Mass Shooting in Airbnb house in Orinda last night, 4 dead

Lan1
Level 10
El Cerrito, CA

Mass Shooting in Airbnb house in Orinda last night, 4 dead

Breaking news:  4 dead, many injured in  an Airbnb party house in Orinda CA last night ( 10/31). The house is just few steps away from my second residence in the same street. About 10:00pm, My daughter and I were driving back to our residence, noticed that the street were full of cars. After a while, we heard police helicopters and ambulances arriving ....Neighboor next door told us there was a mass shooting in the Airbnb house few steps away.

The head of Airbnb trust and safety announced that  they will conduct serious investigation, according to the news.

My dear fellow host, I have been posting  many times regarding my concerns to Airbnb unsafe booking process.  My own house has been targeted several times for huge parties/criminal activities, but it couldn’t get enough attention from Airbnb trust and safety 

department.

 Please protect yourself and be safe!

周蘭
837 Replies 837
David6
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Jody79 

 

Not directed at hosts in general. Some  hosts  were very vocal immediately after this tragedy incident. As soon as it was apparent that Airbnb were engaging . They stopped posting. They know who they are. Of course, it’s totally up to them. 

Rebecca181
Level 10
Florence, OR

Sure, this is all no doubt a waste of time and completely futile; but I'm going to stay here and keep the conversation going. Maybe for years. Or at least until the thread is 'archived' or otherwise buried (like those five dead youth). Or, until (like some other erstwhile hosts before me) I am mysteriously "disappeared..."

 

Indeed, we hosts are the "scapegoat" in this dysfunctional, twisted "community" system, a system that manipulates it's hosts through subtle forms of invoking fear via coercion and covert methods of control.

 

This is not a community based on "trust". It is, in fact, a cult.

 

"Sure, this is all no doubt a waste of time and completely futile"

 

@Rebecca181 (and everyone)

Please, please don't think that for one second! It's absolutely not futile, not at all. Our voices here may not be heard by Airbnb (despite their bullsh*t placating assurances) - but they ARE being heard, loud and clear - and being heard by many who can assist and support us in forcing fair, ethical, lawful treatment and positive change. We're being heard far and wide. I can promise you that. 

 

Rome wasn't built in a day. If we stay strong, and united, and start pushing back - together - against the company's abusive, expoitative policies, they'll be left with no choice but to start treating us with the courtesy, dignity and respect we deserve, and have earned

 

Let's not forget, we do have a trump card now - the IPO/DPO officially on the horizon. That buys us a shedload  of chips at the bargaining table, that we've never had before. We need to play them wisely, and strategically. 

 

A concerted, snowballing worldwide host revolt is the very last thing Airbnb needs right now. Furious dissent amongst the grassroots community ranks does not look good in the eyes of the media, lawmakers, local authorities, the general public and current/potential investors alike. 

 

Keep posting. Keep fighting. Keep making your voices heard, in every which way you can.. And never underestimate the power that we actually do  have, at this very moment in time, and even moreso in the coming months. 

Denis227
Level 10
La Boissière-École, FR

@Susan17 

 

Susan how can you be so perspicacious in your analysis and still be so naïve in your desire to overthrow a corporate strategy, which (  I remind you humbly )  has worked WONDERS  for AIrBnb so far ? 

 

Where do you see an international size  NGO aimed at skewing  the balance of power back into the hands of hosts ? 

Where do you see a Host Class Action  aimed at collectively  righting the wrongs of AirBnb ? 

Where do you see any AirBnb competitor capable of embodying this fight on the STR market  ? 

 

Did you follow the Uber story  and how long it took its powerful ennemies ( the  taxi corporations )   to  counter their strategy successfully in front of the Courts ?  

 

if you really want to reverse  AirBnb corporate strategy, join the people everywhere in the world who fight for a heavy taxation of plane kerosene ( currently free of all state tax)  on which AirBnb and mass tourism have thrived at the expense of our planet . 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lol! I've been labelled many things in my time on the CC @Denis227  - lots of them far from complimentary! - but that's the first time I've ever been called naive. Made me smile. I prefer "optimistic", though. 😉

 

As it happens, I don't believe for one moment that it will be government/regulatory intervention, class action lawsuits, or the emergence of credible competitors that will force Airbnb to adapt, or go under. (Well not initially, anyway)

 

I believe that it will be a potentially lethal combination of seismic shift in public opinion, Airbnb's innately shameful and despicable response to various crises, chronic reputational damage, widespread host dissent, and resultant plummeting investor confidence ahead of the IPO/DPO, that will be the catalyst for the change we seek.

 

I could, of course, be completely wrong. But from the unprecedented tsunami of fury, frustration, anger and disgust that I've seen and heard from hosts (and guests) all around the world in recent days, and the massive uptick in media interest, I don't think I am. 

 

And call me delusional, or blinkered, or away with the fairies... but I don't do defeatist! And I genuinely believe that if we stand together and play this right, we absolutely can level the playing field back in our favour again. One way or the other. 😉

Denis227
Level 10
La Boissière-École, FR

@Susan17

 

I fear that your excessive and , in my view, irrational optimism , which I call naïveness, might be related or amplified by  your  local perception of the problem, or biased  by your contacts with the Irish police,  and / or with local newpapers. 

 

We are not at all  in a worldwide  mediatised drama where we, AirBnb hosts, are the embodiment of truth and  are fighting against the lies of Big Corp. 

 

This is NOT the reality of the  picture.  It might be the reality of the situation in Dublin, but it is definitely not the situation in France. 

 

In France a  good press coverage in favor of hosts, as did  the Guardian  recently ( link in previous messages ) is simply UNHEARD OF . 

 

And I'm not saying UNHEARD of in 2019. I'm saying UNHEARD of since the creation of AirBnb

 

The ONLY criticism which people hear in France, with the exclusion of anything else, comes from

 

a) the  Hotel industry / lobby on the right hand side of the political spectrum , which AirBnb  uses ad nauseam  in its PR exercice.  

b) the disparate , non unified mass  of city dwellers  who are unlucky enough to live in a multiple rentals buildings. These unlucky guys wage a war on a "building by building "  basis  without any coordination 

c) those concerned by the  housing crisis  in the larger cities, on the left hand side of the political spectrum

 

These three categories will never unify their efforts because they have no common interests ( unlike us) They currently occupy the whole contestation scene in France.   There are the ones who get the press coverage. Period. 

 

You want to ad to this list the rental owners who ( everybody thinks ) make a huge amount of money with their listings  ? Who ( so the press says) in large cities  show no regard for city regulations limiting the number of nights,  and do not even care to officially register  ?  GOOD LUCK to you. 

 

NO WAY ......you'll never get a french journalist write an article on abusive guest behaviour being encouraged by AirBnB fu***d business model  in the short term rental market. 

 

Yes you will get their ear if you let the press know that your appartement has been ransacked and trashed. But the press will never make the link between your problem and  AirBnb Business Model. 

 

AirBnb is definitely cool.

Fighting against coolness is impossible. 

 

Only when  the coolness is publicly declared to be wrong or evil, only when the coolness is unmasked and the abusiveness revealed to everybody by the Court, then the abuse will  stop. 

 

 

"I fear that your excessive and , in my view, irrational optimism , which I call naïveness, might be related or amplified by  your  local perception of the problem, or biased  by your contacts with the Irish police,  and / or with local newpapers"

 

That's a whole  lot of very erroneous speculation right there, @Denis227! I can assure you, my "perception of the problem", is anything but  "local". But I'm not here to prove my credentials, or to engage in futile arguments or putdowns with fellow hosts - nobody has time for that. 

 

Maybe you're correct, and maybe I am just living in cloud-cuckoo land. Only time will tell. But nobody can ever say that when it comes to trying to raise the awareness of the seedier side of Airbnb - which absolutely needs to happen in order to bring about positive change - that I didn't give it my very best shot. (And I haven't even got warmed up yet!)

 

Regular posters and fellow hosts are already aware of who I am, what I stand for, and the reasons I continue to do what I do. That's good enough for me. 

@Susan17  What needs to happen at this point is for a bunch of fed up hosts to get some air time on one of these high-profile TV shows. They'd have to be hosts who've quit in protest, because I'm sure they'd get delisted immediately if their listings were still up.

I really don't know how to make my voice heard on all this- any suggestions? Because everything on this forum can just be ignored, as it has been for years.

@Sarah977 

There are at least 4 national TV news channels and networks working on major investigations into Airbnb, at this very moment - 2 in the US, 1 in the UK, and 1 in Australia. (And that's just the ones I'm aware of, - 'm sure there are probably a lot more that I haven't heard about)

 

We're not talking about brief 2-minute news segments here, but proper, in-depth investigations/exposés. Now I fully accept that due to the (deliberately) complex and convoluted nature and structure of Airbnb's operations, and the sheer scale and magnitude of their faults and failings, it's exceptionally difficult for the media to get any sort of a real grasp on just how bad things truly are Chez Airbnb. The important thing to understand, however, is that the narrative IS  shifting, ever so slightly, with each and every new damning report that reaches the public consciousness. And we can build on that, accelerate it, and use it to our advantage. 

 

Slowlee, slowlee, catchee monkey. 

Denis227
Level 10
La Boissière-École, FR

@Susan17 

 

So here it is ! Major news channels working on major investigations into AirBnb.

Great. 

 

I can already tell you the scenario or the script of their 30 minutes show. 

 

10 minutes on UNFAIR competition starring  the  Hotel industry and their recent decision to coordinate their action on a worldwide basis so that France's regulation of AirBnb may be followed up by other lobbies and national authorities  ( I receive their newsletter so I'm  aware of what they are cooking). For the sake of what we are talking here, they are of no use.  

 

8 minutes with the Green party and those those leading the fight  against mass tourism in "capital" cities ( Venice, Paris, Barcelona ) and on skyrocketting  real estate prices and the housing crisis.   

 

4 minutes on FairBnb and their spanish-european-danish european initiative to rebuild the sharing economy on fairer ground following the AirBnb disaster. 

 

4 minutes on the neighbourhood noise issue, party houses, Orinda Community, where they will not give the floor to hosts  but to local police and  communities. 

 

and the final 4 minutes will be devoted to the usual wrapping up and presentation . 

 

And your voice will NOT BE HEARD.  

 

Or if it will be heard, it will be on a subject matter of THEIR choice. 

 

 

 

 

Denis227
Level 10
La Boissière-École, FR

I may  be wrong : not 10 but  15 minutes for the Hotel industry 

 

For they are the ones who provided all the logistics for these major investigations, including free hotel rooms and  plane tickets  at will  to rock around the world....

 

  

You wouldn't be trolling, by any chance, would you @Denis227

 

But for the record, you're correct - my voice won't actually be heard on any of those 4 investigations (unless, of course, any of them pick up on controversial comments I may have posted here on the CC). I have other plans to make my voice/5 years of deep research heard. 

 

And now, in the famous last words of Airbnb CX, I'm going to "respectfully disengage" from this conversation. Thank you for your time. 

@Susan17   I suspect that @Denis227 is correct.  Airbnb 'investigative' pieces are going to focus almost exclusively on traveler horror stories, because there is a much larger potential audience of travelers than hosts.  

@Mark116 

Right. So by that reckoning, we might as well all just shut our mouths, throw in the towel, roll over and take whatever sh*t is thrown at us? Then we can all complain bitterly that the media never tells our side of the story. 

 

Defeatist and divisive attitudes, never got anyone anywhere. And this is not just about guest stories, or host stories, or any other stories. It's a whole lot bigger than that. 

Denis227
Level 10
La Boissière-École, FR

@Susan17 

 

I'm not a troll. Just a bit provocative.  I'm a truth seeker ( wrote it  on my AirBnb profile ) and I earned some recognition in my home country for having scammed some Big corporate scammers with the help of french journalists. Unrelated to this, I'am also an amateur  historian of medicine and a fierce opponent of orthodox western medicine. One of my friend has been jailed for illegal practice of medicine. My two kids were raised twenty years ago  on a fully raw non vegetarian diet and  I made several appearances on french TV to discuss the matter.  If  you want my opinion, compared to the pharmaceutical industry, AirBnb is truly he nicest corporation on earth. I'm not joking.

 

But this is not the topic ........ 

 

 I'm certain you are a great person. This is the very reason why I wouldn't want you to loose your  precious time, and that of your beloved ones, on lost wars. 

 

The reason  journalists will not take on this  subject matter is twofold : @Mark116  has just given one (below or above)  The other reason  is that there are much more important matters in the news regarding AirBnb than our ranting  ( even though you and I KNOW that all matters regarding AirBnb are indeed related ).