Mass Shooting in Airbnb house in Orinda last night, 4 dead

[Lan1]

Breaking news:  4 dead, many injured in  an Airbnb party house in Orinda CA last night ( 10/31). The house is just few steps away from my second residence in the same street. About 10:00pm, My daughter and I were driving back to our residence, noticed that the street were full of cars. After a while, we heard police helicopters and ambulances arriving ....Neighboor next door told us there was a mass shooting in the Airbnb house few steps away.

The head of Airbnb trust and safety announced that  they will conduct serious investigation, according to the news.

My dear fellow host, I have been posting  many times regarding my concerns to Airbnb unsafe booking process.  My own house has been targeted several times for huge parties/criminal activities, but it couldn’t get enough attention from Airbnb trust and safety 

department.

 Please protect yourself and be safe!

[Beverly21]

I would hope that MANY  hosts will join in de-listing their facility IN PROTEST to the LACK OF PROTECTION FOR HOSTS provided by AIRBNB!!!!

bevg 

I will be delisting after my last 2019 booking.

[Ute42]

.

@Lan1  ,  @Branka-and-Silvia0  ,  @Susan17  

I can turn off cold water, warm water, heating and electricity from the outside of the building and that works. If the lights go down at midnight, the party is over.

Is that legal? I don't know and I don't care.

[Susan17]

You'd have been too late for this one then @Ute42 - incident happened around 10.30pm! 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Ute42  you are my guru 😄

[Jenny1069]

Honestly, there needs to be an option to avoid local bookings. I’ve had MANY inquiries from Long Beach and local cities that I would love to avoid even being an option for. I have a pool and billiards table and surround sound entertainment that attract the partiers. If I could opt to refuse bookings to anybody within 100 miles of me, I absolutely would in order to avoid these circumstances. Airbnb should really consider giving us that option. It’s local bookings who throw parties. 

[Lan1]

@Jenny1069 I fully agree!

[Lizzie]

Hello everyone,

I wanted to be sure that you saw Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky’s response to the tragic incident that happened in Orinda, California, this week. He announced some meaningful investments and changes aimed at better prevention of incidents like this, rapid response if they do happen, and stronger enforcement of higher standards on guests (or hosts) who are responsible for these incidents. Airbnb has assembled a team to accelerate this work—we’ll keep you informed here on the Community Center as more information comes.

Thanks,

Lizzie

[Lan1]

@Lizzie Thank you so much Lizzie! You guys are doing great job to allow us to express our thoughts. It is great to feel sense of belonging in this community. 

[Sarah977]

@Lizzie  What is glaringly absent in Mr. Chesky's public response to this tragedy is any indication whatsoever that host input will be sought in coming up with ways to mitigate these types of situations. Instead, their "team" will look at methods of prevention.

This party house debacle is a direct result of Airbnb totally ignoring what hosts have been telling them ad nauseaum for years as far as what we need in terms of security, overruling hosts in favor of bad guests, refusing to ban objectionable guests from the platform, not running criminal record checks or anything else to ensure that hosts are not put in a vulnerable position. 

As long as this corporate attitude of arrogance and the superiority of Airbnb to come up with policies that make sense and protect all without acknowledging that experienced hosts are the experts, not some Airbnb employees, nothing will change, nothing.at all.

Here is what I predict- that whatever "solutions" Airbnb comes up with to address the party house issue will involve yet more work on the part of hosts, more burden of proof on the part of hosts, and more punitive measures towards hosts, not guests.

If Mr. Chesky were truly interested in fixing the things that are wrong with his platform, rather than spewing a bunch of words aimed at damage control, the "team" he would put together would consist of hosts, not Airbnb staff. Airbnb staff would be responsible for listening, really listening, and implementing the changes that hosts have been proposing for years, only to be met with arrogant silence, or some placating little change which doesn't come close to addressing the issues.

[Lan1]

@Sarah977 I always enjoy reading your posts. I love the the last paragraph, you spoke my mind! Thank you Sarah!

[Beverly21]

YOU GO GIRL!!   That last paragraph is 100%  on target!!!

I still think more "abused hosts" (most everyone) should de-list their rentals as a host suggested earlier - I joined it.

If hosts continue to be doormats for ABB Corp - they will only grow stronger.

DE-LIST AND JOIN THE BATTLE!!!

bevg

[Ale113]

Hola @Lizzie 

Thanks for your message. I want to take @Sarah977 words, and make you think about it:

[this] is a direct result of Airbnb totally ignoring what hosts have been telling them ad nauseaum for years as far as what we need in terms of security, overruling hosts in favor of bad guests, refusing to ban objectionable guests from the platform, not running criminal record checks or anything else to ensure that hosts are not put in a vulnerable position. 

[Manasui0]

A better response team, would be a good idea.. people who understand how to deal with the different effect of substance towards people psychologic change.. people who also not a bully nor pass judgement to any sides.. some times it's not the best decision to act upon immediately, a wait might be a better idea, the response team need to be able to decide such a situation and can decide an action that need to be execute soon or later.

a field situation agents will need to determine which action to follow..

This action are taken is to prevent an un-wanting result that might tangled in a long bureaucracy paper work of a refund process.. a protective response team toward all important aspect that involve with in Airbnb responsibility.. could be an act of better responsible resolution.

Cause for me, the mistake mostly lies in the individual's decision making that is hallucinated, or daze off by the effect of substance they are intoxicated with.. A response team that has different skill and speciality for an immediate response that can detect precisely the possibility of an urgent and emergency situation from various reports and site confirmation..

the next question is.. does this team will then create more emergency situation by having them or will it become a better resolution in the future for every one..

the second thing that might help is setting the level what guest can or cannot do with for all Airbnb homes that is being least in a short term, Such as Alcohol consumption to drug related offends. Or even as simple as a clean up responsibility toward party props, as beer bottle and use condoms should be an Airbnb standard rule with in basic requirements.. But I doubt that any one can actually make the guest abstinent of drugs, not even the government has that capacity to drugs abstinent, and yet a drug test can not be conduct any where, any time.. but there are many other ways to find out.

just saying .. a piece of mind..

some times host can help by keeping an eye on the guest and communicating from a distance.. 

the act of responsibility guidelines usually help the guest to be able to make a better responsible decision, to prevent un-wanting tragedy like this shooting.. a constant communication also helps..

Host reaction also plays a big role with in their decision making.. what happen if the guest went home drunk.. is it considered as a house party..

can't wait for the beta version of the guide lines is being launch..

It is an improvement after all.. to prevent what I experience last year at least..

Cheers

[Yocencia0]

Sorry but Brian's response was lip service.  A single sprint of development work !?  look into a rapid response team, and handing off to another manager (who isn't even on social media).  

Redoubling of effort on something that was never done before??  

it is just lip service unless some hard cold change is made.  

There are currently some suggestions going around on social media that are getting a lot of feedback: https://www.facebook.com/airbnb/posts/10157827699132458?hc_location=ufi

How could Airbnb have been more responsible and possibly prevented this tragedy? Let me count the ways!

1) Ensuring more rigorous ID Verification;
2) Not allowing guests to delete their profiles and start new ones using the same ID credentials;
3) Ending the practice of letting unfair guest reviews stand without an editorial decision by Airbnb on fairness or accuracy. /Exercising broader discretion to remove guest reviews which are posted against a reputable host;
4) Not allowing guests unsubstantiated allegations (such as cameras inside a home) automatically suspend the listing pending investigation;
5) Ending the policy of refunding guests unused nights when a guest has been kicked out for rules violations;
6) Ending the policy of becoming the final arbiter on guest refund if the guest is unhappy, leaving the issue of refund entirely up to the host (like BDC or homeaway);
7) Paying out damage claims based on credibility of the parties (a host with 600 reviews of 4.9 should be more credible than a guest with no prior reviews);
8. Allowing hosts to see how many refund claims the guest has asked for in the past or how many damage claims have been filed against the guest by other hosts;
9. Allowing hosts to see the reviews the guest has left for previous hosts;
10. Scanning social media for posts about parties —or how to scam a host —and canceling the reservation right away which it pertains to. (Software is very good now to get this dome)

If Airbnb wants hosts to behave responsibly it must give hosts the right screening tools (the ones which hosts have been demanding for years).

If Airbnb sincerely wishes hosts to behave responsibly, it cannot implement policies which scare hosts from enforcing house rules.

All AirBnB listings should be "No Event" be default unless specifically vetted to be viable for an event.   This would help set general expectations for guests and support in helping hosts.

[Fiona243]

Any host who would like Airbnb to behave more responsibly regarding host safety (guest ID verification, assisting hosts when "extra" guests show up, not allowing retaliatory reviews when host has flagged House rule violation, etc.), should read and "Like" the FB post mentioned in the above post. There is media interest in hosts' reactions to Brian Chesky's tweet, so we may finally get some traction on changes we hosts have been asking for.

The link, again:

https://www.facebook.com/airbnb/posts/10157827699132458