asherfergusson

ASHER: Honestly, one or two instances is too many in this case, but it seems to be a lot more than that. Makes me nervous to stay in a place on Airbnb ever again! Who knows how many places actually have them because if they're hidden well you will never know... :(

One redditor said: "My parents just this week discovered hidden cameras in their airbnb spread throughout the house. Even worse, when they discovered them and covered them up, within an hour they got an angry call from the host demanding they uncover them so they could continue watching my parents. So not only did they have cameras, they were actively monitoring them, which is such an insane invasion of privacy. Predictably, my parents couldn't get a refund from AirBnB even though they left more than a night early." https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/7hk5xu/according_to_airbnb_customer_service_3_to_7_of/dqsasev/

Another Redditor said: "I found hidden cameras in an airbnb I stayed in. It happens probably more than we all think. This person is still listed as a host here in Austin, tx the last time I looked despite me bringing it to Airbnb attention. Apparently it's not against their TOS" https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/7hk5xu/according_to_airbnb_customer_service_3_to_7_of/dqs69bd/

There have been major news reports such as this video from ABC News which reports on a Florida couple who found cameras hidden in the smoke detector in the bedroom. The host had been on Airbnb for years and had good forty reviews.

Do you have any advice for bands on how to deal with record labels and the music industry?

Yeah, that's basically the same feeling I get. My friends were talking with Sony, and even some smaller labels like Razor and Tie, but they basically just seem like banks that give you a really shitty loan. My friends have already made an awesome record, and are about to release it themselves. Labels weren't interested until they hear the record, but that seems kind of like a chicken and egg scenario.

If there are labels that are worth it, do you think there are certain questions we could ask in order to find out if a label is legit? Thanks for the AMA!

ERIN: The few examples we did see involved people knowing that the location was an Airbnb and tracking and following guests. There were some instances where people were robbed and there were some instances of an unwelcome, uninvited visitor at the door. These were not common but they were notable.

ASHER: My top tips are to only stay at places that have a shit ton of reviews, only stay at places that have a 5-star average, only stay with Superhosts. Don't stay with a host who has more than one or two properties.

You can read all 54 of my tips on my site here: https://www.asherfergusson.com/airbnb/#safety-tips