• @ReallyActuallyFrankenstein
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    6 months ago

    Like with most things that are successful on this list, AirBNB isn’t inherently bad, and there’s no reason why you can’t hypothetically have an ethical, positive experience. But it followed the typical late-stage capitalist enshittification script, and to have that experience you have to fight through many many barriers erected by both the company and hosts to maximize profits.

    I’ve had some very nice experiences with AirBNB back when it was a startup, and when you were interacting with hosts who actually lived in the places you were staying. But at this point I’ve fully stopped using AirBNB and hotels are now a better, cheaper experience unless you find a unicorn property/host. 19 times out of 20, AirBNB is just a nightmare of hidden/high fees, abusive corporate “hosts,” and AirBNB being absolutely, reliably unwilling to help mediate or solve any problems.