Thefts, rapes and discoveries of dismembered human remains are some of the crimes that occurred in Airbnb rental homes that employees of the company’s special security department have spent years trying to keep from the public. All this in order not to damage the image of the short-term rental platform and avoid public relations problems, according to an investigation by the agency Bloomberg published on June 15.
According to the author of the article, the company spends about 50 million dollars a year in compensation to clients who are victims of crimes. Often, disbursements are made on the condition of nondisclosure so as not to damage the image of the company.
Investor alerts and handling of the first security crisis
After its founding in 2008, Airbnb quickly became a key player in the tourist accommodation sector, with an estimated market value of $ 90 billion. However, since the beginning of its activity, some voices have already they questioned their safety.
Thus, Chris Sacca, an American venture investor, who was one of the first to inject money into Instagram, Twitter and Uber, refused to do the same on Airbnb. “Guys, this is very dangerous. If someone is raped or murdered, will remain in your conscience“, the agency quotes the words he addressed to the founders of the company.
Initially, Airbnb’s own founders were personally in charge of respond to complaints, but they soon had to hire specific personnel due to the increase in claims. It wasn’t until 2011 that they faced your first serious security crisis, when a San Francisco homeowner blogged that her home had been ransacked and vandalized by tenants.
The landlady denounced that Airbnb did not give her any help and only asked her delete negative comments that he had posted. When the case gained notoriety in networks, Brian Chesky, head of the company, publicly apologized and promised to compensate her with a million dollars. In addition, the company created a 24-hour customer service line and a new security department.
What kind of cases does the security service handle?
Airbnb’s security department team, made up of a hundred employees – many with military or emergency services experience – is in charge of handle such serious cases such as rape, murder, or robbery.
Group tasks range from provide moral support until expenses are covered doctors, staying in luxurious hotels or even organizing trips around the world to compensate injured users. In return, they ask those affected to remain silent about what happened in the rented apartments.
Former employees of the Aribnb security service revealed to Bloomberg that during their stay at the company they had to attend to clients who had hidden in the homeowners’ closets or cases such as the discovery of dismembered human remains. Once, they even heard the complaint of a landlord who caught his tenant in bed with his seven-year-old daughter.
For its part, Airbnb noted that less than 0.1% of their rental homes have generated security problems. However, Bloomberg emphasizes that this percentage actually represents a high number of cases, since each year there are more than 200 million reservations through the platform.
How does Airbnb avoid lawsuits against you?
The Airbnb end user agreement, signed by each client of the platform, stipulates waiver of legal actions against the company, as well as an anonymity clause in the event of arbitration. So far, only one sexual violence case has gone to court in the US.
The victim accused the landlord of her apartment of masturbating in front of her after locking her in a bathroom. His lawyer managed to take the company to court for failing to fulfill its commitment to ensure the safety of its clients. However, Airbnb ended up paying compensation to the woman in exchange for withdraw your claim.
Meanwhile, the pandemic hit hard to the company, as more than 80% of reserves were suspended globally during the first months of the health crisis. But the security department team he did not lose his job, since during the confinement the number of house rents was increased in order to celebrate massive underground parties.
