1/ I'm excited to publicly talk about Power () for the first time
At Power we believe that clinical trials should be accessible for any patient in need -- not just those with top doctors to help them out
Hotels >
@Airbnb
, a horror story 🫠
It’s 2:30am in London. Flight delayed 3 hours. Raining.
I message our host that we’re going to miss the check in window. There’s a fee. Weird since it’s self check in, but ok
We get to the airbnb and the lockbox doesn’t work.
Rain, rain..
Update 5:
finally, someone at airbnb who can help!
airbnb is sending a full refund. they've even offered to cover my next stay
obv, this is a happy solution for me
but one thing that's become obvious today is how many others have had similar challenges with no resolution
And here’s the sad thing:
I’ve been using Airbnb for 10 years
Most of my experiences have been great
But 10 yrs of trust can disappear in a moment
80% of my travel has been hotels of late
There are use cases where Airbnb still makes sense… but they’re shrinking
My final boss: was this malice or fraud?
As I reflect on last night, it’s obvious they had to send someone physically to change the lockbox code
So either:
1. They went out of their way to lock us out at 10pm
2. They never intended to let us stay in the first place
“I can contact the host and ask if they’re willing to refund you”
After all this, it’s at their discretion
I ask about AirCover. Isn’t this what the big announcement was about?
“Sorry, it’s against policy”
Wasn’t aircover supposed to be the policy?
I message the host to escalate
“Too bad. You missed your check in window”
Ok, but what about our whole conversation about us coming in late?
“We change our lockbox code after the check in window”
But what about our convo?
🦗
Ok, sus. Malicious or fraudulent?
At this point I get in touch with
@AirbnbHelp
I walk them through the whole situation
I have a simple ask:
1. Please refund me
2. Please cover my last minute hotel costs
3. Please investigate if this is fraud
Their response is classic:
@bchesky
Update:
It’s 9am
I wake up to check on the status
4:30 am, supervisor writes back “I’m sorry… we have reached out to the host”
Are there no other mechanisms for handling support at
@AirbnbHelp
?
5am: “as I have not received a response from you I am closing this case”
I should add that this was not their original position
It took them 18hrs to decide that yes, I should probably be allowed to check into this stay that I have pre-paid for
@bchesky
@AirbnbHelp
Airbnb has given up on us
The host has still not written us with a plan to get into the apartment this morning
I guess they’re just going to take our money and leave us stranded?
@bchesky
@AirbnbHelp
@TaraBunch1
Update 3:
The host is refusing to let us get into the unit
Also, they are refusing to give us a refund
Also, aircover can’t do anything about this?
So… they’re just going to take all our money and not let us use the space for the next week?
I’m far from being qualified to give
@bchesky
any advice but maybe a humble feature request:
Can we somehow make it so hosts can’t change the lockbox code during a late check in?
Especially if it’s self check in?
@bchesky
@AirbnbHelp
Update 2:
The host is now claiming we are a no show
And refusing us access to the place, 10am the following day
I’ve asked for aircover to refund us
“Your situation is still uncertain”
@TaraBunch1
I think this might be in your wheelhouse?
Update 4:
Airbnb support scores a win
After 18 hours of disputes, they agree, the host technically has to let us stay
But we've already booked different accommodation, naturally
Odds we get this refund?
Remember, it’s 2:30am, so in desperation, we get a last minute room in a nearby hotel
Meanwhile, I check with the hosts on when we can get in the next day
No response, despite answering my other questions
Malicious or fraudulent?
Ok.. so maybe the rep can’t make this decision. I ask for a manager
“Ok, the manager will call you in an hour”
We are now 3am
I ask if we can talk to a manager in the morning since it’s already quite late
“Sorry, I need to hang up now because it has been escalated”
???
Ha, I’ve had some astute observers call out that these properties have terrible ratings
Sadly, the one I booked was 4.75 stars
Only once I booked could I see the other properties managed by these hosts
@Airbnb
To make matters worse:
I couldn’t even leave a review because the stay didn’t get completed
So others will never know
Seems like:
1. They accept bookings, pre-paid
2. They lock you out with no refund
3. They cancel and pocket 💰
4. No reviews
Update 6:
In the last 5 hrs I’ve had two people DM me that they had the SAME experience with the SAME host
One even had receipts
Increasingly looking like a fraudulent ring of 20+ London flats
Surely
@Airbnb
will investigate?
@credistick
@Airbnb
Turns out peace of mind is a huge differentiator
I am floored that they made such a big deal about the aircover launch only to have this experience
@Airbnb
Update 7:
5 DMs with similar stories. Many more in the comments. Also in other countries
One host had 40 units
Airbnb has suspended the host as they investigate
Some rough math:
40 units x £250/night x 365 nights x 60-80% utilization
£2.2m - 2.9m / year in scams
@brandonhli
@AirbnbHelp
My
@airbnb
host dumped my reservation after I landed, on a holiday, no other hotels available. Turned out to be a fake listing. I had to sleep outside with family for a night. They also refused to compensate me a penny.
@waynep
@Airbnb
Yeah. As a marketplace founder I get it
At the same time, the value prop of a marketplace is to reduce transaction friction
And marketplace fees are earned in improving trust in transactions
🚀🔥🍾 The last year blew right by 🍾🔥🚀
From day 1, our belief at Power was that clinical trials should be accessible for anyone in need – not just those with top doctors to help them navigate.
And in our second year, we’ve met so many other true believers:
1/ Six months ago, we launched Power, making clinical trials accessible to any patient in need.
Today, we’re launching an open beta for the other side of our platform: Power for Sites.
Power is now the only self-serve patient recruitment marketplace.
1/ I'm excited to publicly talk about Power () for the first time
At Power we believe that clinical trials should be accessible for any patient in need -- not just those with top doctors to help them out
@YanquiTalk
@Airbnb
i've been staying with airbnb for 10 years. so have developed a pretty good gut for this kind of stuff.
the only flag on this one was that it was cross-posted on expedia wherein someone complained about their experience 🤔
Breaking character to reflect on 2021. It was a good year:
💍 got engaged!!!
🚀 launched a business
🤫 raised some money
💪 healthiest I’ve ever been
🙏 most fun I’ve ever had working
🍱 learned to host 5 course meals
The primary job of a founder is to manufacture and maintain momentum
First, you need to will it into existence
In the beginning, you have nothing: no team, no product, no customers, no money
Tale of 2 VCs
Cold inbound: “I love Power, can we get coffee”
Me: “we can meet if you book a qualified sales call for us”
VC 1: “in order to support I’d need to learn more during a meeting with you”
VC 2: “love it. Send me 3 lines about your ICP”
10/ And the uptake has been incredible:
🧑🔬 We have contributed to over 4000 clinical trials
🧬 We have helped patients connect with 20 of the top 20 pharma companies
😇 And, most importantly, we’re on track to help >500k patients discover clinical trials this year
Last week we launched Power. I was floored by the response💖
This is a round up thread + 5 things we learned about a successful launch:
1. Get your story right
2. Do your homework
3. Love your supporters
4. Be recognizable
5. The internet will let you know if it cares
1/ I'm excited to publicly talk about Power () for the first time
At Power we believe that clinical trials should be accessible for any patient in need -- not just those with top doctors to help them out
Lol same happened to me in nyc. The host was some fraud, and airbnb did not give a fuck. Host could be fraud but what about airbnb. They gotta act right
I stopped taking brian chesky seriously after using airbnb few times
@brandonhli
My other favorite thing is they hid my 1 star review of the stay. I am sure the owner flagged it. I contacted Airbnb support and they un-hid it. I go check again just now and - shocker - it's hidden again.
2/ A quick personal story:
A close friend of mine recently discovered a brain tumor
She's doing OK largely bc she managed to find a clinical trial on her own online
And it was a slog
When we asked why we were surprised by what we found. That thread is what became Power:
3/ Today, when standard treatments fail, patients turn to clinical trials to find cutting edge medical research
Those with access to top hospitals like
@MayoClinic
will be told about the latest and greatest
Unfortunately, that is only some (mostly white, wealthy) patients
8/ At it's heart, this is a marketplace problem:
Patients want a simple, transparent, trusted source of truth to learn about their options
Researchers want one place to go to meet those patients
Physicians are referring patients to
@withpowerhq
instead of
Reminds me of the word of mouth stories you’d hear about
@zillow
vs MLS
People don’t want the .gov they tolerate it