It's rare, but it just happened

Megan Rose Dickey@meganrosedickey / 2 hours ago

Comment

A Balcony View of Manhattan During Sunset

Last month, Logan Kugler checked into the home of a Los Angeles-based Airbnb host. The plan was to stay there for about one month, but Kugler found himself checking out just three days after checking in. That’s not because he wanted to, but because the host cancelled his reservation.

This story is not about any one party being right or wrong. Instead, let this serve as a reminder that we are living in an age of non-traditional services — be that via rideshare, home sharing, bike sharing and so forth. That means, as it stands now, anyone has the right to kick you out of their car, house or apartment if they feel so inclined. That’s essentially what happened with Kugler when he used Airbnb to rent a home in LA last month.

“I woke up to a message on my phone that said Airbnb had changed my reservation and that it ended in 36 hours and I was to leave,” Kugler told TechCrunch. “This was a 31-day rental.”

The host asked Kugler to leave because she felt uncomfortable with the amount of requests he was making, such as to change the layout of the refrigerator and install different lights, she told TechCrunch. That’s when she contacted Airbnb to let the company know she wasn’t going to be able to let him stay there anymore.

The host gave Kugler 48 hours’ notice to leave the premises. Kugler, however, said he wouldn’t be able to pack up and leave that soon. So he asked for a couple of extra days, which the host declined.

Meanwhile, Kugler was in contact with Airbnb over the course of a couple of days to find a new place to stay with the same nightly rate, according to messages reviewed by TechCrunch. Before Kugler was able to find a new place to stay, the time ran out on his original reservation. Because he hadn’t left yet, the host called the police to help her get him off her property. Part of her rationale for calling the police, she said, was because Airbnb wasn’t helping her to get him to leave.

“I felt uncomfortable,” she said. “I lived in the main house and I wasn’t comfortable having this man on my property.”

Kugler, after being evicted by the police, left the premises. While Airbnb did reimburse Kugler for his stay, offer him assistance in finding another Airbnb and pay for a hotel for the nights he couldn’t find an appropriate place via Airbnb, Kugler said that didn’t matter to him because he’s a pretty particular person. So particular that he spent hours looking at options before landing on this one.

“As it stands right now, if you book an Airbnb you could be homeless at any second and thrown out on the street,” he said. “If this remains, I think they may lose some customers as awareness grows about this.”

While canceling a guest’s reservation is technically acceptable behavior, according to Airbnb’s terms of service, it’s certainly rare. This means guests are at risk of being cancelled on mid-stay, but Airbnb says it is ready to work to rebook anyone to whom this happens.

“There have been over 300 million guest arrivals on Airbnb to date and negative experiences are extremely rare,” Airbnb spokesperson Nick Papas told TechCrunch. “We have re-booked our guest and followed up with our host regarding this reservation. We work hard to make sure every guest has a great experience and want to make it right when things don’t go as expected.”

What Kugler ultimately wants is for Airbnb to change its terms of service. But Airbnb, which is simply a facilitator for home rentals, said in a message to Kugler reviewed by TechCrunch that it can’t force people to make their places available no matter what.

“The listings on our platform are owned and controlled by the host themselves,” an Airbnb representative told Kugler. “Airbnb cannot force a host to further accommodate a guest if they do not want to or are not able to for whatever reason.”

Also, sometimes life happens, as Airbnb outlines in its policy on emergency situations and other unavoidable circumstances. In a help article, Airbnb says it “empowers hosts to set and manage their cancellation policies,” and that if either a host or guest needs to cancel a reservation, they are responsible for cancelling as soon as possible.

“At times, certain circumstances outside of a host or guest’s control can impact their ability to meet the terms of a reservation,” the help page states.

According to the terms of service, if a host cancels on the day of check-in or later, guests can leave a public review on the host’s listing profile. Kugler did that, which prompted a response from the host. Again, it’s not necessary to get into the details. Instead, this is meant to serve as a public service reminder that Airbnb, along with many other startups in this sharing economy, are not solely on the side of the customer.

Unlike hotels and taxis, the ethos that the customer is always right doesn’t fly in this type of economy. Airbnb, along with its peers like Uber and Lyft, are intermediaries, which means it’s in their best interest to ensure both hosts and guests are happy, and drivers and riders, respectively. In this case, however, neither the host nor the guest ended up happy.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3925779&forum_id=2#35662592)

Deranged Jew makes insane demands of host. Host cancels reservation with 36 hours notice. Deranged Jew goes psycho and goes to his media (((friends))) about it to make a big deal out of it because of his (((exagerated sense of being slighted))).

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3925779&forum_id=2#35662615)

they are both assholes

i really dislike airbnb

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3925779&forum_id=2#35662621)

1000000% on hosts side here.

She dodged a bullet. This jew was insane. Her next 28 days would have been torture.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3925779&forum_id=2#35662628)

You think hosts should just have to be stuck with insane deranged neurotic pains in the neck?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3925779&forum_id=2#35662640)

JFC.

Wanting that in the first place is insane.

Being enough of an asshole to actually demand it from the host is NEXT FUCKING LEVEL DERANGED.

Be a fucking man and move the fridge and go out and buy lights yourself.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3925779&forum_id=2#35662672)

they are both assholes"

You can't give an inch to assholes like that guy. Once you reveal a willingness to capitulate, game over.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3925779&forum_id=2#35663209)

wtf was that about changing the layout of the fridge??

also saying you’re a “pretty particular person” reeks of jew OCD shit

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3925779&forum_id=2#35663951)

ok i switched sides, i'm with her

airbnb still sucks

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3925779&forum_id=2#35662662)

I always love these "I made 80K when I was 11 years old and bought a beemer a year later"

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3925779&forum_id=2#35663141)

Founder

Company NameKugler Corp.

Dates Employed1995 – Present Employment Duration23 yrs

Since starting my entrepreneurial journey in 1995, I have launched six companies. Three successes, two failures before age 20 (but great learning experiences), and one that is too early to tell. I got my start at age three picking up free newspapers off my neighbors' lawns and selling it back to them for $1. A few years later, I was selling goods door-to-door. By age 10, I I started my first legitimate business and took my operation online, selling DVDs and VHS videos on Half.com and turned a five-figure profit in the first year.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3925779&forum_id=2#35668077)

this is some next-level kikery

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3925779&forum_id=2#35670524)

I have only stayed in an Airbnb once, in a spare bedroom while the host was still there, and my girl and I were so courteous that we made sure to be quiet during sex. You are a motherfucking GUEST in someone else's HOME. They are not your fucking landlord. You have no right to make kike demands.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3925779&forum_id=2#35663234)

So PROTIP for anyone staying at an airbnb - stay in an apartment that clearly isn't owned by the host - you have much more leverage over the host.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3925779&forum_id=2#35663249)

https://imgur.com/a/iOlIH

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3925779&forum_id=2#35663268)

She asked me never to enter the home after 10pm. It was a pretty big house, and I said I'd be very, very quiet as I entered, but that since it wasn't listed in the ad then it was bullshit to suddenly demand that of me. She was ok with the compromise, but her dog kept barking at me. So she kicked me out. Lol

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3925779&forum_id=2#35666383)