Airbnb plans to check millions of accommodations on offer for security and fraud. This news comes after a few reports of scams and a fatal shooting in a ‘party house’ last week. The CEO of the company reports this news in a letter to employees, who has published the platform on the site.
The trust of our community continues to be a top priority for us. We’re taking steps in designing trust on our platform, including the Airbnb Guest Guarantee, a 24/7 neighbor hotline & working towards 100% verification of all homes by 12/15/20. Learn more: https://t.co/OCzgkkhMhW https://t.co/m6JY3s1aFE
— Airbnb (@Airbnb) November 6, 2019
4 extra measures
The platform will implement 4 additional measures to increase safety and confidence:
Verification of all accommodations
The platform will verify all 7 million (!) Accommodations. The houses are checked for accuracy of the statement (address, photos) and quality standards (basic facilities, safety, cleanliness). All well-approved accommodations receive a clear label from Airbnb. The platform wants all houses to have been assessed on December 15, 2020. CEO Chesky reports that Airbnb believes that trust in the internet starts with verification of the accuracy of the information.
Guarantee for guests
From December 15 this year, Airbnb will ensure that you can book a new accommodation or get a refund if, after checking in, it appears that it does not meet the standards. Whether it looks very different from what was offered. Guests should feel that Airbnb is behind them, says CEO Chesky.
Airbnb Neighbor Hotline
The neighbor hotline is available 24/7. Residents of accommodation who call this number, wherever they are in the world, always have one person on the line. Airbnb creates this special line to ensure that neighbors who smell bad can contact to report this. It is then possible to take action quickly.
High risk human review
This is a form of manual check that is performed on high-risk accommodations. Airbnb uses so-called ‘risk detection models’ for this. This can prevent these homes from being offered on the platform.
Based on trust
Airbnb runs on trust and the platform realizes that all too well. To ensure that guests are not put off by recent events, Airbnb wants to ensure that trust in the company is at least increased. The announced measures in any case show that the platform takes this very seriously.