About us...

After moving from Europe for work back home to the US, we rented an Airbnb for a month. Out of nowhere, foul water came out of the shower drain (we hadn't used the shower yet that day). It stung my eyes with a strong smell and aggravated my asthma.

I call it sewage: Airbnb support in India called it an "inconvenience."

Like many companies, Airbnb uses an arbitration clause to avoid court, even when well-deserved. What are arbitration clauses? They're like private court cases. They're supposed to be cheaper and easier but are often abused to avoid accountability. How? Well, a company writes the arbitration clause, pays most of the fees, and appears many times — while the consumer appears and pays once. Guess who usually wins?

Arbitration was supposed to be better for consumers and businesses. Realistically, all it enabled is shoddy outsourcing, poor customer service, and a lack of reliability and honesty that has destroyed trust between businesses and their customers to the benefit of anonymous outsourcing firms and higher profits.

Won't employers get this. Sure; and many already have. DoorDash famously whined to a court it was unfair to force them to follow their own agreement. "This hypocrisy will not be blessed," answered the court. Many if not most businesses use these clauses; the "gig economy" all but lives on them. But many have come to regret them and that's our purpose: to hope that accountability can be fostered.

Are we anti-business? No! We're anti bad business and not a big fan of offshore outsourcing. Much like the banks suffered from their own shoddy mortagages during the financial crisis, arbitration clauses are a minefield waiting to detonate. Business would be better off simply by raising trust rather than relying on legal nonsense but if that's what they want that's what they'll have.

Now .. some legal stuff of our own. This site exists to gather information to at least help keep evidence in one place for these arbitrations. You are strongly encouraged to hire a lawyer, but we know (and they know) it's unlikely you'll do that. Therefore, we suggest you run through a questionnaire about your experience to create a dossier. Arbitration isn't hopeless, but it is important that you have your information in order.