by Turo
posted on June 13, 2019
A note from Andre Haddad, Turo CEO
To the Turo host community:
I wanted to reach out to our host community personally to let you know about an important decision we have made about hosting on Turo. Effective July 15, 2019, Turo hosts will be required to host exclusively on Turo, and will be prohibited to list their cars on other car sharing platforms.
Here’s our rationale for this change:
- Cars listed across multiple car sharing platforms tend to perform poorly from a guest experience standpoint. Increased cancellations, vehicle swaps, and lower vehicle quality lead to sub-par ratings and reviews which are simply no longer acceptable as we strive to constantly raise the bar on the quality of the guest experience. Consistently high quality guest experiences are absolutely critical to drive positive word of mouth, repeat business, and more earnings to our hosting community
- Turo Go, Turo’s connected car technology, currently available in LA, San Francisco, and San Diego, and rolling out to more markets over the next few months, is incompatible with other car sharing connected car technologies. For context, Turo Go allows guests to use the Turo app to access the vehicle seamlessly, without needing to meet the host in person. We are excited about the benefits for guests and hosts of this seamless experience, and want to ensure Turo Go works flawlessly when installed.
As a Turo host myself, I can imagine how this new policy could be disruptive for some of our hosts, which is why I wanted to reach out personally.
As always, thank you for being an awesome host on Turo. We hope these changes help deliver more earnings to you over the long term.
Best,
Andre Haddad, CEO, Turo
Effective July 15, Turo will be enforcing a car sharing exclusivity policy, where we will prohibit Turo hosts from sharing their cars via multiple car sharing platforms.
Why the change?
Other car sharing platforms may not have the same vehicle quality and safety standards as we do, so cars might be dirty, unfueled, or not properly maintained when Turo guests swing by to pick them up.
We’re dedicated to providing guests with clean, safe, and well maintained vehicles, and hosts who share on multiple platforms cannot always guarantee our high quality standards.
Additionally, with the expansion of Turo Go connected car technology — which lets guests remotely unlock hosts’ cars via the Turo app and is now live in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego — cars may become incompatible with competing platforms’ technology. Multiple technologies can drain car batteries and cause interference in the Bluetooth signals, rendering both devices non-functional.
We’ll be continually rolling out new Turo Go markets in the coming months, so limiting cars to one car sharing service is critical to open up the convenience and earning potential of Turo Go to hosts around the world, and to continue to provide the best, most reliable experience for guests.
What happens if I list my car on two or more platforms?
If we learn that a host is sharing his or her car outside the marketplace, we’ll first give a warning that this behavior is a violation of our terms of service. If the issue persists, we’ll then suspend the host until they comply with our policy. If the issue still persists after these two warnings, then we’ll permanently remove the host from the marketplace.
This three-strikes policy gives hosts ample time and opportunity to understand and adjust to the policy, and also reflects our commitment to high standards of quality.
What’s next?
The policy will go into effect starting July 15, 2019, at which time we’ll start notifying hosts who are currently in violation of the new policy. We’ll send hosts an email reminder when the policy goes into effect.
Thank you for your support!
As always, we so appreciate everything hosts like you do to make Turo what it is today. Our shared commitment to delivering amazing experiences for guests is what makes the community special and why the marketplace is thriving.
We thank you for your support as we continue building the best car sharing marketplace in the world.
