@Colleen253 @Anonymous @Michelle53 @Helen427 @Emilia42
Halloween is the first anniversary of the Orinda tragedies, when 5 kids were shot dead at an Airbnb mansion party. This is a PR exercise and a pre-emptive move to absolve Airbnb from any and all responsibility and/or accountability, should there be (God forbid) another similar occurrence this Halloween.
Perhaps if their own 'verification' and 'vetting' procedures were a bit more reliable and trustworthy in the first place - and they hadn't continued to strip away hosts' ability and autonomy to conduct their own vetting and/or background checks prior to the guests' arrival - the phenomenon of Airbnb parties would not have been allowed to mushroom into such a chronic and reputationally-damaging issue for the platform.
Furthermore, Airbnb's propensity for rewarding evicted partying guests with refunds and often even with rehousing in the homes of other unsuspecting hosts, their abject refusal to collect real security deposits and their strong reluctance to hold troublemakers accountable for thrashing hosts' homes - combined with their extreme reticence in banning anti-social members from the platform even when there is solid, irrefutable evidence of their wrongdoings - have directly led to the creation of an environment where guests are fully aware that they can get away whatever unacceptable, anti-social and even criminal behaviour they d*mn well please, with the chances of repercussions (financial, legal or otherwise) for themselves being slim to none.
Added to that, the company's effective shielding (citing 'member privacy') of rogue guests by making law enforcement agencies jump through onerous hoops in their attempts to obtain even partial information on all but the most extreme offenders, makes hosting an exceptionally stressful, ongoing nightmare for those who cater for groups of 6 or more in most towns and cities.
These 'under-25' bans, 2 night minimum stipulations and limits of 16 guests per property are ineffective toothless measures, and in reality, do little or nothing to curb the problem. The out-of-control parties haven't stopped, the shootings haven't stopped and the neighbourhood disturbances haven't stopped since any of these measures have been introduced (the under-25s ban has been in place in US and Canada for most of this year - meanwhile, reports of party disturbances have sky-rocketed by 238%) It's like putting a sticking plaster on a gaping wound. Airbnb knows that of course, but as long as they can whack out a virtue-signalling Press Release to appease potential investors and to make it look like they're taking some effective steps to prevent even more kids from losing their lives, that's all that matters.
And yes - absolutely, hosts must also take every possible precaution to protect their homes and their neighbourhoods - that goes without saying - but any host who deals with this problem on a weekly/nightly basis will tell you.. regardless of how conscientious and vigilant a host tries to be, these parties can blow up in the blink of an eye and it's becoming more and more dangerous to try and shut them down (as evidenced by the co-host who got shot in the back while attempting to break up a 'gathering' at an Airbnb in Cincinnati just recently)
By the time these guest are in our homes, it's often too late. Robust, accurate and reliable vetting/background checks, the retention of actual security deposits - with severe financial penalties for guests who wilfully violate house rules and cause damages in hosts homes - and immediate expulsion of offenders from the platform are desperately and urgently needed and would soon start sending out the strong warning message to guests that Airbnb parties are no longer tolerated. All these half-baked, cosmetic PR measures that Airbnb are trumpeting to the media about - and which guests with nefarious intentions can so very easily side-step - are a complete waste of time, and will do absolute nothing to prevent more house-trashing, neighbourhood disruptions or premature deaths.
Penelope
