AirBnB Host Collapse Is Complete

Another empire gone

Have to admit, I am not super sad to see this happen.

Renting out a room in a house you otherwise occupy, sure. Buying/renting houses that you flip to AirBnB - fuck you. They are defacto hotel chains/landlords that get around laws that govern hotels and landlords.

AirBnB takes rental units off the market and creates housing shortages and increased rents. A lot of Airbnb units are now suddenly long term rentals on Craigslist.

I have a unit right across the street from me. I would love to rent it but it’s probably too expensive. It’s full though which I don’t get. It’s been the same people for a week or two.

Before the 2008 crash, I heard people brag about all the money they were making, flipping property. In Florida, in particular. There’s risk involved with that, as some learned, and now we see the risk involved with the AirB&B business. With every business, really.

There were, and are, a lot of innocent victims. There also are (or will be) a lot of entrepreneurs who invested and lost. That is capitalism and it sucks. I’ve been much more conservative in my investments and I admit to some schadenfreude. Particularly for the braggers and conspicuous consumers.

I am telling you NOW so i don't have to tell you later.

I was a bartender, but after AirB&B, now I own a boat!

What about OP guy’s Air PnP business?

Ya know ...

I constantly hear that most people should have 6-12 months of cash saved in case of layoff. I realize that many people would have a hard time with this, but still, while I don't wish financial collapse on anyone (well anyone but Trump), but why are business exempt from this rule? Should have known better.

I think the virus has done serious damage to the home sales market, too. My neighbor had his city condo’s first open house on 2/22/20, to sell his place. I think he was just a single week too late! Who wants to visit and buy somebody else’s potentially infected home, right now?

He’s dropped his price 4%, but I don’t think he’ll go anywhere unless he’s more “motivated” and drops the price 30%, at least. He started at $1.25 million, and I that’s too high now. He might have to go as low as $800k.

This hurts me, too, as I have a similar unit. Oh, well! Fortunately I’m not moving. Maybe things will improve in 6 months.

Millennials have so many side-hustles to keep them afloat, and keep paying their $70,000 student loans. And they all involve people.

Wow I was just wondering about this the other day. I hate to say it, but for those who abused it and took out affordable housing stock in order to turn them into unlicensed hotel room. I say HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA

I hope the mob holds their mortgages.

I remember going to one of my monthly real estate investors meetings where a 20 something guy and 30 year old were separately presenting out their AirBnB businesses. They would rent apartments and notify the landlords that it would be an AirBnB unit. As long as they received their permit from the city and approval from the landlord, it was all good. But, they stressed the importance of the summer through fall tourist dollars. It's about as solid as any other tourism based business model, but a smart investor would keep an eye on their cash reserves. I don't know of many people in the real estate or investment property business that carry loads of cash unless they are about to place a down payment on another property, even then they LOVE to use equity from another property. The traditional investors tend to be asset rich, cash poor. AirBnB offers a faster buck so I assume it goes out the door as quickly as it comes in. I'd be stressing like crazy right now.

that guy in OP's video reminds me of the rants that my soon to be ex has currently. _

R14 I'm surprised landlords knowingly allow this, wouldn't there be more liability if something happens to a guest? And, why wouldn't they just become AirBnB Lords themselves?

Managing airbnb properties is work that a lot of people don't want to do r16. And a lot of landlords only care that there is money coming in.

Ugh. The more I think about this the more annoyed I get. From the twitter post originally - “we are your loyal hosts and most devoted supporters”? Bitch this wasn’t a charity. You were loyal and devoted while you were making money hand over fist while very leveraged and hoarding otherwise affordable rentals.

My tears of sympathy are as dry as .... (let's start a game):

Madge’s sex life

airbnb had to follow hotel rules or tenant/building code rules anyways.

So if you rent a room out of your house via Airbnb, that tenant has occupancy to their place. Cannot evict.

If the landlord claims is was a hotel/airbnb situation, both parties have to be licensed and pay hotel tax/sales tax. There are penalties.

Companies like this need to go down. They've done more to hurt than help. Like always, the rich got involved and manipulated laws to get ahead. Do I feel bad for people that genuinely tried to use it the way it was supposedly intended? Sure. But they still took a gamble & lost, while working legal loopholes.

That guy looks like he’s about to shoot up a middle school

MARY!

Wooow someone needs to lay off the coke/meth ..

Crazy eyes needs to reality check his ass. WTF

if you make your money off rent and flipping property, this is a bad time for you. Airbnb is going to crash.

Airbnb will be fine. They are just a platform for the people selling the rooms. Their overhead is likely small and as this video shows, the Airbnb owners are the ones feeling the crunch. The company can just wait this out just like Uber and Lyft.

800k is not a lot of money?

how much did he pay for his place?

Nice soul patch, Karen.

R26, about $170,000, in 1992. I didn’t say $800k isn’t a lot of money, but it is quite a haircut for being a week too late. Another neighbor paid $1.4 million last year, but he’s an idiot, as far as I can tell.

This refund policy was a smart idea. They’d have lost half their future customers, otherwise.

i dont understand the rant . is the rant a parody?

people can not travel. people can not go to work. hosts expect people to honor the air b and b reservation? they don't have jobs or income to pay for the reservation.

[quote]airbnb had to follow hotel rules or tenant/building code rules anyways.

Not really. People in some cities like Santa Monica and Palm Springs were buying small apartment building and turning the whole thing into Airbyb. At that point, you basically have a hotel. And hotels are subject to different laws like providing enough parking, resort fees, commercial taxes, and neighborhood restrictions. Some people don't want a popup hotel across the street in their neighborhood. That's why both those cities outlawed Airbnb for more than one unit at a time or the stay has to be a month long like a renter.

The housing market is going to crash, bigly.

I'm very happy about that.

[quote]Palm Springs were buying small apartment building and turning the whole thing into Airbyb.

Palm Springs resident here, and while we do have issues with short term rentals, never heard of entire apartment buildings being totally converted.

Source?

I'm fine and sympathetic (or potentially so) with people who own one, two, maybe a handful of properties that they operate AirBnB style, but there are too many operators who have built their fortunes on a house of cards, oblivious to their often detrimental impact on local housing costs, thinking that a side income could become a full-time hostelery business and get rich quick scheme.

All of the schemers have had a detrimental effect upon the goose that lays their golden egg, too. What was once an interesting and sometimes unique alternative to hotels is now just another shitty apartment in a city center filled with the same cheap Ikea furniture and bedding and dishes in the kitchen cupboard as every other cheap fucker's investment scheme. The host is some frazzled sister of a guy whose girlfriend whose parents own the place lives in Milan now and hasn't seen the place for three years; she runs over, tosses you one set of keys (you had asked for two) and dashes back to her day job doing whatever before her boss or colleagues get too pissed off, again. When things shifted so far from a way to make some extra income to a way to make a killing juggling heavily leveraged properties, the simple charm of the thing fell away. The AirBnBtype of experience is past due for some sorting out.

I don't wish ruin on anyone, but damn, it's hard to feel any sympathy for dickheads like the guy in OPs post

r34 there is a simple solution to his problem, only pay the rents on high earning properties and simply don't pay on the rest. It's shitty but if you don't have the cash then you don't have the cash. I don't understand what he wanted from AirBnB. They couldn't force people to eat the cost of a rental during a pandemic without sever blowback.

That video in op’s post is one of the worst audition tapes ever!

AirBNB basically lead to a lack of affordable housing. Now, those rentals will become long-term rentals, and for significantly less because people who need housing are cash scrapped. And you will get a lease with utilities because the util are in the owners/or scam companies name. Sure, you cannot force people to transfer over.

This psycho needs to make a craglist and website for a long-term rental, year.

These people really deserve this.

Source R33. God you are lazy. This one from PS but its going on in a lot of cities. Santa Monica was especially popular with this game.

LOL - so he wants to be immune from the downturn that hotels are also experiencing.

Doesn't work that way!

"I dont understand the rant."

Neither do most posters. Hosts have varying cancellation policies ranging from 0 to several nights' penalty depending on date of cancelling. Airbnb over-rode the agreements and forced 100% refunds, except their service fee of course.. Relatedly, most small hotels couldn't afford to waive nonrefundable deposits and instead gave partial deferral vouchers.

The issue of renting properties to sublet is a different matter. Whatever, airbnb will recover down the road.

OP’s guy is a nut.

So OP's guy is a graduate of Woodbridge High School and now a failed LA actor who has turned to Airbnb to support himself.

I lived catty-corner from this place. It's named after the street it is on.

BTW, not lazy, not my job to verify your information. How hard would it have been to include the link with your original statement?

At least something good can come out this situation.

I wanted to rent a small private room last month and I was surprised they added at $25 service fee and cleaning at the end. The room was $75, cleaning $35 and the service fee $25. So it was basically $135 for a private room with shared bathroom and kitchen. PLUS TAX. But I dont remember how much that was.

No thank you!

I looked on booking.com and got a much better price at a nice hotel with pool and breakfast included plus I had my own bathroom.

Also when did Airbnb get so greedy? I remember years ago the service charge was maybe $5 or even less for a private room.

I hope this greedy "sharing economy" company crashes and burns during this crisis.

Imagine making significant investments of time and money to set up your Air BnB property only to have Air BnB itself fuck you over like this.

You can never trust them again. So what do you do with your property?

I read that lots of hosts are trying to find long term tenants now. Airbnb really fucked them all over and they're extending the free cancellation policy now to the end of May and probably even longer. In that tweet upthread a host lost 100% of his booking and still has to pay $50k in rent next month. This will ruin a lot of people. How can they change the cancellation policy just like that though?

It’s a national disaster, not AirBnB’s fault.

Eaxclty r48.

^Giving renters full refunds and not honouring their own cancellation policies is fair though? As a host I would never rent my apartment via Airbnb again.

Btw, Airbnb of course keeps the cancellation fees while hosts lose 100% of their money. I know this company is evil, but doing this to their hosts is just next level evil.

It was greed of those landlords. Now, the gravy train has ended. Good! Hopefully, the rental market is more affordable for people. Also, you cannot switch util over right now. So renters get free utils.

[quote] Btw, Airbnb of course keeps the cancellation fees while hosts lose 100% of their money.

If the company said you can cancel without cancellation fees, where do you think the corporation is getting money? If nobody is paying cancellation fees, there’s no source for the money.

It’s not like they’re charging customers who are canceling and keeping the money for themselves.

^They are not refunding their service fee so basically every party is losing but not Airbnb. Must be nice to just change the cancellation policy for hosts and guests, but still keep the service fees from millions of cancelled bookings. Everyone is losing here but not the billion dollar company as usual.

I've stayed in a number of places that seemed like companies bought apartments en masse and converted them to AirBNB--the decor always loolks like a mishmash of whatever is on sale.

R53, well, that does sound evil.

But I don’t think that was the guy’s rant?

I live in a remote area and rent my house out to tourists. I'm a Superhost on AirBnB. This has hurt my income and will continue to hurt my income for most of this year. I'll just ignore all the criticisms of AirBnB posted in this thread. You can criticize it all you want, but that doesn't change the fact that it is a livelihood for a large number of people. This is a global health crisis in addition to an economic crisis resulting from the collapse of the travel industry.

AirBnB went wrong, in my opinion, by allowing booked reservations to be cancelled by the guests without penalty. This was allowed in spite of the terms of each rental agreement. The guests agreed to the cancellation policy when they made the reservation, yet AirBnB allowed them to break their agreement, with no input from the hosts. In my opinion that was a breach of contract. Huge numbers of hosts lost large amounts of money due to that decision by AirBnB. I think AirBnb realized a class action lawsuit by hosts was possible.

Just yesterday the CEO of AirBnB announced a $250 million fund to partially refund the hosts for those cancellations. They are paying the hosts 25% of what they would have been paid for the cancelled reservation. That $250 million is coming ut of AirBnB's pocket. While it's better than nothing, I still believe it is a breach of the original contract. AirBnB is hoping this fund will appease the hosts who lost large amounts of money due to cancellations.

AirBnB also established a $10 million fund paid for by the top executives of AirBnB personally, with contributions from AirBnB employees. This is to go to grants to AirBnB hosts who are "most in need" and qualify under their eligibility criteria. You have to be a Superhost for at least 1 year, have only either 1 or 2 listings on AirBnB, have to show a reliance on AirBnB "as a vital source of income" and have lost " a significant percentage of earnings due to COVID-19."

I qualify under the first 2 criteria but I'm not sure if I qualify under the second 2, because I don't know what the proof required by AirBnB is. I suspect there will be a lot of disputes and probably resentment from hosts who didn't get a grant. They probably opened up a whole can of worms with that announcement.

Maybe they sell something artisanal on Etsy.

My parents have a vacation home they advertise on homeaway and also lost almost all their bookings for 2020. They make individual contracts with each guest and tried to find an amicable solution with everyone. My parents are in their 70s and only have a small pension and need that extra income. What amazes me is that all these Airbnb guests agreed to the cancellation policy, but all expect to get a full refund and have absolutely no compassion with hosts. It's just me, me, me. They think all hosts are big companies and should give them a full refund. This is not how Airbnb started and something is seriously wrong here. Airbnb became an evil greedy Silicon valley company in record time who regularly ignore local laws and now fucked over their hosts without even thinking twice while still making a nice profit. I hope they don't survive this crisis and hosts really consider finding long term tenants (at least in all the cities) and find a new platform.

So, AirBnB hosts want to fuck over everyone who reserved in April and May by making them pay for a trip that the government has told them not to do? You realize many of these people have lost their fucking jobs and you still want them to pay for something they can't use and have been told not to use for their own health?

That's really what you all are saying. You don't want to suffer like all the other travel businesses and you want to screw over your guests.

AirBnB should not be your sole source of income or even a large part because bookings are not guaranteed. You made a gamble, the market has softened, so sorry - but this is how it goes with the economy. You are not immune. You took risks and made a lot of money before this - don't start to shit all over it because you don't want to be affected by something that's affecting everyone else.

Selfish asshole behavior. Nothing less.

R58 out of the 4 times I used AirBnB, I have been fucked by the 2 hostS who cancelled my reservation the day before I was supposed to fly there.

Fuck them. Good host and bad hosts are all the same. It is to me to save my money.

It is up to me to save my money^

I always thought AirBnB was a big scam and now you get what you deserve, this will put big damper on all of it, good riddance.

"So, AirBnB hosts want to fuck over everyone who reserved in April and May by making them pay for a trip that the government has told them not to do?"

You agree to the cancellation policy before making a reservation. It is a normal contract and depending on the terms, you only pay what you agreed to. There is also this thing called travel insurance you can get for extraordinary circumstances. You also have a contract with your health insurance company. How would you feel if they just cancel your insurance now and say, fuck, this is getting too expensive and we don't care if you have a contract, we're not gonna pay? You would be upset bc this could possibly ruin you financially, no? But they are also not responsible for this crisis so too bad for you.

I don’t understand airBNB hosts who want their guests to allow them to keep part of the deposit.

The cancellation is because there is a life threatening pandemic going on, a global emergency. Everyone has to cancel because their governments are telling them they have to stay inside.

When there is no service offered, do you really expect to get paid, even a little? Did you go rushing down to the restaurant that closed down the block and offer them money? Your dry cleaner? Your barber?

NO

R63 - this is not just a normal cancellation and you know that. Most people, if given the opportunity, would still be taking these trips.

Your argument makes no sense. And hotels and airlines have allowed cancellations and refunds. Comparing this to health insurance is just stupid.

You know you're wrong.

I belong to an AirBnB FB group, and the sense of entitlement these hosts have is insane. They complain about the smallest thing the average guest does. Most of them are asshole fraus whose husbands' money bought these properties in the first place.

It's a goddamn contract. Why is this so hard to understand? You cannot compare Airbnb hosts with billion dollar airlines or hotel chains. This is just stupid. It's a different concept. If Airbnb wants to give guests full refunds, they should pay for it.

Companies pay rent for shops and stores they cannot use, people still have to pay for their gym memberships, my company has to pay for products we ordered before the crisis and now no longer need, but we signed a contract. You sign a contract, you honour it.

Fuck off, R56.

[quote]R64: The cancellation is because there is a life threatening pandemic going on, a global emergency. Everyone has to cancel because their governments are telling them they have to stay inside... When there is no service offered, do you really expect to get paid, even a little? Did you go rushing down to the restaurant that closed down the block and offer them money? Your dry cleaner? Your barber?

I’m paying my housekeeper, even without service She’s an illegal, and otherwise I think she’d starve.

R67 - so, how much have you lost then?

You know damn well this is not a simple contract and cancellation issue. You're trying to apply regular economy standards to this and it does not apply.

Stop being such a greedy asshole. These people are not cancelling because they are flaking out. You just want to be immune from the downside of the economy - it doesn't work that way bitch.

Amen, R59.

R67 in another thread said "If they can't evict you, wouldn't it make sense NOT to pay rent for the next two months? There might still be a possibility you don't have to pay at all if this crisis continues."

So he's advocating not paying rent to landlords, but somehow he wants people who have lost their jobs to pay the full amount on cancelled AirBnB reservations because it affects him (or his parents' vacation home) directly.

Wow.

R70 I did not lose anything because I'm not an Airbnb host, loser. My elderly parents lost all their bookings and depend on that extra income. But they are not on Airbnb and found amicable solutions with all their guests. Airbnb should have done the same. We're all losing money in this situation. You should try to be compassionate and think about other people. Look at Pierre still paying his cleaning lady even though he doesn't want/need her service right now.

Maybe this will help renters

"So he's advocating not paying rent to landlords, but somehow he wants people who have lost their jobs to pay the full amount on cancelled AirBnB reservations because it affects him"

I also said I still pay my rent because my landlords are nice people and I respect them and don't want them to suffer. But yes, I dont give a fuck if big corporations or hedgefonds like Black Rock (who bought hundreds of thousands of apartments around the globe) lose their rent and still make billions during this crisis, just like I think Airbnb should pay their share for the cancelled reservations.

You should also stop stalking people on an anonymous board, you fucking creep.

R75 - you said 'you should be compassionate and think about other people'? What about the people who lost their jobs who you want to force to pay their AirBnB fees even though they can't use them?

And looking at people's posts on other threads is common around here, particularly when talking with someone who is arguing so bizarrely about contracts.

Sucks your elderly parents lost some additional income on a vacation home, but the fact that they have a separate vacation home speaks that they have some funds and resources. I doubt a couple who own two homes will be out on the street over some rental income. They could always rent the 2nd house to a family full-time.

I already said a couple of times now that Airbnb should have found an amicable solution for guests and hosts or even pay the refunds themselves. Instead they only fucked over their hosts and make them pay while still making a profit and keeping the service fees. Sorry, but how is this fair? People argued that all hosts are greedy asshole anyway and deserve it. This is just not true and Airbnb should've tried to find a fair solution for everyone. That was my whole point.

And no, I never stalk anyone on DL and don't think this is common. If some annoys me, I just block them.

No sympathy for AirBnB assholes, they should be the first to go down hard, watch them beg for a place to live once they're bankrupt. Two houses on my street were AirBnB, multiple police calls and other bullshit before the city shut them down. Fuck that cancerous "new economy" piece of shit company and their hosts.

Airbnb is a great concept for vacation homes, beach houses or people who just rent a room in their apartment to students. People should not be allowed to offer whole apartments to tourists in cities. Rent exploded in my city too and families hardly find affordable housing now.

An economy or income based on tourism is always a bad idea. This is a well know fact, basic economics. Think of it this way, you are entirely DEPENDENT on someone else's income and whims. An externality comes along and wipes you out, something completely outside of your control, such is the Corona Pandemic.

If you own the housing, just rent it out long-term.

The lure of easy money on Airport was too great r80

AirBnB is OVAH!

and bananas flambe

Pierre wants people to turn up to their bookings and spread the virus around so long as his precious contract isn't broken and the money keeps on rolling in.

????

So the AirBnB hosts want to be treated like business people but also want to be free from the risks that business owners face.

There is no court that would allow any hotel, etc to keep the deposit at a time when travel is not permitted. Natural disasters void many contracts. If your AirBnB property is destroyed in a hurricane no one can sue you for not providing accommodations. This is the same principle.

Anyone who does not properly capitalize their business or does not set aside reserves when times are good will face financial ruin. No one should feel sorry for another person's lack of basic common sense.

Airbnb needs to kill the whole rental arbitrage industry. It's not right. And then it will regain its credibility as a platform.

I am still agog that the hosts are so stupid as to think that they would be allowed to keep deposits in the current situation.

They should limit AirBnB to one property. That's fair, and it would stop all the grifters like the one in OP's post who turn apartment buildings into illegal hotels.

That video guy scares the crap out of me. He completely disregards the one factor that actually drives the platform: the guest.

The dude in ops post has serial killer eyes

Sorry, contracts don’t hold when governments are tell you that you can’t leave your house

where is the rental anyways?

What do you expect from a company that couldn't afford "ed" and "reakfast"?

Good to hear. AirBnB and Uber shouldn't exist. They are a scourge on civilized living. Live within your means, if you can't afford the hotel room you dream of, compromise and get a hotel room you can afford, or if you can't afford that then don't travel until you can. If you can't afford a regular taxi then take the subway or the bus. And while we're at it, kill all these ridiculous point programs that get people in to business class of flights. Too many skanks stinking up the civilized life nowadays.

I deep-sixed asshole R67

FORCE MAJEURE.

The end.

The hysterical cunt in ops video is fucking hilarious. I’m glad he’s upset.

AirBnB is a scam and your parents got scammed! Why is this so hard to understand? It had trouble from the beginning with the cities and rising rents and your parents got SCAMMED just like everybody else. File a lawsuit or suck it up.

I don’t feel bad because anybody seriously involved in it was financially comfortable and taking away affordable housing from those in need. Sure if it’s a room in your house or a basement that’s different but those aren’t the people who will be devastated by this.

The AirBnB hosts with the great apartments in big cities should not have a problem finding long-term tenants. Why don't they do that? It's better than no rent at all, no?

R67, the contract is void. The customers are not permitted to use the service. That is different than a cancellation.

I wonder if these hosts would be willing to risk the lawsuits that could follow actually remaining open for business?

In essence AirBnB wanted to steal the revenue from the hotel chains. And highly leveraged themselves doing it.

These people should have taken a high school economics class and maybe they’d have cottoned onto the fact that with high reward comes high risk. They wanted to make a fast buck, and they got burned. Maybe try investing in Dutch tulips next?

How dis AirBnB make rents go up?

I've stayed at hotels and I've stayed at AirBnB places, and I would MUCH rather stay at an AirBnB property. There's no comparison. Hotels are dismal, noisy and expensive now.

I think AirBNB is a win-win for everyone, except the big hotels . The problem here is, although guests were forced to cancel by the pandemic, AirBNB still demands its share.

AirBNB needs to be put on pause if everyone is.

R73, perhaps your mom can start offering herself to tricks

R104: Ah yes the Dutch Tulip thing. I learned about that long ago. Plus learned the concepts of opportunity cost etc.

No sympathy here. Airbnb is a source of passive income for the privileged that negatively affects the livelihoods of others who are seriously working for a living.

The advent of Airbnb and its proliferation of clandestine rentals has encroached on my own business (no names) and has been a thorn in my side for several years. I'm content to see Airbnb, and those who have been exploiting it to take business away from me, imploding now. Just desserts.

As for me, my business is going to make it through just fine.

Exactly r100 and r110. It’s going to be a win for normal renters and consumers in the long run, and a big ‘good riddance’ to AirBnB and other similar vampiric business models.

How does Airbnb take away affordable housing? I don't use it but isn't it mostly people renting out a room in their house?

R112, there are people who buy a number of properties and rent them out as Airbnbs. In some neighborhoods a sizeable percentage of available stock gets bought up....which drives up the price of real estate.

It is these "super hosts" who are raging over this. They are likely to lose properties if they have not set aside reserves for such downturns.

[quote] R84: Pierre wants people to turn up to their bookings and spread the virus around so long as his precious contract isn't broken and the money keeps on rolling in.

No, no, no, and, hmm, no. Have you confused me with someone who has a AirBnB rental? Otherwise, I have no idea what you’re trying to say. If anything, I mean.

My husband and are digital nomads/semi-retired and we rely on sites like Homeaway for medium term 1-3 month rentals. I hate AirBNB because of their horrible policies and always find a way to communicate with hosts off the platform. These companies now charge over 10% to the renter, which is fine for one night, but not for 3 months. Plus cleaning, taxes, services charges on top!

So my feelings about this are mixed. Without these vacation rental platforms, we couldn't run our lives. But they are greedy and horrible with their excess charges and policies and deserve a major takedown. It is unconscionable that AirBNB keeps the service fee and the hosts get nothing from the cancelled reservations. But equally, people need to have travel insurance and every business needs to have cash reserves.

As to how AirBNB harms people - more than 10% of rental units in some cities, eg Florence, Italy, are now AirBNB. So there is now a major rental shortage for residents.

I hope everyone complaining here about Airbnb doesn't happily jump into their Uber or Lyft after a night out partying and pays for a normal taxi instead.I bet Uber is sending over a care package to all their self employed drivers as we speak. Who lost all income now, but still have to pay insurance, leases, health insurance. Lol.

All sharing economy companies are evil. They only care about their service fees and commissions while none of their "employees" have basic employment rights or protection. How convenient they don't have to worry about wages, insurance, rent, car leases or mortgages in this situation.

[quote] They are likely to lose properties if they have not set aside reserves for such downturns.

What a silly concept that set aside reserves stuff. The federal government can bail them out, no?

Should I sell my Uber stock?

I don't have an issue with Airbnb, though I've never set foot in one. When needed they never work with my travel schedules or price points. When a group of friends need a place, it's a wonderful option. r116, I will happily use Uber or Lyft over taxis. but when I served tables in college a number of colleagues used taxis to get home. You had to call their distribution center and give them your departure time. They arrived when they arrives, if you were a little late or in the back of the restaurant a few would drive off. Then you had people take weird routes to increase the meeter far, it is not a user friendly option compared to the Ride Share companies.

Uber tells me when they will arrive, prices are agreed upon before hand, no bs about broken CC machines, as if I cary cash, and it' easy to file a complaint or send a compliment. I can not for the life of me see how a Taxi would be preferable, unless you are leaving the airport and need a car NOW!

Taxis, like Blockbuster, failed to adapt to the times.

Long as I can park my RV in the WalMart lot, I'm good.

If people hate AirBNB polices so much, why don’t they just move to another platform like Homeaway? There are many to choose from

Many are on several platforms, like Uber drivers are also driving for Lyft

I have had nothing but trouble trying to use taxis in my area. Like what was mentioned above. Trying to drive weird routes. Definitely being overcharged for what the route was.

What really soured me was reserving a large vehicle to go a pub crawl through my cities taxi service which has swallowed up everyone else.

Confirming via email and phone. The day of, no one shows up. Called and got absolute attitude. Then being told it will get there when it gets there.

I have never had any of these issues with Uber and Lyft.

Homeaway and VRBO are taking on some of AirBNB's policies, like excessive fees to the renter and blocking direct contact, that's why.

[quote]Airbnb is a source of passive income

Clearly you've never run an AirBnB property. It is an enormous amount of work.

Homeaway and VRBO are owned by the same company. In fact, when I get a VRBO rental, the money goes through Homeaway's payment system.

With AirBnB and VRBO, you are only barred from direct contact until the reservation is made money is paid. Once the reservation is made and the money paid, you are completely unblocked; the phone numbers are revealed and you can have all the direct contact you want.

I don't mind Uber and Lyft's encroachment because it's just getting a ride somewhere. Taxis were way overpriced and it was extremely difficult to get 'justice' against rude, offensive, and criminal taxi drivers. The complaints hotline in a city was pretty much just for show.

VRBO and HomeAway were around years and years before AirBnB. AirBnB started just as a couch-surfing or room rental service, which is how they were different from VRBO. Then they expanded so much it got out of control. Governments always have to play catch up with enacting laws to protect their citizens.

I can't understand how AirBnB supposedly has no money when they charge so fucking much. And their customer service is almost non-existent; they never want to get involved with disputes. Worthless.

My heart goes out to the AirBnB people! What kind of world is this where a person can't bypass everything to make as much money as possible. The Palm Springs situations, oh dear! I think it is my God-given rights as a Maga-Gay to buy anything, go to IKEA, paint doors orange on old units and rent them out as hotels rooms. Then I make as much as I possibly can, and the people who need rental stock, well, they can just go live in Desert Center and commute! I can stand by and watch those evil resorts with hundreds of rooms fail, and then I can rent out my little shit-holes for maximum profit! Before Palm Springs stepped in, I could do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted! Now I have to follow rules!

I'm am not the landlord type. I don't want to rent to PEOPLE! I just want influencer types with cash. Lots of cash!

Most of you posting on this thread have absolutely no clue about AirBnB or who the AirBnB hosts are.

We know, R126. So you book, get the address, look on Google Streetview and find out the place is over a bar or in a no-go slum or next to a pig farm. So you cancel and inevitably lose money.

R129, the people on this thread do not get AirBnB.

And AirBnB hosts do not get business law.

Taxi companies suck that’s true but I dont get the hate for hotels. I’ve always had great experiences and I’ve just always loved the hotel experience.

And I read earlier tha AirBnB got some capital recently o weather the economic storm.

They got a billion bucks from somewhere. Probably will still tank. The ick factor of certain things in the new pandemic world will change things like staying in a place that is not professionally cleaned and sterilized like hotel rooms.

[quote] not professionally cleaned and sterilized like hotel rooms.

You’re naïveté is cute.