Although what happened over the weekend in New York was awful, I find Airbnb’s response too slow and too late.
CEO Brian Chesky announced on Wednesday at The New York Times DealBook Conference four changes the company will be implementing. The changes were also announced in an email to employees Wednesday.
Here are the four key changes:
1. All listings will be verified by the end of 2020 by a combination of the company and guests. Chesky said that he wants to “make sure we can stand behind every single listing and host,” for photo accuracy, the correct address, and safety.
2. Airbnb will now have a guest guarantee in the scenario that guests arrive at a listing and the listing does not match photos and descriptions.
3. A 24/7 hotline with real people will be available to address issues that come up.
4. Airbnb will review what it calls “high-risk” listings.
Its like they only just woke up to the fact people are doing very bad things with their platform. I mean why does it take loss of life for them to finally wake up?