Earlier quoted context omitted.
Conveniently, you fail to address the point upon which this whole issue is predicated: " You can't talk to guests until the transaction is consummated. If that's so, it's on Airbnb to make sure that they're not sending a dangerous creep into your arms." No one thinks anyone from Airbnb blew up her home, dude. I'm not paid well enough to know if this meets the standard of tortious negligence. Yet it was negligence. Ha…
Well, you haven’t addressed any of my points, but that’s fine. To answer your question, just because the transaction was consummated doesn’t mean she had to let the guy into her house. If the dude was suspicious or ungoogleable, she could have called Airbnb and explained the situation or she could have simply not left her key. Instead she just got on an airplane without thinking about it. That’s not Airbnb’s fault. A…
The first "bug" arises from the fact that AirBnB is much like a pay-for-play dating service, with all of the flaws of that business model. They have to control communication between the parties to keep from being cut out of the revenue loop... which means that they indisputably need to accept some responsibility for conducting the due diligence that they forbid their users to conduct. That's expensive and risky at best, but if they don't step up to the responsibility -- which they don't -- then they don't deserve to succeed. A stolen credit card should not be enough to gain access to someone's home for a week. Cases like this provide the necessary publicity to call attention to the unfair bargain they offer hosts.
The second 'bug' was the almost unbelievable naivete on the part of the host. She was, or should have been, aware of the terms of AirBnB's service and the limitations of their liability, because she would have had to agree to those terms and limitations when she signed up. It shouldn't take a law degree to understand that AirBnB's terms are ridiculously inadequate when situations like this arise. The idea of turning over the keys to your home to someone you've never met, based on the inadequate assurances and warranties offered by AirBnB, sinks to the level of incompetence IMHO. Not everyone will agree, but come on... if what she did isn't "asking for it," then there's no such thing as "asking for it."
To me, it seems clear that the responsibility for allowing this incident to happen falls on the host's shoulders... but at the same time, AirBnB should not be lauded for trying to play it both ways. If they're going to do everything they can to prevent hosts and renters from doing ordinary due diligence on each other, then they also need to stand behind their decisionmaking process when they approve a renter. I think a mandatory insurance policy has got to be part of the answer, just as common sense on the host's part is also a requirement.