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Comment by tribeofone | Hacker News Reader

How is this their fault? Your comments make no sense, because someone did not understand the inherent risks of using a service does not make it AirBnB's fault.

"How could this happen? Why did this happen? Despite it not being in New York... I LOVED my apartment nonetheless. It was my own private retreat, my sunny, bright, cozy loft that I would melt into on those rare occasions when I wasn't traveling. The space was simply decorated, minimalist enough to reflect a home life that was all mine, a place that was peaceful, and safe.

How could this happen? She decided to rent out her place - its not like AirBnB put it up on the market.

Thats the difference between a rental property and your home. If its something precious, it should not be entrusted to others.

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> because someone did not understand the inherent risks of using a service does not make it AirBnB's fault.

If these are the risks then almost no one should be an AirBnB landlord. YC companies aren't supposed to profit by tricking people into making financial mistakes.

AirBnB needs to patch their business model (perhaps adding a $x insurance fee for both renter and buyer to compensate future victims), and then add prevention features:

- verify that landlords actually own what they are putting up for rent (postcard + pin?)

- verify that renters are who they say they are (billing info + billing phone verification for first time customers?)

“By hindering my ability to research the person who will rent my home, there is an implication that Airbnb.com has already done the research for me,” she wrote. “In effect, the friendly, community-based site ... creates a reasonable expectation that some basic screening of its users has occurred, and speaks little to the risks involved.”

Translation: I'm big enough to put my apartment for rent though this great, cheap service and try and profit from it and because so if ANYTHING AT ALL HAPPENS that I don't like, even if I may have possibly know or should have thought about it or not, because I'm a big girl but not that big, you know, then I should be able to sue because its really not my fault and if this does happen its clear that I was either tricked or deceived, because I'm pretty smart.

It might not be AirBnB who did this to her apartment, but it's definitly in AirBnB's commerical interest to kill the meme that "If you're happy to accept your place being trashed, then use AirBnB. If you don't want that to happen, don't use AirBnB"

Nope, this is something that everyone who rents out their place - on any service - must understand and come to terms with. Never gamble with more than you can afford to lose.

This is ridiculously short sighted. It is AirBnB's commercial interest -- if nothing else -- to make this issue go away. Thinking like this is what keeps PR people in business.

I disagree, this is just a case of HYPER OMG!! This will not effect AirBnB business, investment, popularity or success even if it hits the front page of FT. You dont rent out your principal residence to someone you don't know and found on the net. Duh.

You're conflating two issues. This isn't about whether or not it's sensible to rent out your living space to a stranger. (I happen to agree with you that it's reckless & irresponsible.)

The issue isn't even whether or not AirBnB is responsible for what happened or not. (I happen to agree with you here as well that AirBnB is not legally or morally responsible.)

The issue is that right now AirBnB's blood is in the water. The media sharks are starting to frenzy. They need to take immediate remedial action in a very public way that makes it clear in no uncertain terms that they share the moral high ground with the victim.

This isn't about real culpability. It's about image and brand management. But, as I've said before, that is my perspective as a former PR & marketing guy.

You're conflating two issues. This isn't about whether or not it's sensible to rent out your living space to a stranger. (I happen to agree with you that it's reckless & irresponsible.) The issue isn't even whether or not AirBnB is responsible for what happened or not. (I happen to agree with you here as well that AirBnB is not legally or morally responsible.)

Don't these two things taken together imply that no one should use AirBnB except to rent to friends/family (in which case, why would you use AirBnB)?

It seems like they really need to figure out if what happened here is something they can stop from happening or is it a new model for buglaries.

...That's kind of the entire airbnb business model right there.

You know what AirBnB is right? Its entire business model hinges on people renting out their principal residence to someone they don't know. And you don't think this story will affect their business model? I'm just baffled.

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