@Lizzie
Thank you. I've seen the posts here and read the news.
I understand your responsibilities here, appreciate the positive energy you bring with you, and please know that what follows in this post is not a reflection on you or you efforts here.
I've heard Mr Chesky's promises before and seen the results. His replies to this event are carefully chosen (likely by his legal advisors) and skirt the real issues.
Even the most diligent of hosts/platforms cannot prevent every problem, and we could descend into a lengthy debate about gun control, etc.... However, this host community has been clearly expressing our concern about the lack of guest vetting, incomplete and fraudulent guest profiles, and the shortcomings in host support in situations like this with the only reply form the management being none at all, "we're listening," and very inconsistent and biased revisions, and application of policy and TOS (in favor of guests...even bad guests with supporting evidence), with the only tangible results from management being:
1- the additional relaxation of existing policy and TOS (and increasingly inconsistent application of such) concerning the very safety/support issues that are at the core of this tragedy. Specifically that guests are NOT required to provide vetted ID, any personal information including real names, and can be banned and still re-register to book under fictitious names, and airbnb has not only allowed it, when we've raised legitimate, substantiated concerns, hosts have been disregarded and turned away by support and management. The existing requirements leave hosts with no legal recourse and even law enforcement cannot act without a valid ID to work with.
2- There have been significant unsupported financial losses borne by many hosts who've been victimized by these internal policies and airbnb's guest bias
3- Airbnb has attempted to force conscientious and reasonably concerned hosts into using "instant book" to boost profits by tying the provision of valid IDs by guests to "instant book" and excluding it from "request to book" by implementing policy that only supports government ID requirements for "instant book"
4- an overall lack of support and policy enforcement by this platform on behalf of legitimate host complaints and concerns surrounding abuses by guests from registration to review.
This incident is a huge wake up call that hosts have been sounding for months and years as we have been habitually disregarded.
Mr Chesky's words not only miss the mark, he's dodging the concerns about his policies surrounding guest booking requirements (for regular listings as well as open homes), a stance that has made Airbnb the laughingstock of the lodging industry and a magnet for the kinds of scammers the others ban and the criminals that perpetrated this tragedy.
I am only deeply saddened about this tragedy, that sane policy might have prevented it, I and outraged that after so many host warnings, it requires something this terrible to get the attention of the very ones who profit so handsomely.
This may be the final incident that sets the precedent for multiple lawsuits that cannot be swept under the rug, and much needed industry reform.
This incident points to the far larger issue of "profit over people" that will ripple outwards and trickle down to touch everyone associated with the .com, tech, and lodging platforms that have profited so handsomely in new territory that did not previously exist,
The fallout is already showing up in the failed IPO's, strikes, and bad press.
This incident is landmark, and echoes the rise of the labor unions a century ago in the industrial revolution.
The comments of Mr Checky are much the same as his previous comments about incidents that created previous bad PR...except that this one was deadly, there will be deeper inquiry, and the issues many hosts and previous victims of these permissive CEO's of the "tech revolution" have been raising about safety and safety/guest profiles on Airbnb are foundational to how this will unfold.
We've been speaking. You have indicated you have been listening, and I share this with all due respect for your position @Lizzie , but what I find most tragic that it requires an incident like this to have the leaders of this platform publicly acknowledge there's even a problem.
This is history repeating itself, and it's time for a change.