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AirBnB: PR crisis, or business model failure?

August 01, 2011 | Online Travel

The blogosphere has been abuzz with the news that an individual renting her apartment through AirBnB was the victim of a heinous property crime. Looks like renting out to strangers is a risky business.

The strong reaction to the incident isn't just a result of the nature of the damage that was done to someone's apartment, it was a result of the fact that AirBnB is one of the hottest internet startups at the moment. In fact, it's so popular that some startups have opted to describe themselves as "the AirBnB of x."

The timing couldn't have been worse for the fast-rising company, which recently raised a whopping $112m in funding at a billion-dollar valuation. The company is aggressively expanding, and although it is already very popular, it could be on the brink of going 'mainstream.'

Not surprisingly, AirBnB rushed to respond to the incident, noting that a suspect is in custody thanks to its help, and promising additional safeguards. Its response was issued via one of Silicon Valley's most popular tech blogs, TechCrunch, and apparently AirBnB has offered to compensate the member who lost so much.

Get the full story at Econsultancy

Read also "Airbnb’s rental nightmare ends in arrest and one still very unlucky customer" at The Wall Street Journal, and "Airbnb Nightmare: No end in sight" at Around the world and back again

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