Just What We Need: AirBnB - Front Page News - Not good!

[John1574]

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BREAKING NEWS: THIS JUST IN!

Host goes berserk?

Host smashes through bedroom picture window in the middle of the night.

It costs the guests $6500 to relocate in LA.  They want nothing to do with AirBnB rebooking (and who would blame them).

AirBnB offers $2500 and five therapy sessions to "overcome the trauma."

The Hotel lobby couldn't buy this kind of negative publicity for $100,000, and Airbnb cheaps out on the refund.  OMFG!

Days are numbered.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2018/10/08/airbnb-guesthouse-horrors/NJhq55qg0a2h6nO0aOsEJK/sto...

https://www.newsweek.com/airbnb-offers-2500-and-therapy-sessions-couple-who-was-attacked-host-116032...

[Ute42]

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Hi @John1574 ,

I believe this story has absolutely nothing to do with airbnb.

What have we got here? Some guy runs amok, trashes a bedroomwindow and enters the room.

Why did he do that? I have no idea. Maybe he was under the influence of drugs, alcohol or maybe he is mentally ill anyway.

This guy could just as well have trashed the bedroomwindow of the lady who owns the place, a window of one of the neighbouring houses, he might have gone to a crossroad and thrash the window of a car waiting at the traffic lights. Pls remember, there was no argument between the host and the guests before the incident, it came out of the blue.

What the Boston Globe is fabricating out of this is:

• It may be unsecure to rent an airbnb bc the host may trash
  Your bedroomwindow and enter the room

What a nonsense. The real story is:

• Wherever You are in this world, in Germany, the US, in an airbnb,
  on a crossroad or in a mall, You can always run into someone who runs amok
  
  

What the Boston Globe was doing here is cheap sensational journalism at the lowest level. This is not an airbnb story, this is a „someone runs amok somewhere“ story.

The Boston Globe should be ashamed about what they have done.

[Susan17]

@Ute0  There's history here though... 

https://www.universalhub.com/2018/airbnb-tries-slime-boston-city-councilor-instead

As in so many jurisdictions where Airbnb is fighting regulatory battles, instead of taking a more respectful approach, they tend to barge right in and carry on as if they have a god-given right to be there, and are not averse to pulling dirty tricks to try and get their own way. Invariably, their arrogance and hubris works against them, resulting in local lawmakers and regulators coming down on them (and us) like a ton of bricks. Seen it happen time and time again.

[Daniel1992]

The Boston Globe does like to use sensational language to influence emotions.  Just be wary about it.

[Victoria567]

Hi@Daniel

We used to have the sensational The News of the World, full of similar sensations.

Headlines ranging from “Freddy Starr ate my hamster” to  “Fergie ( ex Duchess Sarah Ferguson) having her toes sucked by her Texan financial adviser “.........it’s all sensational journalism, it gives some of us a laugh and others a shock!

I would  have loved to have been a fly on the wall of Balmoral, during breakfast after the Royals saw the sensational headlines over their Kelloggs cereals 🤭

I would not be wary as it’s so hilarious it’s ridiculous!

[Daniel1992]

Unfortunately, @Victoria0, in the States we get so much made up new by people with agendas that we have to be wary about literally everything.  Unfortunately, 90% of it is political that does have a grain of truth to it.  And since Election Day is next month here, it's ramping up.

[John1574]

@Ute42  @Suzanne302 @Daniel1992 @Suzanne302

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Regardless of how one characterizes the story or the Globe's presentation of the story several facts remain incontrovertable.

The headline, the story is very bad publicity for AirBnB and for hosts in general, and it will scare away potential guests and gives ammunition to AirBnB foes.

And AirBnB could have and should have handled it better.

These are the basic facts and opinions I present in my commentary.  If you think it is good publicty, a good thing for AirBnb, well, bless your little soul. Lol

Do they still kill the messenger in some places?  Lol

[Ute42]

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@John1574

"airBnB could have and should have handled it better"

Yes, they should have handled it better.

If I was airbnb, this would have been the procedure: Dear Guests, we will pay the amount of $2500 to You. In exchange You will sign a non disclosure agreement. If this story goes to the media, You will lose all You money.

Here's the payment plan. You will get

• $700 immediately

• $700 in one month

• $1100 in 3 months from now

Sign here.

That's the way to handle things like these.

[Robin4]

@Ute42 @John1574 @Susan17 @Allison2

Cheque-book jounalism always seem to win Ute!

Here in Australia we have a major television channel owned by a print media conglomerate and one of their feature prime-time programs is called 'A Current Affair'. The backing and resources of this program's personnel is virutally limitless and they will travel to every far flung corner of this country in search of 'dirt'! In fact not just this country. This channel paid a mother and her support group for the rights to film her trying to snatch her child from a partner who had disappeared to Saudi-Arabia! The channel threw around hundreds of thousands of dollars on that abortive attempt! A couple of their journalists were actually jailed in Saudi-Arabia for their part in it!

Stories like this one are 'bread and butter' to A Current Affair! They regularly sensationalise Airbnbs that have fallen in a hole! Wives who will take to their cheating husbands $400,000 Mercedes with a can of paint and a baseball bat! They search for them, the action happens when the cameras arrive!

What ever Airbnb offered would never have been enough. The Boston...whatever it is, would have trebled anything Airbnb was prepared to hand out so, scenarios like you have stated, throwing  $100 here or there  would absolutely not work...they would just laugh at an offer like that which you have proposed Ute.

You don't get the Resolution Centre, or Trust and Safety involved in things like this. This is where high profile people need to put their best foot forward and be seen to 'make things right' 

It's all very well taking the easy money and bragging about how successful you are. You have a responsibility to protect those that you are carrying along on this journey who have made you successful.

To handle something like this with a 'get blood out of a stone' attitude is irresponsible and those at the top are to be damned for this!

Cheers......Rob

[Ute42]

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Hi @Robin4 ,

so the way I understand the outcome of this story is, that airbnb has, will or is in the process of paying $2500 to the guests BUT the story still went public on the Boston Globe. Is there an outcome imaginable which would be worse than this one? I think I would have done better than they did just because noone could do any worse than they did.

As You may remember Frank Zappa announced in 1991 that he is planning to run for President of the United States. Asked why he would do this he stated:

„Look at the presidents of the United States so far. Could I do any worse than they did?“

 cc:  @John1574

[John1574]

@Robin4@Victoria567@Ute42@Allison2

Aye, Robin, I love a good tale and you tell a good tale, Mate. The populace got to have their tabloid journalism be it in print or on the tube (remember the tube).  In fact isn't it an Aussie named Murdoch who is responsible for much of the tabloid journalism in the U.S.  He owns Fox News and in fact he owns a Boston tabloid, the Boston Herald.

But the Boston Globe (the Boston whatever, as you slyly put it) does not engage in tabloid journalism nor do they pay for stories.  I’d like to set you straight on that false assumption. I think they won a Pulitzer for their uncovering of the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal, you remember, where Catholic priests have sex with young boys, that’s an ugly business, but they got to the bottom of it and it spread world-wide and is still ongoing.  Thanks Boston Globe. It a well-respected newspaper, beloved in New England, but It’s like that relative that you’re very fond of but that’s too clever by half and deeply flawed but so what – they do good sometimes.  But when the Boston Globe  Spot-Light Team gets a scent, they are going to sniff out the goods and bring them into the light. Belittle at your own risk.

In this sensational incident reported in the Globe the AirBnB guests who were the victims in the incident contacted a well-respected Consumer Advocate journalist at the Globe (Murphy, I blieve) because they were getting nowhere with AirBnB Customer service. That is explained clearly in the Globe article. It is an important point.

The Boston Globe did not create this incident nor did they mishandle it. This appeared on their front page because AirBnb did not act fast enough; in fact they dragged their feet in an egregious manner.  AirBnB only acted after being contacted by the Boston Globe from what I understand in regard to the $708 refund, not clear if the $2500 has been paid out yet.

AirBnb is the only one to blame for this story landing on the FrontPage of the Boston Globe.

Yes, it was a freak incident, unlikely to ever occur again:  but it was up to AirBnB to contain the damage if it would only cost them a measly $5000.  For a piddlin’ difference of $2500 AirBnb made fools of all their hosts. What about that is difficult to understand?

But, you, Robin, you got a gift. You say a mouthful here, Mate.

“It's all very well taking the easy money and bragging about how successful you are. You have a responsibility to protect those that you are carrying along on this journey who have made you successful.

To handle something like this with a 'get blood out of a stone' attitude is irresponsible and those at the top are to be damned for this!”

Amen.

[Robin4]

@John1574

I am staggered to learn that in this day and age there is a pocket of the media who do indeed write articles on the basis of ethics rather than financial reward...and I am surprised Murdoch has allowed that to go unchecked in Boston!

You are right John, he is (or was) not just an Aussie, he started out a mere 30 miles from where I am here in our state capital, Adelaide.

His father Sir Keith Murdoch was a very rerspected journalist and chief editor for a highly respected Australia wide weekly journal. Rupert Murdoch and his father did not see eye to eye on many aspects of life and after Sir Keith died in 1952 Rupert decided he wanted his own brand of tabloid and puchased a property on North Terrace in Adelaide and set himself up with a company called News Limited and started to produce a paper for afternoon/evening distribution called 'The News'. Although that orginal paper folded in the early 1980s Murdoch had aquired a substantial part of the Australian print media which he shared with 2 rival family interests ' John Fairfax' and 'Sir Frank Packer'....another name you Americans would be familiar with via his son Kerry! 

Murdoch is, I think, at the moment the 96th richest person in the world  and has been referred to  as "the man whose name is synonymous with unethical newspapers"

Don't know if I would want that as my epitaph of life John!

I am sorry to have lumped the Boston Globe in with the Murdoch 'stable' John but you see, in the main, that's the only sort of journalism we are treated to here!

Cheers......Rob

[Daniel1992]

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@John1574 wrote:

Do they still kill the messenger in some places?  Lol

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Uh, yes?  The President of the US does it on a daily basis by calling the media Fake News when they report something factual that he doesn't like.  Might want to look into that.

[John1574]

@Daniel1992

That's just wrong, and you are wrong to bring presidential politics into this thread.

And you are obviousely confused, also, Daniel.  You must be thinking of Saudi Arabia where they abduct and dismember journalists who critisize the government, and do it with impunity on foreign soil as do the Russians by posioning enimies of their state on sovergien soil.

What you just did is political hyperbole.  A cheap one-liner. You've made your political leanings clear, but I suggest you keep them to yourself or begin a thread of yourown here on the topic.  This is not the place for partisan rambling on U.S. politics.

I don't think this is the place to begin a political discouse, though.

[Daniel1992]

@John0:

1)  Are you saying that what's happening every day is factually innaccurate?

2)  That doesn't happen in Saudi Arabia (I should know; I have family there).  That happens in Russia.  You have your countries confused.

3) Hyperbole is defined as using rhetoric, which is defined as using speech to try to convince or persuade.  I'm not doing that.  Look at what he says.  I also answered the question you asked.  If you don't like it, tough.

4)  It's not a "cheap one-liner".  Lock Her Up is a cheap one-liner.  Saying the President calls the media Fake News is 100% proven fact.

5)  I hate all politicians.  But I guess that's another blanket statement (i.e.: your comment about Millenials being clueless).

6)  No political discourse is being discussed.  I just made a factual answer to your question.

[John1574]

@Daniel1992

You stated no facts, none whatsoever, merely opinion.

This is not the place for political discussions.  This is not the place for ad hominem attacks.

Saudi Arabia alledgely just did what I described in the Turkish consulate to a dissident journalist. You can read it in the news uless you consider it "fake news".

Please, start your own thread on how you feel about me, about politics: this thread is about the Boston Globe article.