The title of this post suggests dissatisfaction or disagreement with the recently implemented security camera policy. It implies the policy to be unfair, impractical, or overly strict (i.e. imposes unnecessary restrictions or fails to adequately address certain concerns)
First as hosts, in my opinion we all want Airbnb to be very successful. Thus, I am very receptive to this overbearing change, but I am disappointed they are not working towards an exception policy or a working with hosts on their potential needs.
I installed a camera in an equipment/utility closet for environmental monitoring. Specifically, the closet where the water main shutoff valve, sump pump and a generator switch are installed. The camera gave additional tool for assessment of house security during and after storms. This camera was documented in the listing for this purpose. It cannot detect sounds outside of the closet unless someone is yelling loud enough to go through a wall, you would get muffled sounds or you hear the sump pump or water high level alarms going off. Also the camera software by wyse detects fire alarms and sends an alert the fire alarms were tripped.
I am primarily disappointed by the repeated interactions with support personnel who fail to provide their name, department, or a means of contacting the previous representative. I kept a log over 25 conversations with almost a different person on each conversation, 50% didn't leave a unique name, they claim to be in all different departments, they tell me they are escalating to other departments and then come back and tell me the rules are the rules (not those exact words, but essentially what they are saying.) There is NO EXCEPTION policies and no way to discuss with anyone your potential needs or potential options to have such environmental monitoring. Giving them pictures of the installation, any proofs of what I stated above, discussing how if the property was a multifamily unit and the equipment closet was outside of the "listing" seems completely ignored.
My belief is the support teams are not empowered to go outside of the rules, escalate to a team capable of considering exceptions... they are just powerless. I am removing the camera until I can actually discuss my needs and concerns with someone of any authority who can provide a meaningful resolution or address my situation appropriately. It's disheartening and frustrating to encounter such a lack of flexibility and understanding in the way support handles legitimate host concerns.
