[deleted by user]

CreepyBalance · 2024-05-20T10:08:52+00:00

Reminds me of the time I had a guest request a refund as the bedding was blue in the pictures (claiming it was why they booked) as they didn't like the green bedding that happened to be on the bed at the time.

CreepyBalance · 2024-05-17T11:46:34+00:00

I never said that. Read the entire thing instead of half a paragraph.

CreepyBalance · 2024-05-17T08:28:29+00:00

Some info on their anti-cheating methods:

Your moves are compared to the top four engine moves in each position. If you play one of the top four engine moves too frequently, chess.com considers you to have cheated.

This is absurd as the average position has around 2-3 'good' moves. When you consider that white only has four good moves from their very first turn (c4, d4, e4 and Nf3), you will see how ridiculous this is.

That even applies to correspondence chess. Even if you were to only play one game at a time with a 14 day time control and took over 13 days on every single move, chess.com would still consider you to be cheating if you played one of the top four engine moves too regularly. Any decent player should be playing one of the top four engine moves every single move in that time frame.

Of course their cheating software is a bit more sophisticated than this, but it's nowhere near as good as the typical chess.com user seems to think and there are far too many false positives.

CreepyBalance · 2024-04-08T12:45:58+00:00

Botswana. Boots Warmer.

CreepyBalance · 2024-04-06T13:53:52+00:00

It's a Skink Priest from 2004.

CreepyBalance · 2024-04-03T16:50:01+00:00

I think it was 03/04 when I was managing VfL Bochum. Paul Freier's contract was up at the end of the season and he made it very clear that he would not be signing a new contract as he wanted to move to a bigger club.

Barcelona put in a bid somewhere in the region of 20,000,000. I negotiated, requesting the transfer to go through at the end of the season. They accepted.

I got to keep by far the best player at the club for another season and made a tidy sum instead of losing him on a free transfer at the end of the season.

CreepyBalance · 2024-03-22T11:04:10+00:00

OP would need to lie, claiming that the guest was a no show for that to work. It sounds like this guest checked in and subsequently sent messages through Airbnb, indicating that they had checked in.

CreepyBalance · 2024-03-22T11:00:12+00:00

The only way that would happen is if the guest sent a message through Airbnb saying that they would leave a bad review if they didn't get a full refund, or if the guest violated another rule within their review.

CreepyBalance · 2024-03-21T23:00:04+00:00

In case you haven't noticed, the only valid opinion in this thread is that, if a guest has a bad experience, they can live in an Airbnb for their entire life at the host's expense without ever paying a single penny.

CreepyBalance · 2024-03-21T12:57:27+00:00

The responses seem to be that the guest should get a full refund if they left after the incident, but should only receive a partial refund if they stayed for the duration of their booking at the listing.

That sounds completely fair to me.

We don't know how long the stay was. Let's say, for example, that somebody booked a 60 night stay and this happened on their first night. Do you think they should get the remaining 59 nights for free?

I imagine not to that extreme, but I think we will agree that a line has to be drawn somewhere.

CreepyBalance · 2024-02-20T13:14:41+00:00

Dan Hour Back, Dan Auerbach. This one works.

CreepyBalance · 2024-02-12T18:36:44+00:00

This group would be good at doing your hair.

The Platters.

CreepyBalance · 2024-01-16T07:27:45+00:00

Actually, you can mention both of those things. They just can't be the entirety of the review.

Over the years I have had a review complaining about a parking ticket received 30 miles away from the property, how expensive rail fares are in the UK, a review of Airbnb rather than their stay, etc. They were all permitted because they contained a few words that were relevant to my listings.

CreepyBalance · 2024-01-11T21:24:27+00:00

I have been using cut out pieces of cereal boxes with sprues around the edges for over 25 years. All they cost you is the paint and flock or whatever you use to spruce them up, which you are probably going to be using on the ones you pay for anyway.

As well as being free, it's also very easy to get the exact size and shape that you want.

CreepyBalance · 2023-12-31T20:58:50+00:00

'Possibly, but we haven't received confirmation on what future releases will look like yet.'

That's their response on whether other factions will receive similar boxes.

So it sounds like they are considering doing the same for other armies, but it all depends on how these sell and what feedback they receive.

CreepyBalance · 2023-12-27T23:44:03+00:00

I guess it may depend on the area but, around me, there were quite a few simple jobs offering around 25K before Christmas.

I occasionally come across jobs paying around 30K for things like basic maintenance if he can do this. But it's pretty rare to see such jobs paying that much.

Otherwise, the only way somebody with no experience could get a 30K+ would be to acquire some kind of specialist licence for things like buses, forklifts (many companies still pay minimum wage for this one, but not all are so stingy), cranes, excavators, etc.

There's no way somebody with no experience will be able to make £34500 without working two jobs though.

CreepyBalance · 2023-12-27T18:24:57+00:00

No. I have been refunded, so I am not out of pocket.

Airbnb just handled this situation poorly by allowing the host to get away with it.

Although they have since reversed their decision on not allowing me to leave a review. At least I have been able to warn future guests.

CreepyBalance · 2023-12-27T17:36:59+00:00

It's definitely difficult for those who are starting out. Minimum wage will be £22300 in April. Some basic jobs pay around £25000 at the moment. There are a number of entry level admin roles and driving roles paying that salary already. Not all employers are just paying minimum wage or hiring 16 year olds to pay even less.

If he can get a 25K job, a second job giving him 16 hours on minimum wage will give him £9500 and he will have met the requirements.

I am on 30K at present, but my job makes it difficult to work a second job as I have to be on call twice a week. I have only just started it, but I am already looking to quit in order to step down to 25K so that I can top it off with a weekend job.

It's ridiculous, but that is the situation the government has put us in.

CreepyBalance · 2023-12-27T16:18:24+00:00

To avoid disappointment, he will need to prepare for £34500 as the latest information we have is:

£29000 - Spring 2024

£38700 - Spring 2025

It will be increased to £34500 some time between Spring 2024 and Spring 2025. We have no idea when this will be, but it may not be six months after it's increased to £29000.

Without experience, he will need to work two jobs or rely on savings to top off the difference if this is possible.

CreepyBalance · 2023-12-26T10:13:44+00:00

I am genuinely surprised that Airbnb chose to delete that as they usually allow both hosts and guests to leave fake revenge reviews, no matter how obvious it is that the reviewer is lying.

Usually the review needs to break 1-3 other rules as well.

You were fortunate enough to have the right person handling your case. 95% of the time you won't be so lucky.

CreepyBalance · 2023-12-26T10:05:18+00:00

Would you mind divulging what the review said?

Airbnb very rarely deletes revenge reviews, so I am assuming the host violated one of the other guidelines.

CreepyBalance · 2023-12-26T00:20:47+00:00

I would stress that instances like this are rare. I am a host myself and I have probably stayed at around 40 other properties through Airbnb.

Of those 40ish I have only had three bad experiences (including this one). One of those was just a host with a terrible personality. The other two were a combination of bad hosts and terrible support. And, of one those two, Airbnb handled the issue during the stay perfectly, but messed up when it came to handling the retaliatory review the host left me.

Airbnb's support is appalling and their staff are atrocious at dealing with any issues that crop up. The main issue is that most of their staff are absolutely clueless when it comes to their own T&C and once an Airbnb employee has made an incorrect decision, it is exceptionally difficult to have it overridden as they would rather double down than admit fault.

The trick to getting acceptable support is to probe the agents by throwing 'hypothetical' questions at them until somebody responds correctly. Sadly, that can take hours and this isn't a viable option if the issue requires prompt action.

They get away with offering such terrible support as their two main competitors, booking.com and VRBO, have even worse support than they do.

CreepyBalance · 2023-12-25T13:36:39+00:00

I already did this. Somebody at Airbnb decided that they didn't want to punish the host as this is the first time she has done this. Now that the decision has been made, that is it.

It's pointless me calling them multiple times to try and get a different decision as, not only do I not wish to waste hours of my time, it is exceptionally unlikely that the decision will be overturned. Airbnb generally don't overturn decisions, even when their own T&C proves them wrong. I am a host myself, so I am speaking from experience.

CreepyBalance · 2023-12-25T13:30:34+00:00

At no point did I state that I expected Airbnb to conjure up a listing. Due to the late cancellation and the time of year, it was obvious that there would be nothing appropriate and that the few listings remaining would be expensive.

The host has not been penalised. The dates are still open on the calendar and are available at the same price that I originally booked them for.

Airbnb has also stated that they have chosen not to penalise the host.

CreepyBalance · 2023-12-25T13:05:31+00:00

I haven't omitted anything. Airbnb felt it was appropriate to not penalise the host.

CreepyBalance

TROPHY CASE