Saturday, June 26th 2021
“Black Box” watches over the image
Airbnb team polishes up dirty incidents
Unlike on Facebook or Amazon, Airbnb’s customers meet in person. When a rental agreement is signed, hosts and guests come into contact. If there are serious incidents, the group has a rapid reaction force.
The apartment broker Airbnb apparently has a global troop of problem solvers. The team, which is called the “Black Box” internally, is on the mat if something goes badly wrong between the guests and the hosts on the platform. One Report from Bloomberg Businessnews According to this, crimes ranging from vandalism and rape to murder were alleged to have been dealt with silently in Airbnb apartments and houses. The company wanted to prevent cases from reaching the public and damaging the company’s image, reported the business magazine.
More than one hundred “agents” should therefore be active for the housing broker: They work around the world, in Dublin, Montreal or Singapore. Many have completed military training or gained experience with private security services. Airbnb costs more than 40 million euros a year for its elite team, writes the finance portal. In the case of spectacular crimes, the group should pay out generous compensation payments to those affected and to landlords.
The report mentions, for example, a rape case in New York in 2016 in which the offender had a duplicate key made. The victim opted not to sue Airbnb or the apartment owner and received $ 7 million in damages. Five people died in a massacre in an Airbnb apartment in the US state of California, according to the 2019 report. Airbnb took over the funeral costs.
Obama staff on board
At Airbnb, private and commercial landlords rent out their “home” or part of it through the platform. However, the company does not assume any legal obligations. Former team members told Bloomberg Businessnews that the job is nerve-wracking as the conflicting interests of guests, hosts and the company have to be balanced. “I’ve had situations where I had to hang up and cry,” recalls a former agent.
Because the job of a problem solver obviously requires a lot of instinct, Airbnb hired top people: The secret team was led in its early phase by Nick Shapiro, the former advisor to the National Security Council under ex-President Barack Obama and once deputy chief of staff at the Central Intelligence Agency ( CIA).
Indiscretion after wave of layoffs
The report also reveals why everything is now coming to light: 25 of the top agents in the “black box” team were fired last year because of the pandemic. Now eight former and 45 still employed agents spoke to the magazine and let a little air and light on the dark side of the everyday life of landlords and brokers.
The apartment giant had to take a blow for its Germany business this week: The Berlin Administrative Court obliged Airbnb to surrender the previously secret data of private landlords to the authorities if there is suspicion of misappropriation. However, this battle is still open: The verdict can be appealed.
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