Post by High Priestess on Nov 11, 2015 16:22:32 GMT
Airbnb horror stories are the new internet meme
www.smh.com.au/digital-life/social-radar/airbnb-horror-stories-are-the-new-internet-meme-20151111-gkwag4.html
"Airbnb hosts find home trashed
A young Canadian family rushes home to find their house destroyed by Airbnb renters in what police describe as a 'drug-induced orgy'.
It was such a beautiful idea, until the crap hit the walls, literally.
I've got space in my castle, and you need somewhere to stay. But we don't know each other, so here's AirBnB to introduce us. You pay them, they pay me, and welcome to my castle.
Airbnb, founded in 2008, now boasts more than two million accommodation listings across more than 190 countries, including 1400 actual castles. It claims to have tripled total guest numbers within the past year, from 20 million at the end of 2014 to an astonishing 60 million.
But as Airbnb booms, the horror stories shared on social media are multiplying to the point of becoming an internet meme, from the relatively trivial to the deadly serious.
There's a lot of broken furniture, last minute cancellations and clogged toilets. Way too many sensational complaints by Airbnb hosts on Reddit involve the inappropriate dispersal of bodily fluids and, ahem, solids, around hosts' homes.
"People are pigs, they'll do things in your house that they'd never do in their own. Clean a bike chain with the good towels, break things and not tell you, burn holes in the carpet, and steal", wrote Reddit user "lyndeygrey".
Reddit posts: np.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/3rpb98/airbnb_hosts_what_did_your_most_memorable_either/
"ASayWhat" had a guest leave dirty nappies in their mailbox. "My mailman was truly horrified. I owe him a huge fruitcake this year!"
One host found a used enema behind the sink. Another, "jrosetti", complained about a female who went on a four-day bender: "Nympho drunk girl made passes at, or had sexual relations with every male employee and guest at the time. 8 in total."
The New York Times reported on an incident in July where a 19-year-old Massachusetts man was allegedly locked in an apartment and sexually assaulted by his host in Madrid, Spain.
"Some really horrible guests lately who really don't understand that this is someone's house....from trash in front of my home to rude guests demanding to check in at all of the day", wrote host "ASayWhat", who wondered whether the quality of guests might be falling as their numbers multiply. "Is airbnb attracting worse guests since going mainstream?"
"Yes, worse guests are coming to Airbnb, because it's easy to type in that url, make an account and send a request/message" responded host "goodolcharlie". Other users suggested Airbnb's was growing so fast it could not keep up with the complaints.
Against 40 million Airbnb visits in the past year, the number of negative incidents which have come to light is negligible. No company or industry had a perfect safety record, "but that's what we strive for and if an accident happens and something goes wrong, we take it personally", said Airbnb head of communications for Australia and New Zealand Dylan Smith.
He detailed several measures the company had taken to improve safety for hosts and guests. This included developing a 250-person "Trust and Safety Team" including former law enforcement officials, online safety specialists and data scientists to deal with safety issues around the clock and around the globe. It had set up a process for verifying guest and host ID, and would reimburse hosts for up to $1 million worth of property damage."
www.smh.com.au/digital-life/social-radar/airbnb-horror-stories-are-the-new-internet-meme-20151111-gkwag4.html
"Airbnb hosts find home trashed
A young Canadian family rushes home to find their house destroyed by Airbnb renters in what police describe as a 'drug-induced orgy'.
It was such a beautiful idea, until the crap hit the walls, literally.
I've got space in my castle, and you need somewhere to stay. But we don't know each other, so here's AirBnB to introduce us. You pay them, they pay me, and welcome to my castle.
Airbnb, founded in 2008, now boasts more than two million accommodation listings across more than 190 countries, including 1400 actual castles. It claims to have tripled total guest numbers within the past year, from 20 million at the end of 2014 to an astonishing 60 million.
But as Airbnb booms, the horror stories shared on social media are multiplying to the point of becoming an internet meme, from the relatively trivial to the deadly serious.
There's a lot of broken furniture, last minute cancellations and clogged toilets. Way too many sensational complaints by Airbnb hosts on Reddit involve the inappropriate dispersal of bodily fluids and, ahem, solids, around hosts' homes.
"People are pigs, they'll do things in your house that they'd never do in their own. Clean a bike chain with the good towels, break things and not tell you, burn holes in the carpet, and steal", wrote Reddit user "lyndeygrey".
Reddit posts: np.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/3rpb98/airbnb_hosts_what_did_your_most_memorable_either/
"ASayWhat" had a guest leave dirty nappies in their mailbox. "My mailman was truly horrified. I owe him a huge fruitcake this year!"
One host found a used enema behind the sink. Another, "jrosetti", complained about a female who went on a four-day bender: "Nympho drunk girl made passes at, or had sexual relations with every male employee and guest at the time. 8 in total."
The New York Times reported on an incident in July where a 19-year-old Massachusetts man was allegedly locked in an apartment and sexually assaulted by his host in Madrid, Spain.
"Some really horrible guests lately who really don't understand that this is someone's house....from trash in front of my home to rude guests demanding to check in at all of the day", wrote host "ASayWhat", who wondered whether the quality of guests might be falling as their numbers multiply. "Is airbnb attracting worse guests since going mainstream?"
"Yes, worse guests are coming to Airbnb, because it's easy to type in that url, make an account and send a request/message" responded host "goodolcharlie". Other users suggested Airbnb's was growing so fast it could not keep up with the complaints.
Against 40 million Airbnb visits in the past year, the number of negative incidents which have come to light is negligible. No company or industry had a perfect safety record, "but that's what we strive for and if an accident happens and something goes wrong, we take it personally", said Airbnb head of communications for Australia and New Zealand Dylan Smith.
He detailed several measures the company had taken to improve safety for hosts and guests. This included developing a 250-person "Trust and Safety Team" including former law enforcement officials, online safety specialists and data scientists to deal with safety issues around the clock and around the globe. It had set up a process for verifying guest and host ID, and would reimburse hosts for up to $1 million worth of property damage."