

A Simple Guide to Damage Control - AlexeyMK
http://maxwendkos.com/2011/07/29/a-simple-5-step-guide-to-damage-control/

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wccrawford
I understand the thinking that the house owners can't do proper background
checks, and they expect AirBnB to do it for them because of that... That's
AirBnB's fault because of the way they are set up. (I assume that's to protect
people as well!)

But when you rent your or loan your things to someone else, you take a chance
that they will damage it. If you aren't willing to take that chance, you
shouldn't be renting it out. You should have insurance for it, and you should
put your valuables away.

You are not absolved of responsibility just because someone prevents you from
doing a background check.

~~~
bradleyland
I completely agree with most of your sentiment. I've been really confused by
many of the views expressed on HN declaring the AirBnB should buy her a new
house, relocate her, or some other outlandishly expensive response, but there
are two issues/questions being mixed here:

A) Was AirBnB acting negligently or irresponsibly in the course of conducting
business?

B) Has their response been appropriate?

On point A, I don't believe they were. As you point out, you're renting your
house out to strangers. Hotels carry very, very large insurance policies to
protect against the kind of stupidity and maliciousness that most of us never
want to experience.

On point B, it's hard to defend them. AirBnB has issued statements that are
being rebutted by the victim in this case. That's how how you want your
communication to end up in these kinds of scenarios. You want to embrace the
victim, and if they're being unrealistic, you have to address that head on and
have confidence in the rationality of person reading your words. If it turns
out you're wrong, well then it won't really matter, because point A becomes
unsolvable for you. It would require _significant_ adjustments to their
business model in order to protect individual renters from the type of
activity observed in this case.

~~~
wccrawford
I agree they've done a horrible job of communication. But I don't think they
were lying... I think they just weren't paying enough attention.

She says someone was arrested, but in the end, wasn't charmed for the crimes
against her. AirBnB is only saying someone was arrested. They apparently
didn't do any further checking, while she did. (It could be that the police
wouldn't tell them anything, but I doubt it.)

They didn't maintain contact with her. They only renewed contact to ask her to
do them favors... Ridiculous favors. And they reached out again after it
became a big thing without actually showing any compassion. They're making
their agenda pretty clear, and that's pathetic. It's pathetic even if that
isn't their agenda!

