just emphasizes the fact that surveillance always gives a huge amount of power to whoever controls the camera system,” says Fox Cahn. “When it's used in a property you're renting, whether it's a landlord or an Airbnb, it's ripe for abuse.”
For me it's about the customer service. I stayed in 30 airbnbs in 2 years and when I needed Airbnb, they fully sided with the host who was lying and faked chat screenshots, didn't bother to get any proof from my side and just penalised me.
On the other hand, with Booking, I always felt fully supported by customer service.
I'll only use airbnb if there's absolutely no other option. It's a liability, even more for longer stays.
Really depends on the location.
When staying in Europe, i never had crazy fees or todos when leaving.
Booking is sometimes a bit cheaper, but next stay is agaon booked via Airbnb thanks to an offer on a listing i wanted.
Yeah I hear a lot of old man "just pay a little more for hotels" these days. Airbnbs are almost always still cheaper. And read reviews, send questions, like 99% I've been to have wayyyy better cleaning services and care than hotels.
I think people are choosing the sketch ass $30/day places and upset when the experience isn't like staying in a Hilton. I've stayed in two story apartments in central Paris, oceanfront houses, and old school A-frame cabins all for under $130/day. Just gotta put the work in up front.
For sure. I guess I was thinking mostly for domestic travel within the US. But yeah, definitely weigh your options and see which one gives more bang for your buck.
Also you had to indicate this in several places, including a toggle to disclose if there were cameras ANYWHERE on the premises.
Wireless nanny cams might be easy to hide, but their RF activity is easy to detect with free apps. I can’t imagine this was very common, but any amount of abuse is too much.
Too little and too late. Airbnb can’t even enforce the property owners to honor their own terms and conditions. Good luck enforcing this new rule on cameras.
How about theywranglein those cleaning fees and requirements. Even ebay eventually out a stop to $0.01 listings with $99.99 shiping and handeling. Im forever done with AirBnB after having a 20 step chore list for renting a condo for a weekend.
I’ve used that app to find longterm roommates for years. It’s pretty much been a nonstop positive experience for my roommates and I, but when I hear stories of the kind of abuse people put up with from other hosts I wonder what I’m missing.
Airbnb has always been a lightning rod for negative interpersonal anecdotes, it seems, more so than other *-share apps. For example, when I started using it to find roommates, friends warned me about scary home invader and Hostel-type scenarios they had heard about, but all that stranger-danger stuff turned out to be unfounded. My “guests” are just normal people who need a place to stay for a few months. Many have interesting stories and experiences. Quite a few are friends now that keep in touch and hit me up when they’re in the area. Overall it’s just been a fun way to meet people while helping me with rent in an expensive city.
So I’m not sure where all the negative experiences I’ve heard about are coming from. I suppose a home is one of the more intimate things people can share, and hospitality is certainly not a universal skill. There are also market tiers, the lowest of which have always had a greater prevalence of scammy/scummy behavior people once expected on zero-accountability sites like Craigslist, so I’d expect some negative press from bottom-feeders. But beyond that, I’m at a loss to explain why online I only hear about these terrible experiences. There must be wide-spread quality control issues. I hope they fix it before the whole idea of home sharing is scrapped, because it’s not all bad.
Yea, I think no one is complaining about those types of airbnb hosts. It's the ones who want to run them like a hotel with the guest themselves as staff.
I almost always hear complaints the other way around: guests complaining about bad hosts, not hosts complaining about bad guests, unless it's the entitled ones whining their guest didn't wash the linens and make the bed...
That’s fair. In my area I’ve seen a few that appear to be run that way. I’m not sure what that’s like. Also a few nearby listings give me the sense that the hosts actually dislike people, or don’t want evidence of other humans in their space. Why folks like that pick hospitality as a side hustle is beyond me.
Unless it’s the entitled ones whining their guest didn’t wash the linens and make the bed…
Yeah how does that even work? How would they expect guests to know how to reset the room? Do they make the guests take pictures at move in? I’m really curious how that works. (But in my case, honestly it’s way easier if my roommates leave daily cleaning, linens, and other chores/maintenance to me, because I set this place up and have a system.)
I’m at a loss to explain why online I only hear about these terrible experiences.
Happy customers don't write about their glorious experience with Airbnb. You only hear about the ones that make the news or the courts.
Then multiply the relatively small fraction of issues against 400 million nights per year booked with Airbnb and it's easy to think that every booking is a nightmare.
Sorry for my delayed reply. I think you’re probably right. Hopefully it doesn’t kill off the idea altogether. It was a lot harder to find roommates before.