Several of us reported the “no fatties” listing. There was an anti-gay host in the Dallas area I reported multiple times before his listing went missing from the site.
Maybe it wasn’t my report that did it then, but it was gone quickly. It is one thing to have “inaccurate language” but considering all the legal issues they face with discrimination I think these kinds of complaints are prioritized. And the glamper was gone within 48 hours as I remember, but that was also a few years ago. It may have also been removed by the host themselves if they were contacted by Air.
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I am well aware and have followed her cases. The lies I am talking about had nothing to do with guns and have seemingly gone ignored. In her case the guest didn’t just click the report button but contacted Airbnb separately.
To be defamatory and actionable in court, the lies in reviews need to meet these standards:
- You can prove that the guest made a false and defamatory statement (of fact, not opinion).
- You can prove that the guest made an unprivileged publication to a third party. Easy, yes, AirBNB published the review; but an unpublished, for example emailed or telephoned complaint wouldn’t qualify.
- You must prove that the publisher acted negligently in publishing the communication. So if Air doesn’t take the review down, they are culpable.
- You must prove damages.
#4 may be the most difficult for hosts, and after that, #1. My case was unusual perhaps in that it didn’t have as much grey area as other cases – I was SEVERELY harmed by a COMPLETELY false review that was COMPOUNDED by a lack of effort by the guest to correct the record.
Given how slow and difficult the court process is, let alone gaining restitution, any false review with more grey areas (minor damages, less clearcut facts on what happened) is difficult to handle. But I suppose you can always write to the guest asking them to have the review corrected, and then follow up noting a lawsuit will be filed, and then file it.
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I might do that but Airbnb has refused to relive it stating that the lies are allowed because they are the non-guest (they cancelled without checking in) perspective
Hi Flyboy,
I considered shares. But ultimately, what does Airbnb have?
Equity in a strong brand, a gazillion global bookings, some smaller hotels, and a number of yet unproven ideas from February 2018, and issues with major cities which to date have not been resolved.
Like it or not the sharing concept has challenges, but it’s still a very good idea.
Stupid question: why are they so bound and determined to go IPO? Now that it is a global brand, where and how do they intend to generate shareholder margin out of folks renting homes?
naaaahhhhh.
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Yeah I’m sceptical to see the value and they are unlikely to be cheap.
I have a hard time imagining AirBnB existing in 20-30 years.
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Haha why don’t you tell us what you really think of air 
Well AirBNB better get up to speed on U.S. defamation law, because “non-guests” ESPECIALLY don’t get to lie. If you think you can prove the damages part, which to me would logically follow a particularly outrageous lie out flapping in the breeze, you CAN sue the GUEST, nothing blocks that. If my separate case against establishes a precedent (for damages) as it winds along, and/or you want to start your own very similar case, then you can sue AIRBNB.
I will say this – even though my AirBNB case hasn’t yet resulted in any damages, it did result in an order to remove the review or face contempt of court charges. The review was down within 24 hours. So thinking aloud, you could file suit against AirBNB, ask for an INJUNCTION to get the review taken down, and then when your suit is heard, make your case for damages too (you’ll have to pull out your state’s laws against unfair contract terms, unequal bargaining power and any protections for innkeepers, to strike down AirBNB’s ToS as part of your complaint and your argument at trial).
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Well, it’s not really personal antipathy toward Air, as a feeling that it is doomed to spectacular failure.
Air is just too “Air-y.” It’s got nothing. Basically it’s offering places to stay – not one brick or doorknob that it actually owns – more cheaply than hotels because every single thing that goes wrong gets shoved on the guests and hosts to absorb. (Unless you go to the media or sue the company.)
At a certain point, as @justMandi notes, where is the shareholder margin?
But even more to the point, AirBNB strikes me as (almost) a carbon copy of Demand Media Studios, another gaudy California startup run by young entrepreneurs with off-the-wall policies that a flock of pigeons could have foreseen that eventually proved fatal. Just no real-world knowledge of anything outside their bubble.
Demand Media went from an IPO that generated more than the value of the New York Times to crashing and burning in seven years. There was no “there” there. AirBNB has/had more promise, but it could well end up similarly on the trash heap, and if so, it will be because of a massive error with betting the store on investor listings, and how all of these in residential areas de facto violate residential zoning.
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One really striking parallel between Demand Media and AirBNB is a bizarre tolerance for absolute garbage on the platforms. No quality control whatsoever. Examples:
eHow: Easy Ways to Get Rid of Bed Bugs
You need to heat treat the space, not put out sticky traps. One of thousands of completely screwed-up articles.
AirBNB: GARE ST JEAN! Scam warning: Do not book this!
I have no idea what is going on in this “listing” that looks more like an extremely negative review.
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This is bizarre. How can “scam warning” be in the listing’s title?
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What’s doing with that listing!?!?!
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I think it’s a clone of another listing.
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OH! Duh. But that is weird, too.
I can see it going either way. As I can with every other company. They are already diversifying in multiple ways. But if they don’t exist I see it as being because they were bought out, not because they failed spectacularly. Given the change that I’ve seen in the last 20 years I really have a hard time imagining what the next 20 will be. If the climate change apocalypse happens no one will be engaging in discretionary travel anyway.
I’m imagining virtual vacations. People will put on a helmet which will stimulate all the parts of the brain to make it feel like you are on vacation. It will be interactive with talking to the locals. You will see, smell and hear everything just as if you were there IRL.
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That’s part of why I have a hard time seeing the company existing in 20 years. Climate disaster paired with radical technological change means we’ll probably be living in a very different world in the 2040s. That and as @PuppyLover discussed above, there is no “there” there.
Coming back around to Air’s lack of quality control, I was browsing listings this morning and came across one of the 4-star listings I was referring to above as bringing the whole platform down: STR investment building, the calendar is still open after June (when our regulations go into effect), and multiple reviews say they couldn’t actually check in. I know KKC and I are in agreement that listings like this shouldn’t stay up, but I wanted to present my evidence for those who are of a different opinion about whether 4-star listings should stand (and whether it is possible to still have 4 stars after such terrible service).
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It’s not hard to find 4 star listings. It’s not just commercial listings. I’m going to ME this summer and this listing is on the first page of results in a search for my dates, one person. It is followed by pages of 4.5 and 5 star reviews. Why is this even in my results? If Airbnb isn’t going to remove it they should bury it. But why don’t they remove it? So they can tout their 6 million listings when BDC only has 5.7 million alternative listings.
As much as they tell us ratings are a variable in the algorithm, I think it all comes down to price. I don’t know what the market in Portland, Maine is like but $45 a night seems cheap for a separate space.