I like this concept. Finding and assessing agents stinks. I've spent a bunch of time looking at places in the Truckee, CA area. Finding the good agent was the hardest part - I wish I had been able to look at their opinions on places, and how they compared to the consensus.
Care less about the social features with random people. But I suppose I do care about yelp reviews, and trip advisor reviews... so maybe my thinking is flawed.
I like the idea of helping people for free (as do many people in the thread). But I wonder quality of assistance would be better if people were getting paid. And I wonder if the app would reach more people if it were for profit.
The comments are all great. And I appreciate them. But I suppose I'm most curious about the last question: what would you have a personal assistant do, if you had one?
Sam,
Does saying "discuss on hn: link" at the bottom of a blog post violate your voting ring detector or any other terms of service? I couldn't find anything about that.
Last time I checked the flagging penalty was about 40 spots. Maybe it's more nuanced and now it's 70 spots. Maybe dang knows.
Edit to add:
I imagine this has some interesting overlap with YC's "tell us about the time you hacked something other than a computer" and sama's "Founder Ethics" advisory.
Interesting that this got flagged. It is about hacking something other that a computer. It's about my opinion that tipping is not a crime. It helps me, it helps the person at the desk, and it helps me create a connection (and loyalty with the hotel). Hotels DO NOT tell employees not to accept tips. Its part of the game.
And this is the intention. The best case scenario, would be for me to come back to the same hotel. And tip the same front desk person. And then we build a relationship.
-I benefit because I get free stuff.
-front desk benefits because they get cash.
-hotel benefits because I keep coming back to the hotel (because of relationship i form with front desk attendant).
I worked in customer service for four years. I treated nice people the best (as you suggest). But treated nice people who also tip even better. I don't think being nice, and tipping, are exclusive behaviors.
I'm not sure what that says about me... but. I think humans are reciprocal creatures.
I don't think this will work 100% of the time. But I think it will work enough that it's worth trying. In this case. I paid $20 for a service that typically costs $140. So even if this fails the next 5 times I try - I'll still be ahead.
Bribing is efficient, otherwise it wouldn't work. Would your opinion be different if you were the hotel owner, and the person bribing the clerk was on an expense account anyway? (I know - not the current situation)
I think the hotel owner would be glad to know that this was going on. I've invested in this hotel front desk agent. If I come back to SF, I'll come back to the same hotel. Tip the same front desk agent. She'll get to know me. She'll help me out. I'll help her out. And in the end of the day 1.) I'm staying at the hotel. 2.) I'm booking through the hotel, not a discount site like hoteltonight or expedia
TikTok/Insta/Snap => ...What's next?
I've talked to dozens of CEOs about the tools they'd use. Still not sure.