Man sues Airbnb after getting kicked off the site for ‘long massage’ from tenant
A landlord is suing Airbnb after the bed and breakfast firm banned him after he allegedly accepted a 'long massage' from a tenant.
The London High Court today (Wednesday 29 July) saw Mark Howell, 63, request an injunction be issued upon AirBnB to get his accommodation relisted on the app despite it banning him and informing 21 users who had pre-booked that he “violated their terms of service”.
A complaint from a woman known to the court as Maria sparked Howell’s removal with AirBnB unwilling to share the why the ban was implemented. Howell shared that a “massage” was offered by Maria instead of cash.
On the incident, Howell said: “I never suggested a massage - she persuaded me to let her give me one. I now believe that it was something to do with her wanting to stay without paying.
“She seemed to expect to stay on a second and subsequent nights free of charge. When I asked her for money for the second and subsequent nights, she got upset.”
Howell asserted that he wished to know why he was removed from the site – which he claimed generated him £1,000 per month.
AirBnB issued the counter-argument that it was well within its rights to remove Howell from the service without prior warning adding: “Our terms of use make it abundantly clear that we can terminate an agreement at any time. This is something we are entitled to do and we did it.”
Airbnb has three weeks to challenge to the disclosure order.