AirBnB... Home Trashed!

[JBloggs]

Here is a follow-up article... goo.gl/g5406 where basically AirBnB comes out looking like

.

Here is a follow-up article... goo.gl/g5406 where basically AirBnB comes out looking like

Hey that is a Seattle landmark!

 

[JBloggs]

[COLOR= rgb(68, 68, 68)]Airbnb Victim Speaks Again: Homeless, Scared And Angry http://tcrn.ch/obIRI4[/COLOR]

 

[birdwatcher]

How awful to be going through this! I sometimes worry about us sleeping and someone that is a guest and has used a fake name or paid in cash (its possible) comes into our quarters, even if we lock it or burst through and starts to rob us or worse yet rape me or kill my husband...that does go through my mind occasionally as the people that come through the doors are strangers and we really don't know their mental state...but we have been fortunate that this has never happened and its probably a real small percentage that it has happened to any B and B owners..right?
I'm not sure the airbnb would be liable, but they should have been more involved in the investigation of the cuprits that destroyed her life litertally-I feel sorry for her not feeling safe in the only place one should feel warm and safe-YOUR HOME.

 

[JBloggs]

Washington Post has now picked it up[COLOR= rgb(68, 68, 68)]...http://j.mp/oMXfbK[/COLOR]

 

[Generic]

Washington Post has now picked it up[COLOR= rgb(68, 68, 68)]...http://j.mp/oMXfbK[/COLOR].

Did you read where AirBnB mentioned their round of financing to the victim? Heartless... and all they care about is their own money.

 

[JBloggs]

[COLOR= rgb(68, 68, 68)]Airbnb Offers Unconditional Apology, And $50,000 Insurance Guarantee | TechCrunch [/COLOR][COLOR= rgb(68, 68, 68)]http://tcrn.ch/mQ0OnO[/COLOR]

 

[Generic]

[COLOR= rgb(68, 68, 68)]Airbnb Offers Unconditional Apology, And $50,000 Insurance Guarantee | TechCrunch [/COLOR][COLOR= rgb(68, 68, 68)]http://tcrn.ch/mQ0OnO[/COLOR].

I saw that a few minutes ago. I'm glad that they finally stepped up to the plate.... a month later. I really do hope that this girl is going to get the help that she needs and he life straightened out.

 

[JBloggs]

[COLOR= rgb(68, 68, 68)]Airbnb Offers Unconditional Apology, And $50,000 Insurance Guarantee | TechCrunch [/COLOR][COLOR= rgb(68, 68, 68)]http://tcrn.ch/mQ0OnO[/COLOR].

I saw that a few minutes ago. I'm glad that they finally stepped up to the plate.... a month later. I really do hope that this girl is going to get the help that she needs and he life straightened out.
.

I saw that a few minutes ago. I'm glad that they finally stepped up to the plate.... a month later. I really do hope that this girl is going to get the help that she needs and he life straightened out.

"Saving face" by AirBnB can be very valuable to this person who lost everything.

 

[Generic]

[COLOR= rgb(68, 68, 68)]Airbnb Offers Unconditional Apology, And $50,000 Insurance Guarantee | TechCrunch [/COLOR][COLOR= rgb(68, 68, 68)]http://tcrn.ch/mQ0OnO[/COLOR].

I saw that a few minutes ago. I'm glad that they finally stepped up to the plate.... a month later. I really do hope that this girl is going to get the help that she needs and he life straightened out.
.

I saw that a few minutes ago. I'm glad that they finally stepped up to the plate.... a month later. I really do hope that this girl is going to get the help that she needs and he life straightened out.

"Saving face" by AirBnB can be very valuable to this person who lost everything.
.

Reading the play by play on TechCrunch, the CEO of this company got himself in a lot of hot water and he got called out a number of times. I dare say that without the actions of TechCrunch this lady may have gotten nothing. The CEO got called on his lies, repeatedly, but both TechCrunch and by EJ herself. It took a month on the whole of the Internet to get this lady some justice... AirBnB had plenty of time to get this right before it got to this point. They not only fumbled the ball, they just kept on playing with it, completely deflated.

 

[JBloggs]

Just got this letter from airBnb "Our commitment to trust and safety"
[COLOR= rgb(132, 132, 132)]Last month, the home of a San Francisco host named EJ was tragically vandalized by a guest. The damage was so bad that her life was turned upside down. When we learned of this our hearts sank. We felt paralyzed, and over the last four weeks, we have really screwed things up. Earlier this week, I wrote a blog post trying to explain the situation, but it didn’t reflect my true feelings. So here we go.[/COLOR]
[COLOR= rgb(132, 132, 132)]
There have been a lot of questions swirling around, and I would like to apologize and set the record straight in my own words. In the last few days we have had a crash course in crisis management. I hope this can be a valuable lesson to other businesses about what not to do in a time of crisis, and why you should always uphold your values and trust your instincts.
With regards to EJ, we let her down, and for that we are very sorry. We should have responded faster, communicated more sensitively, and taken more decisive action to make sure she felt safe and secure. But we weren’t prepared for the crisis and we dropped the ball. Now we’re dealing with the consequences. In working with the San Francisco Police Department, we are happy to say a suspect is now in custody. Even so, we realize that we have disappointed the community. To EJ, and all the other hosts who have had bad experiences, we know you deserve better from us.
We want to make it right. On August 15th, we will be implementing a $50,000 Airbnb Guarantee, protecting the property of hosts from damage by Airbnb guests who book reservations through our website. We will extend this program to EJ and any other hosts who may have reported such property damage while renting on Airbnb in the past.
We’ve built this company by listening to our community. Guided by your feedback, we have iterated to become safer and more secure. Our job’s not done yet; we’re still evolving. In the wake of these recent events, we’ve heard an uproar from people, both inside and outside our community. Know that we were closely listening.
Today we are launching a new safety section of the website (www.airbnb.com/safety) with the following offerings:

• Airbnb Guarantee
  Starting August 15th, when hosts book reservations through Airbnb their personal property will be covered for loss or damage due to vandalism or theft caused by an Airbnb guest up to $50,000 with our Airbnb Guarantee. Terms will apply to the program and may vary (e.g. by country). This program will also apply retroactively to any hosts who may have reported such property damage prior to August 1, 2011.
• 24-Hour Customer Hotline
  Beginning next week, we will have operators and customer support staff ready to provide around the clock phone and email support for anything big or small.
• 2x Customer Support Team
  Since last month we have more than doubled our Customer Support team from forty-two to eighty-eight people, and will be bringing on a 10-year veteran from eBay as our Director of Customer Support next week.
• Dedicated Trust & Safety Department
  Airbnb now has an in-house task force devoted to the manual review of suspicious activity. This team will also build new security features based on community feedback.
• Contact the CEO
  If you can’t get a hold of anyone or if you just want to contact me, email[email protected].

We’ve also added several other safety-related features to strengthen the trust and confidence of our community:

• Safety Tips
  Suggestions for both guests and hosts on how to utilize our tools to better inform your decisions.
• Verified Profiles
  Our updated user profiles chronicle their public history on Airbnb, giving you more insight than ever about a potential host or guest. Along with standard social information, you’ll also see if a user has verified their phone number, connected to their Facebook account, and whether the majority of their reviews are positive or negative. And as always, you can read their reviews and references.
• Customized trust settings
  We now give hosts the ability to set custom trust parameters for bookings; those who don’t meet the specified requirements will be unable to make a reservation. Selections for Trust Settings include: verified phone numbers, profile descriptions, location information, with more coming soon.
• Product suggestions poll
  Have more ideas on improving safety? Now, you can submit and vote on the best ideas through our new product suggestions poll.

Many more product updates will be released in the coming days. In addition to these new features, there are safeguards already in place to protect the community. These include over 60 million Social Connections, private messaging to screen before booking, a secure reservation and payment system and transaction-based reviews. We also provide verified photographs, fraud detection algorithms, and flagging capabilities.
These steps are just the beginning. Improving the safety and security of our system is ongoing. Although we do have these measures in place, no system is without some risk, so we remind you to be vigilant and discerning. As a member of the community, you have invaluable experience that we hope to draw upon to improve our system. If you have any constructive ideas or feedback, please share them with us at www.airbnb.com/safety.
What’s made us proud during this trying time is the response of our community. Emails of support to EJ poured in; many hosts offered her a place to stay in their homes. It’s been inspiring to see that Airbnb can really bring out the best in people. Like Airbnb, the world works on the idea that people are good, and we’re in this together.
When we first started Airbnb, I told my mom about our plans for the business and she said, “Are you crazy? I’d never do that.” But when I told my late grandfather he said, “Of course! Everyone used to stay in each others’ homes.” We’re bringing back this age-old idea with new technology. Now each day, you and the rest of the community are creating meaningful connections around the world.
Thank you for being part of Airbnb.
Sincerely,
Brian Chesky
CEO, Co-founder
Airbnb
[/COLOR]

 

[Alibi Ike]

Just got this letter from airBnb "Our commitment to trust and safety"
[COLOR= rgb(132, 132, 132)]Last month, the home of a San Francisco host named EJ was tragically vandalized by a guest. The damage was so bad that her life was turned upside down. When we learned of this our hearts sank. We felt paralyzed, and over the last four weeks, we have really screwed things up. Earlier this week, I wrote a blog post trying to explain the situation, but it didn’t reflect my true feelings. So here we go.[/COLOR]
[COLOR= rgb(132, 132, 132)]
There have been a lot of questions swirling around, and I would like to apologize and set the record straight in my own words. In the last few days we have had a crash course in crisis management. I hope this can be a valuable lesson to other businesses about what not to do in a time of crisis, and why you should always uphold your values and trust your instincts.
With regards to EJ, we let her down, and for that we are very sorry. We should have responded faster, communicated more sensitively, and taken more decisive action to make sure she felt safe and secure. But we weren’t prepared for the crisis and we dropped the ball. Now we’re dealing with the consequences. In working with the San Francisco Police Department, we are happy to say a suspect is now in custody. Even so, we realize that we have disappointed the community. To EJ, and all the other hosts who have had bad experiences, we know you deserve better from us.
We want to make it right. On August 15th, we will be implementing a $50,000 Airbnb Guarantee, protecting the property of hosts from damage by Airbnb guests who book reservations through our website. We will extend this program to EJ and any other hosts who may have reported such property damage while renting on Airbnb in the past.
We’ve built this company by listening to our community. Guided by your feedback, we have iterated to become safer and more secure. Our job’s not done yet; we’re still evolving. In the wake of these recent events, we’ve heard an uproar from people, both inside and outside our community. Know that we were closely listening.
Today we are launching a new safety section of the website (www.airbnb.com/safety) with the following offerings:

• Airbnb Guarantee
  Starting August 15th, when hosts book reservations through Airbnb their personal property will be covered for loss or damage due to vandalism or theft caused by an Airbnb guest up to $50,000 with our Airbnb Guarantee. Terms will apply to the program and may vary (e.g. by country). This program will also apply retroactively to any hosts who may have reported such property damage prior to August 1, 2011.
• 24-Hour Customer Hotline
  Beginning next week, we will have operators and customer support staff ready to provide around the clock phone and email support for anything big or small.
• 2x Customer Support Team
  Since last month we have more than doubled our Customer Support team from forty-two to eighty-eight people, and will be bringing on a 10-year veteran from eBay as our Director of Customer Support next week.
• Dedicated Trust & Safety Department
  Airbnb now has an in-house task force devoted to the manual review of suspicious activity. This team will also build new security features based on community feedback.
• Contact the CEO
  If you can’t get a hold of anyone or if you just want to contact me, email[email protected].

We’ve also added several other safety-related features to strengthen the trust and confidence of our community:

• Safety Tips
  Suggestions for both guests and hosts on how to utilize our tools to better inform your decisions.
• Verified Profiles
  Our updated user profiles chronicle their public history on Airbnb, giving you more insight than ever about a potential host or guest. Along with standard social information, you’ll also see if a user has verified their phone number, connected to their Facebook account, and whether the majority of their reviews are positive or negative. And as always, you can read their reviews and references.
• Customized trust settings
  We now give hosts the ability to set custom trust parameters for bookings; those who don’t meet the specified requirements will be unable to make a reservation. Selections for Trust Settings include: verified phone numbers, profile descriptions, location information, with more coming soon.
• Product suggestions poll
  Have more ideas on improving safety? Now, you can submit and vote on the best ideas through our new product suggestions poll.

Many more product updates will be released in the coming days. In addition to these new features, there are safeguards already in place to protect the community. These include over 60 million Social Connections, private messaging to screen before booking, a secure reservation and payment system and transaction-based reviews. We also provide verified photographs, fraud detection algorithms, and flagging capabilities.
These steps are just the beginning. Improving the safety and security of our system is ongoing. Although we do have these measures in place, no system is without some risk, so we remind you to be vigilant and discerning. As a member of the community, you have invaluable experience that we hope to draw upon to improve our system. If you have any constructive ideas or feedback, please share them with us at www.airbnb.com/safety.
What’s made us proud during this trying time is the response of our community. Emails of support to EJ poured in; many hosts offered her a place to stay in their homes. It’s been inspiring to see that Airbnb can really bring out the best in people. Like Airbnb, the world works on the idea that people are good, and we’re in this together.
When we first started Airbnb, I told my mom about our plans for the business and she said, “Are you crazy? I’d never do that.” But when I told my late grandfather he said, “Of course! Everyone used to stay in each others’ homes.” We’re bringing back this age-old idea with new technology. Now each day, you and the rest of the community are creating meaningful connections around the world.
Thank you for being part of Airbnb.
Sincerely,
Brian Chesky
CEO, Co-founder
Airbnb
[/COLOR].

Sounds like they learned a lesson and the letter doesn't sound like it was written by corp PR. Nice going. Not so sure about the insurance, tho. It kind of sets the bar LOWER for the guests to act civilized.

 

[egoodell]

Just got this letter from airBnb "Our commitment to trust and safety"
[COLOR= rgb(132, 132, 132)]Last month, the home of a San Francisco host named EJ was tragically vandalized by a guest. The damage was so bad that her life was turned upside down. When we learned of this our hearts sank. We felt paralyzed, and over the last four weeks, we have really screwed things up. Earlier this week, I wrote a blog post trying to explain the situation, but it didn’t reflect my true feelings. So here we go.[/COLOR]
[COLOR= rgb(132, 132, 132)]
There have been a lot of questions swirling around, and I would like to apologize and set the record straight in my own words. In the last few days we have had a crash course in crisis management. I hope this can be a valuable lesson to other businesses about what not to do in a time of crisis, and why you should always uphold your values and trust your instincts.
With regards to EJ, we let her down, and for that we are very sorry. We should have responded faster, communicated more sensitively, and taken more decisive action to make sure she felt safe and secure. But we weren’t prepared for the crisis and we dropped the ball. Now we’re dealing with the consequences. In working with the San Francisco Police Department, we are happy to say a suspect is now in custody. Even so, we realize that we have disappointed the community. To EJ, and all the other hosts who have had bad experiences, we know you deserve better from us.
We want to make it right. On August 15th, we will be implementing a $50,000 Airbnb Guarantee, protecting the property of hosts from damage by Airbnb guests who book reservations through our website. We will extend this program to EJ and any other hosts who may have reported such property damage while renting on Airbnb in the past.
We’ve built this company by listening to our community. Guided by your feedback, we have iterated to become safer and more secure. Our job’s not done yet; we’re still evolving. In the wake of these recent events, we’ve heard an uproar from people, both inside and outside our community. Know that we were closely listening.
Today we are launching a new safety section of the website (www.airbnb.com/safety) with the following offerings:

• Airbnb Guarantee
  Starting August 15th, when hosts book reservations through Airbnb their personal property will be covered for loss or damage due to vandalism or theft caused by an Airbnb guest up to $50,000 with our Airbnb Guarantee. Terms will apply to the program and may vary (e.g. by country). This program will also apply retroactively to any hosts who may have reported such property damage prior to August 1, 2011.
• 24-Hour Customer Hotline
  Beginning next week, we will have operators and customer support staff ready to provide around the clock phone and email support for anything big or small.
• 2x Customer Support Team
  Since last month we have more than doubled our Customer Support team from forty-two to eighty-eight people, and will be bringing on a 10-year veteran from eBay as our Director of Customer Support next week.
• Dedicated Trust & Safety Department
  Airbnb now has an in-house task force devoted to the manual review of suspicious activity. This team will also build new security features based on community feedback.
• Contact the CEO
  If you can’t get a hold of anyone or if you just want to contact me, email[email protected].

We’ve also added several other safety-related features to strengthen the trust and confidence of our community:

• Safety Tips
  Suggestions for both guests and hosts on how to utilize our tools to better inform your decisions.
• Verified Profiles
  Our updated user profiles chronicle their public history on Airbnb, giving you more insight than ever about a potential host or guest. Along with standard social information, you’ll also see if a user has verified their phone number, connected to their Facebook account, and whether the majority of their reviews are positive or negative. And as always, you can read their reviews and references.
• Customized trust settings
  We now give hosts the ability to set custom trust parameters for bookings; those who don’t meet the specified requirements will be unable to make a reservation. Selections for Trust Settings include: verified phone numbers, profile descriptions, location information, with more coming soon.
• Product suggestions poll
  Have more ideas on improving safety? Now, you can submit and vote on the best ideas through our new product suggestions poll.

Many more product updates will be released in the coming days. In addition to these new features, there are safeguards already in place to protect the community. These include over 60 million Social Connections, private messaging to screen before booking, a secure reservation and payment system and transaction-based reviews. We also provide verified photographs, fraud detection algorithms, and flagging capabilities.
These steps are just the beginning. Improving the safety and security of our system is ongoing. Although we do have these measures in place, no system is without some risk, so we remind you to be vigilant and discerning. As a member of the community, you have invaluable experience that we hope to draw upon to improve our system. If you have any constructive ideas or feedback, please share them with us at www.airbnb.com/safety.
What’s made us proud during this trying time is the response of our community. Emails of support to EJ poured in; many hosts offered her a place to stay in their homes. It’s been inspiring to see that Airbnb can really bring out the best in people. Like Airbnb, the world works on the idea that people are good, and we’re in this together.
When we first started Airbnb, I told my mom about our plans for the business and she said, “Are you crazy? I’d never do that.” But when I told my late grandfather he said, “Of course! Everyone used to stay in each others’ homes.” We’re bringing back this age-old idea with new technology. Now each day, you and the rest of the community are creating meaningful connections around the world.
Thank you for being part of Airbnb.
Sincerely,
Brian Chesky
CEO, Co-founder
Airbnb
[/COLOR].

Sounds like they learned a lesson and the letter doesn't sound like it was written by corp PR. Nice going. Not so sure about the insurance, tho. It kind of sets the bar LOWER for the guests to act civilized.
.

I do feel sorry for her (provided this is not blackmail which some are wondering about.. as the police verified "some" of what is posted online.
But, I would never book someone in my home through any website without me being there. She was trying to make some money without insurance, license etc. I bet most of the places advertised on this website are not insured or paying taxes. How does this go on so publicly when we have to jump through so many hoops and pay so much to operate???
RIki

 

[toddburme]

Nice response! We goofed but this is what we are changing to not goof again. I think they will regret the insurance as everyone can make some sort of claim.
I understand her house was vandalized etc but does Airbnb have a need to make sure she feels "safe and secure"?
This is going to drastically change their profitability. They are now guaranteeing the experience. Do they also do that for renter? What if a pipe breaks or a fire etc and wreaks the renters stuff? Craigslist has its advantages in that they just tell you it is up to you.