Hi, my name is Manda. I’m here speaking on behalf my best friend: Ferdian. He joined as a host since July 2018 and had a good record for the past 7 months. He got two times in a row for the Super Host badge, thanks to the good reviews from the guests. He always maintained the 4.8 - 4.9 stars achievements.
But couple days ago, his airbnb business is terminated by Airbnb team. Apparently, the last guest of his listing reported the installed electronic surveillance device in the living room. Although, Ferdian wrote and declared clearly about the number and locations of CCTVs in the house rules section since the first time he joined as a host. Which was two outside the house and one in the living room. They were visible very clear to the eyes, no camouflage at all. He would encourage every single confirmed guest to read and completely understand all the stuff in the descriptions before they come to the house. Hence, the future dispute would be minimized.
Ferdian tried everything to give the best explanation, but Airbnb team didn’t want to give the detailed report. They just said that since the couch in the living room could be used as a sleeping device, so it becomes a private area. However, it’s described by the host as a common space.
Please help me to understand where is the violation?
“What are Airbnb’s rules about electronic surveillance devices in listings?
Our Standards and Expectations require that all members of the Airbnb community respect each other’s privacy. More specifically, we require hosts to disclose all surveillance devices in their listings, and
we prohibit any surveillance devices that are in or that observe the interior of certain private spaces (such as bedrooms and bathrooms) regardless of whether they’ve been disclosed.
Rules for hosts
If you’re a host and you have any type of surveillance device in or around a listing, even if it’s not turned on or hooked up,
we require that you indicate its presence in your House Rules. We also require you to disclose if an active recording is taking place. If a host discloses the device after booking, Airbnb will allow the guest to cancel the reservation and receive a refund. Host cancellation penalties may apply.”
https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/887/what-are-airbnb-s-rules-about-electronic-surveillance-device...
Regarding those rules, nobody warned such a thing about common space (living room). Ferdian always tried to respect all the community guidelines. He disclosed about them, he never put the device in bedrooms and bathrooms and even told anyone to understand the listing’s descriptions.
Sad for him, the next day he got the termination email:
...
Thank you for being a member of Airbnb, however, following a full review of your account, and in consideration of our policies and Standards & Expectations, we have determined that we can no longer continue our business relationship. We regret to inform you that we are no longer able to support your account due to violations of our Terms of Service. Effective immediately,
your account has been deactivated.
We hope you understand that this decision is exercised at our sole discretion and that we are not obligated to provide an explanation
as to the action taken against your account, nor are we liable to a user in any way with respect to deactivating or canceling his or her account. By opening an Airbnb account, you agreed to abide by our Terms of Service and all other site policies, including the Standards & Expectations. Pursuant to these terms, Airbnb reserves the right to make the final determination regarding your account status.
...
We cannot reconsider this determination or respond further regarding your account.
...
Not only the account is terminated, Ferdian also banned to create another Airbnb’s account. He would never be permitted to comeback to the community, even as a guest.
Then he was curious about the recording. He watched minute by minute of the guest activities in the house. And he was really surprised when he found uncomfortable things they did.
Ferdian was rented one of his bedroom in Bali. He also stayed in the house. But he works as a flight attendant, so he doesn’t spend much time there. When the guest come, he was in China.
In the beginning, this guest (a french lady and a french man) booked two nights. They come around 6pm. After checking in, they started to explore the house. This lady opened all the kitchen cabinets and the refrigerator. When she found a box of chocolates, she took it and put one of them to her mouth. Ferdian thought, okay it was just a chocolate. However, he also wrote in the house rules that guest can use the kitchen and equipments but not to touch the food supplies. Then in the evening, they went out using Ferdian’s scooter. They got chased by street dogs around the house. Ferdian received a message that they were really frightened.
They came back to the house brought two bottles of beer and something else. They stayed in the living room until very late. The lady smoked a lot in front of the main door. When they went to bed, they left the AC in the living room ON all the night.
In the morning, they woke up and spend time in the living room. Ferdian saw the lady came to the kitchen and open the refrigerator and drink his personal Sprite directly from the bottle with her mouth, then put it back there. It was a big bottle of Sprite. Disgusting. Then she smoked a lot again. Around 10am they texted Ferdian that they wanted to cancel the other one night. They were not comfortable about of the dogs from the last night. And for the lunch, they used all Ferdian’s egg supply. All of them. Without a single permission.
Ferdian accepted their alteration request without asking further reason. They left the house around 3pm, picked up by taxi driver. They didn’t say anything about CCTV at all. But the next morning, Ferdian got the surveillance email thing and all the future bookings were canceled, his account was suspended.
During the leaving day, both of them were naked around the house. The lady even smoked OUTSIDE without wearing a single piece of clothes.
At the first time, Ferdian thought the report was made about the nudity concern. But when he looked closely, he found something more interesting. The lady not just smoked a regular cigarette. The footage showed a couple times that the lady was rolling something to smoke. Could it be a marijuana? It’s definitely prohibited by local law and authorities.
Are they so afraid because of this smoke things??? So they attacked Ferdian in the first place before he noticed something else???
Once again please help! Because like the email said, Airbnb won’t give anymore explanation and investigation about this case. It looks like they make Ferdian into a blacklist. He tried to register again, but somehow Airbnb use something similar to face recognition. When he successfully uploaded his face for the profile picture (still in the registration process), the app suddenly logged out. Then he tried to logged back in, but unsuccessful. It said: your account has been blocked for security reasons.
Does anyone here can give any suggestion?
