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The fact the police were involved rules this out as a conspiracy. And it just doesn't follow that even if the hotel industry is taking advantage of the situation (they probably could care less), EJ was involved in a conspiracy.

Can we move the discussion forward please?

It doesn't have to be a "conspiracy" -- the change in story, attitude, and the selected words looks like someone is being coached and has decided to milk it.

>accusations that she was part of a plot by the hotel industry to discredit Airbnb

or like market analysts would say : tin hat market shows signs of improvement

> Has Airbnb been looking into this possibility?

ie. whether they seriously looked into the idea of blaming their own screwdup on a "plot by <> industry" ? do you seriously think that bad about them?

Looked into why the story changed because it may be a sign that she is now being coached.

We are talking about billions of dollars here .. people have killed for much less. We know that there already are companies who sell upvotes for digg/reddit. selling tweets, etc. There is no evidence so far but no one can deny that there is motive.

>We know that there already are companies who sell upvotes for digg/reddit. selling tweets, etc.

and to think that i'm laboring here for free :)

Nor does it fit with EJ's original account: I would be remiss if I didn’t pause here to emphasize that the customer service team at airbnb.com has been wonderful, giving this crime their full attention ...

She wrote her original account at the end of June. She wrote her update at the end of July. The customer service she refers to happened in the days prior to her first post, so it is not inconsistent with her dissatisfaction in her second post.

PG said, "I've just learned more about this situation, and it turns out Airbnb has been offering to fix it, from the very beginning. From the beginning they offered to pay to get her a new place and new stuff, and do whatever else she wanted" (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2822721).

What EJ is saying now does not match what PG is saying.