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By now you may heard about the PR debacle surrounding the international lodging start-up AirBnB and a customer whose’ apartment was trashed and robbed by a visiting guest. Adding to the terror of coming home to that ordeal, the pitiful customer service response (which basically amounted to, ‘yeah, sorry. what the hell do you want us to do about it?!’) has put Air Bnb (a company that just pulled another 112 Million from investors and is now valued at $1 Billion US) and their future in a bit of a tail spin. Though, this mishap may have created a mountain for the AirBnB gang of San Francisco, it’s actually seeming to have more of a macro effect on the burgeoning Collective Consumerism trend. Faith and trust for companies like AirBnB and specifically NeighborGoods, are essential elements in order to successfully run a business model such as theirs, one that relies on strangers helping strangers.
But following the AirBnB incident and the resulting lack of common infrastructure at a fast-growing (some say too fast) company, it makes trust is a slippery pillage.
As with any peer-to-peer marketplace, it's impossible to remove risk completely. It's our job as sharing platforms to make sure our members are aware of the risks and have the information needed in order to manage the risk effectively. AirBnB's new Safety Tips page provides clear steps for members to mitigate the risk of using the platform. We plan to follow suit with our own list of tips. As part of their response to recent events, AirBnB has also announced a new $50,000 guarantee to cover any loss or damage suffered by their hosts. AirBnB's guarantee program launches on August 15 and I'm eager to see how it will address the potential for fraud and other legal complications raised by insurance. We've been considering offering similar protections (though on a much smaller scale) for premium NeighborGoods members.
As valiant an attempt NeighborGoods is making to patch up this issue in order to further the Collective Consumerism cause, the seeds of doubt and fear are planted. What once made Craigslist a mighty player has succumbed to fear of wrongdoing and dubious intent railed against peer, by peer thru online ads.
Are we, the global community, just not ready to be trusted?
Are we not ready to trust?
Links to consider:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-20085741-245/sf-police-arr...
Victim’s reaction: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-20085611-93/airbnb-horror-s...
AirBnB’s paltry, disingenuous reaction:
http://techcrunch.com/2011/07/27/on-safety-a-word-from-airbnb/