In an effort to regain the public’s trust after a mass shooting at a rental home last month, Airbnb plans to verify 100 percent of its listings.
By Dec. 15, 2020, all 7 million real estate options (and their hosts) will be reviewed for accuracy and quality.
Those that meet the company’s “high expectations” will be clearly labeled.
“We believe that trust on the Internet begins with verifying the accuracy of the information on Internet platforms, and we believe that this is an important step for our industry,” Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky wrote in a published email to employees.
The online marketplace this week promised to crack down on unauthorized parties after five people died at a Halloween bash in a San Francisco suburb.
Though suspicious of a one-night rental on Oct. 31, Orinda homeowner Michael Wang agreed—reminding the renter that carousing was not allowed.
Wang was later tipped off about a raucous fete by neighbors, who reported shots fired. No arrests have been made, and there is no word on a motive for the attack.
In a series of tweets, Chesky pledged to ban “party houses” and expand efforts to remove abusive content.
Four days later, he sent an email titled “In the business of trust” to global employees.
“Our real innovation is not allowing people to book a home; it’s designing a framework to allow millions of people to trust one another,” he wrote.
“But recently, events by bad actors on our platform took advantage of that trust, including at a home in Orinda, Calif.,” Chesky continued. “We intend to do everything possible to learn from these incidents when they occur.”
With that in mind, the firm is taking additional steps to ensure customer safety and satisfaction:
Beginning Dec. 15, 2019, if a listing does not meet Airbnb’s accuracy standards, it will rebook the guest somewhere of equal or greater value, or give them their money back.
“Most hosts do a great job, but guests need to feel like Airbnb has their back, and we believe this commitment is a necessary step in giving guests peace of mind,” Chesky’s email said.
A new 24/7 Neighbor Hotline, staffed by a rapid response team of real people, is set to launch in the US by the end of this year, and will roll out globally over the course of 2020.
Actual humans will also be employed to manually screen high-risk reservations—based on duration of stay and size of listing, among “hundreds” of other factors.
“People need to feel like they can trust our community, and that they can trust Airbnb when something does go wrong,” Chesky said.
“The world moves at the speed of trust, and the more trust that exists, the more access we can all have,” he added. “Airbnb is founded on trust, and our vision depends on us continuing to increase this in our community.”
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