EJ Round the World

Well, they already managed to survive this: http://ejroundtheworld.blogspot.co.uk/ HN Discussion: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2811080

First, let me say I am a huge fan of PG and YC, but... I have to second (third, fourth, etc) the several opinions already expressed here. This is about the customer's response: http://ejroundtheworld.blogspot.com/2011/07/airbnb-nightmare-no-end-in… If she's a liar, let us know. Thanks. Trying to silence a customer? - this is getting me to doubt how trustworthy HN is - who else is being silenced??? If PG supports guys like the AirBNB execs then what does that say about him? Again, if the customer is the liar,just please let us know. OK? Thanks.

http://ejroundtheworld.blogspot.com/2011/07/airbnb-nightmare-no-end-in… > If the “her” he is referring to is me, then the first part of this statement is false (the second I cannot attest to). During the first week of my nightmare, the customer service team at Airbnb was - as I stated in my June 29 blog post – helpful, caring and supportive. In particular, one customer service manager - and the company’s freelance photographer - were wonderfully kind to me, and both should know how grateful I am. > And since June 30? On this same day, I received a personal call from one of the co-founders of Airbnb. We had a lengthy conversation, in which he indicated having knowledge of the (previously mentioned) person who had been apprehended by the police, but that he could not discuss the details or these previous cases with me, as the investigation was ongoing. He then addressed his concerns about my blog post, and the potentially negative impact it could have on his company’s growth and current round of funding. During this call and in messages thereafter, he requested that I shut down the blog altogether or limit its access, and a few weeks later, suggested that I update the blog with a “twist" of good news so as to “complete[s] the story”. > Look, despite what some of you are saying, I am not an idiot. I understand why Airbnb called me and asked me to bring this story to an end; it is in their best profitable interest to do so. Unfortunately for me – 5 weeks and…

> I see no reason to doubt what EJ has said so far. AirBnB/pg have made several conflicting statements, called reporters liars for repeating official statements, and in general, proven to be less consistent/trustworthy than "EJ", which considering her anonymous status, really says something. Her anonymous status really says something, like what? Well it says she's anonymous, that's it. Nothing more. This is pure hyperbole. The simple fact is, we don't have all the facts. It's her word against Airbnb's word. Neither side is more credible without more facts. Clearly both have demonstrated they will reframe their situation as circumstances change[1][2][3]. [1] http://ejroundtheworld.blogspot.com/2011_06_01_archive.html "I would be remiss if I didn’t pause here to emphasize that the customer service team at airbnb.com has been wonderful, giving this crime their full attention. They have called often, expressing empathy, support, and genuine concern for my welfare. They have offered to help me recover emotionally and financially, and are working with SFPD to track down these criminals." An initial perspective, pre-Internet mob: "EJ" made a first post about how helpful Airbnb has been, stating they have offered to provide "emotional and financial support". [2] http://ejroundtheworld.blogspot.com/2011/07/airbnb-nightmare-no-end-in… "Airbnb has not assisted me in securing my safety, if that is the implication being made in Chesky's article" and "But the staff at Airbnb…

You're "remembering" facts to justify your bias. Here's the original blog post from ransackgate: http://ejroundtheworld.blogspot.com/2011/06/violated-travelers-lost-fa… She never said anything about being an owner. As far as I can tell, she was a renter. Certainly, nobody knew if she rented or bought at the time the post hit HN. Basically, what you're saying is that you don't like the guy's tone, so you think he doesn't deserve sympathy. Glad you don't work for AirBnB customer support.

I don't think so; her post refers to AirBnB helping with the "monthly rent" http://ejroundtheworld.blogspot.ca/2011/06/violated-travelers-lost-fai…

The most egregious case of title manipulation that I recall was when the submission of a blog post that broke the airbnb scandal [1] was renamed. The title of the blog post was too generic to attract interest and gave no indication that it was related to airbnb [2]. The submission's title was originally something like "Airbnb user's home wrecked". The title of the HN submission was changed to the blog post's vague title of "Violated: a traveler's lost faith, a difficult lesson learned." I get that HN doesn't want editorialized submission titles (e.g. /r/politics), but if a title is too vague to warrant attention, what's the harm in submitting it to HN in a manner that gives it context? [1]http://techcrunch.com/2011/07/27/the-moment-of-truth-for-airbnb-as-use… [2]http://ejroundtheworld.blogspot.com/2011/06/violated-travelers-lost-fa…

While I'm not aware of anything happening to the guests, I think that people should be wary before they open their home to Internet strangers. See: http://ejroundtheworld.blogspot.com/2011/06/violated-travelers-lost-fa…

This is almost as disturbing to me as the original announcement—make a prominent post saying that you're working on the problem, let it get lots of attention, and then (apparently) ignore the issue. Well, it didn't work very well for AirBnB (http://ejroundtheworld.blogspot.com/2011/07/airbnb-nightmare-no-end-in… and hopefully it won't work for Paypal, either.

Her blog post here http://ejroundtheworld.blogspot.com/2011/01/new-year-new-home.html mentions that its a rented apartment. I quickly rented a place of my own and began to settle in – unpacking dusty boxes, unloading suitcases and scouring the internet for furniture. Something along the lines of a home began to take shape, and with it came that invaluable feeling of being at peace.

The victim has updated her blog with a new post in which she explains how some of the public statements made by Airbnb's ceo are not true: http://ejroundtheworld.blogspot.com/2011/07/airbnb-nightmare-no-end-in…

Hmm? http://ejroundtheworld.blogspot.com/2011/07/airbnb-nightmare-no-end-in… (Discussion: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2820615)

What about this from her own blog post? > I would be remiss if I didn’t pause here to emphasize that the customer service team at airbnb.com has been wonderful, giving this crime their full attention. They have called often, expressing empathy, support, and genuine concern for my welfare. They have offered to help me recover emotionally and financially... (http://ejroundtheworld.blogspot.com/2011/06/violated-travelers-lost-fa… edit:formatting

I agree, something about this whole thing just seems off. She said was "growing a very thick skin" because of accusations that she was part of a plot by the hotel industry to discredit Airbnb Has Airbnb been looking into this possibility? EJ blogged, And I was - but no longer am - scared of Airbnb’s reaction, the pressure and the veiled threat I have received from them since I initially blogged this story (http://ejroundtheworld.blogspot.com/2011/07/airbnb-nightmare-no-end-in… But that doesn't fit with PG's description or the profile of the founders (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2822721). Nor does it fit with EJ's original account: I would be remiss if I didn’t pause here to emphasize that the customer service team at airbnb.com has been wonderful, giving this crime their full attention (http://ejroundtheworld.blogspot.com/2011/06/violated-travelers-lost-fa… And there are these green "jcunningham" types that keep popping up on HN (http://www.hnsearch.com/search#request/all&q=jcunningham) trying to demonize Airbnb.

Sure...but the more people you bring into the conspiracy, the more likely it is to be found out. Of course airbnb will call the cops into investigating this. If this were a setup, EJ and her fellow perpetrators made it MUCH more complicated than it needed to be. The alleged homewrecking occurred over a lengthy time period and involved not only simple burglary, but destruction of walls and bizarre behavior (such as the picture moving). Moreover, they apparently left a lengthy e-paper trail. If EJ faked all of that, she gave the cops and airbnb a lot of avenues to poke holes in the story, such as checking timestamps, IP addresses, even the linguistics in these alleged email exchanges. What would the hotel industry have to gain? The beatdown of a website that has yet to reach mainstream consciousness...Airbnb is a long ways from being the Netflix to the hotel industry's Blockbuster Video. What do they have to lose? Hmmm...millions, maybe a billion in liability and legal fees, nevermind prison sentences for the numerous people involved in such a scheme. Also, look at the date of the original post: http://ejroundtheworld.blogspot.com/2011/06/violated-travelers-lost-fa… June 29. I only found out about this through HN a day ago, and that seems like when this all went viral. Maybe I'm underestimating the hotel industry's savviness and patience here...but why would it wait for a viral campaign to serendipitously happen, as opposed to going through their…

This article on TC adds nothing at all. Original blog post: http://ejroundtheworld.blogspot.com/2011/07/airbnb-nightmare-no-end-in… HN submission of that blog post for discussion: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2820615 ======== ADDED IN EDIT: Clearly this is contentious - it went up to two points, now as I write this it's down to zero, and who knows where it will go next. Yes, I agree, sometimes TechCrunch adds information, but I claim that in this case it doesn't. Further, I claim that by reading only the excerpts they include, you are not being given the whole picture as written by the blog author. The post is well-written and well-crafted - providing summary excerpts does not give the full impact or the full situation. And, given that the crunchy bits don't actually add anything, let me quote from http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html where it says: Please submit the original source. If a blog post reports on something they found on another site, submit the latter.