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Our Commitment to Trust & Safety

blog.airbnb.com

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Re: Our Commitment to Trust & Safety

#91

Post by techiferous »

OpenAmazing wrote: post #89
techiferous wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"may have been optimal" I follow your reasoning, but this approach is optimized for Airbnb alone. The trick is to find an approach that maximizes both Airbnb's business goals and the happiness of the customers.

True. I should have prefaced with "from a business standpoint".

I would word it "from a self-interested standpoint", which is hopefully different than "from a business standpoint". I prefer to live in a world where businesses aren't laser-focused on just their own interests.

Ideally, a CEO would try to align all of the goals of the parties relating to the business so that the dynamic is synergistic, not win-lose.

Re: Our Commitment to Trust & Safety

#92

Post by moe »

drgath wrote: post #36
cosgroveb wrote: post #9

A $50,000 guarantee seems a bit low. Condos in OK neighborhoods here in Chicago start at around 200K so theoretically a lot more than 50K in damage could be done.

As a home owner and someone who has used airbnb, trust me, $50k will more than cover everything in pretty much every place airbnb rents out. Just because someplace costs $200k doesn't mean it costs $200k to rebuild from the ground up (a lot is in property, structure, etc...). Realistically, you'd really have to try hard to do $50k+ damage to a typical airbnb property without the cops being called as it is happening.

Realistically, you'd really have to try hard to do $50k+ damage

I think tipping over a candle should do that nicely. Not much effort needed.

Re: Our Commitment to Trust & Safety

#93

Post by billclerico »

cosgroveb wrote: post #9

A $50,000 guarantee seems a bit low. Condos in OK neighborhoods here in Chicago start at around 200K so theoretically a lot more than 50K in damage could be done.

in the event of someone owning a condo or house, damages to the structure would probably be covered by homeowners insurance

Re: Our Commitment to Trust & Safety

#94

Post by billclerico »

pseudonym wrote: post #40
billclerico wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the fact that AirBNB has managed to implement an international insurance/guarantee program in as little as a month is a heroic feat.

To be fair, they've said they'll implement it , not that it's implemented already . The truth of this will be shown when someone who isn't EJ and isn't riding on the crest of a wave of internet pitchforks tries to collect.

it's going into effect in 15 days. that's pretty good.

Re: Our Commitment to Trust & Safety

#95

Post by kyro »

JimmyL wrote: post #28

Two things immediately pop out from this: "Earlier this week, I wrote a blog post trying to explain the situation, but it didn’t reflect my true feelings." I'm not sure how I feel about this line (I assume it's referring to his TC post). On one hand, it's nice that he's now 'fessing up with a this-is-how-I-feel post. On the other, it's a pretty clear admission that he's had no problems in the past sending out PR spin…

You really can't please everyone, can you?

The man tried admitting his faults, and you're still trying to read in-between the lines, questioning his motives.

Re: Our Commitment to Trust & Safety

#96

Post by billclerico »

rdl wrote: post #53
billclerico wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the fact that AirBNB has managed to implement an international insurance/guarantee program in as little as a month is a heroic feat.

They have $112m. They can self-insure for as long as it takes to set it up. I think they did a great job on this response, except that it took too long. Individual incidents should have been handled as exceptions and handled well, and then this policy developed and announced once they noticed a trend of such exceptions in their CRM (or in weekly support team meetings with the founders)

you can't just snap your fingers and self insure. there are a tangle of regulations to think through, claims processes to setup in a variety of languages, adjusters and investigators to train, policies to write, etc.

the fact that this is the first major incident to make headlines after 2 million nights being booked means that they have probably been doing a great job handling exceptions. mistakes happen. especially in fast growing companies.

Re: Our Commitment to Trust & Safety

#98

Post by wheels »

So, this is a totally superficial comment, but here we go.

Brian, as part of all of this crisis stuff, I think it's time to have a new profile picture taken. One where you don't look so, how should I say... 20.

From rough calculation, I'm only a couple years older, but one thing that's stood out for me visually in all of this is that ... well, let's just say that it's one of those times where looking like the young silicon valley hotshot works against you.

Having a PR shot to pull out of the drawer that looks older, more serious and decidedly less hip would do well when people are worried.

(As for the actual content of the story: well done.)

Edit: Rational or otherwise, people read a lot from a face. Heck, it's obvious that Airbnb gets that since it's part of their trust system. Since trust is a big part of what makes Airbnb tick, I think it'd be worth the time to craft a profile shot that inspires such. This may even be an inflection point in Airbnb's history where it's transitioning from the couchsurfing-but-with-money branding to I'm-trusting-these-guys-to-keep-my-home-safe.

Edit 2: So as a bit of redux, I'm genuinely surprised that this was the most upvoted comment, since it's a minor issue relative to the good that's going down (and specifically, insurance is something that I was personally rooting for since that's what'd kept me from listing a room there prior to this whole shebang.). As for the photo, I think it's actually kind of an interestingly shot, but I don't think it's the one you want plastered all over the interwebs in a crisis scenario.

Re: Our Commitment to Trust & Safety

#99

Post by lyudmil »

fleitz wrote: post #90
lyudmil wrote: post #51

Giving credit where credit is due, I think Mr. Chesky and Airbnb have done a good job here. Corporations aren't intrinsically ethical (by law) but start-ups are small enough that they can (a) afford to act human and (b) be held accountable by their customers in meaningful ways. This is why people like Airbnb and why they (myself included) were disappointed in the way the situation was handled. I loved reading Mr. Che…

Corporations must follow the ethical standard set by the law just as any other legal entity. Corporations actually have more stringent ethics than other legal entities such as persons. A person does not have any fiduciary duty to others unlike a corporation which is incorporated with a set of documents explaining it ethics and responsibilities to other parties (such as shareholders). As a person under the law I can a…

I'm not sure we agree on the definition of "ethics".

Ethics, the way I understand the term, isn't a set of rules enforced by law. It's true that some laws are informed by our shared moral values, but in general law and ethics are independent. There is no legal punishment for acting like an asshole, but in human society you more often than not pay a price for it. There is no such onus on corporations and in fact the "business ethics" we govern our corporations by can easily be put at odds with what you and I would consider ethical behavior (see Ford Pinto [1]). As you point out, companies are responsible to their shareholders, but their stakeholders are a different (perhaps partially overlapping) set of people to which the corporation doesn't have to answer. It is in that sense that I said companies aren't intrinsically moral.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Pinto#Allegations_and_laws...

Re: Our Commitment to Trust & Safety

#100

Post by forgotAgain »

It will be obvious over the coming months whether they follow through with protecting their customers. More than a few people will be looking to get credit for exposing subsequent failures.

For myself, my expectations are not positive. While definitely an improvement over past communications I'm not buying the "mom" and "grandfather" routine. Specifically:

Earlier this week, I wrote a blog post trying to explain the situation, but it didn’t reflect my true feelings. Then what was the driving influence for the post?

In the last few days we have had a crash course in crisis management. The original incident occurred over a month ago. Apparently that wasn't a crisis. If not, then what was it?

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