Brian Chesky is the CEO of Airbnb. In this guest article he discusses the recent Airbnb user safety incident we reported on earlier today.
On June 22nd, we learned that the home of one of our San Francisco hosts was vandalized by an Airbnb guest. We were devastated when we received this news. With a single booking, one person’s malicious actions victimized our host and undermined what had been – for 2 million nights – a case study demonstrating that people are fundamentally good.
As soon as we learned what had taken place, our first concern was to make sure our host was safe. We have been in close contact with her ever since, and have worked with the authorities to help find a resolution. Because Airbnb facilitates the reservation details and payment information, we were in a unique position to assist with the investigation. While we are not at liberty to discuss the details during the investigation, we understand that with our help, a suspect is now in custody, and our information will now become important evidence.
Once our host’s safety was secured, our attention moved to further strengthening our system.
Trust and safety are our highest priorities. From the very beginning, we have developed Airbnb with safety and security as the most important innovations in our product roadmap. These features include:
As a response to this incident, we have begun development on improvements to increase the safety of Airbnb, including:
We are upset that this happened but believe that our platform and staff were able to make a positive contribution to this unfortunate case. The host herself acknowledged our efforts in a blog post when she said:
“I would be remiss if I didn’t pause here to emphasize that the customer service team at airbnb.com has been wonderful, giving this crime their full attention. They have called often, expressing empathy, support, and genuine concern for my welfare. They have offered to help me recover emotionally and financially, and are working with SFPD to track down these criminals.”
While we’re glad that our host feels this way, we are committed to improving upon our product with safety as the cornerstone of the Airbnb marketplace. We are fully committed to the vision that one day you will be able to travel to any city or town around the world, and with the click of a button, access local people and cultures safely and easily. We will work tirelessly alongside our community until that day is fully realized.
Founded in August 2008 and based in San Francisco, California, Airbnb is a trusted community marketplace for people to list, discover, and book unique spaces around the world – online or from a mobile phone. Whether an apartment for a night, a castle for a week, or a villa for month, Airbnb connects people to unique travel experiences, at any price point, in more that 26,000 cities and 192 countries. And with world-class customer service and a growing community...
Brian drives the company’s vision, strategy and growth. Always pushing the status quo, Brian aims to disrupt the industry with ideas that change the way people live. To grasp the full impact and experience of Airbnb, Brian rid himself of an apartment and has been living in the homes of the Airbnb community since June of 2010. He is committed to assembling a passionate, top tier team to deliver on this promise. Before Airbnb, Brian ran an industrial design shop...
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