Partiers Beware: Airbnb Will Let Neighbors Complain Online The home-rental giant announced Monday that the company will begin rolling out a new online comment and complaint feature.
By Hilary Brueck •
Who came to party and who's trashing the Airbnb next door?
Soon neighbors of Airbnb rentals will be able to critique the people staying nearby.
The home-rental giant announced Monday that the company will begin rolling out a new online comment and complaint feature.
The new tool, set to debut in Japan and going global in the coming weeks, was announced by the head of Airbnb Japan, Yasuyuki Tanabe, as Bloomberg reports.
The site already encourages owners to have a "party policy" for guests. But on New Year's Eve, homes around the world from Oakland, Calif., to London were trashed as parties raged on in Airbnb rentals, Mashable reported. Airbnb hosts a toll-free hotline for disgruntled neighbors in the U.S., but the new feature will let people leave their comments in an online forum for Airbnb customer service.
The increased monitoring comes as Airbnb's popularity surges: A new survey suggests most who rent Airbnb don't want to go back to staying in traditional hotels.
The San Francisco-based home-sharing site is now valued at more than $25.5 billion, even as the company provokes the ire of the traditional hotel industry and cities like New York that complain the startup violates local hotel laws. Airbnb did not immediately respond to a request for comment on when the new feature will be rolling out in the U.S.
