Sketchy business
The CBC website carried an interesting article today, on the shady side of the AirBnB industry. Now, up front; I’ve never used the service. Either I stayed for free, with friends and family, or I did the expensive thing. You know, stayed in a real hotel, with a real front desk and sometimes an elevator. The dog remains amazed by any technology with doors that go to unexpected places.
Anyhow, there are alternate services out there, where you pay to use a home, and the owner dodges the tax people. I think. The article put emphasis on how clients are urged to hide the truth about where they are staying. With a cousin, or “just passing through”.
The reason? Well, when you are hiding from the tax man, and regulations that forbid transient stays, the last thing you want is for a client to give away your secret. And if that isn’t a clue that your “hotel” is dodgy, how about the absence of identifying signage and Gideon volumes in the drawers?
It’s hard to travel on a fixed budget, but it’s even harder to be someone else in the neighbourhood. Parking spots in short supply. Noise. Disrespect for rules. Let’s face it; if AirBnB has a less than stellar reputation, we have to blame the owners and the clients. Nobody else.
I follow the efforts of municipal governments to police what is an illegal practice. All too often, the penalties are hardly dissuasive. And for those who actually operate legal hotels, with the regulations and costs associated, seeing your potential clients disappear into unmarked doorways can’t be seen as the road to fiscal success.
