This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
THE Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has filed proceedings against Airbnb for allegedly misleading its Australian consumers.
The ACCC has instituted the proceedings in the Federal Court, claiming that Airbnb, Inc. and Airbnb Ireland UC allowing consumers to believe prices for accommodation in Australia were in Australian dollars rather than the actual US dollar price was misleading.
The allegations span between at least January 2018 and August 2021, with the vacation rental accommodation company making false or misleading representations to thousands of Australians.
The alleged misrepresentation saw the Airbnb website and mobile app using the dollar sign, with no clarification that this was in reference to US dollars, having only sometimes listed the price as “USD” in a smaller font on the final booking page.
“We allege that Airbnb’s misleading conduct meant that consumers were deprived of the opportunity to make an informed choice about whether, and at what price, to book their holiday accommodation on the Airbnb platform,” said Gina Cass-Gottlieb, chair of the ACCC.
Consumers would have apparently already clicked to “reserve” accommodation after numerous pages where only the dollar symbol was displayed.
“In addition to paying higher prices than expected, some consumers who were charged in US dollars also found themselves further out of pocket through currency conversion fees charged by their credit card provider,” added Cass-Gottlieb.
Throughout the period of these alleged misrepresentations, on average the exchange rate of the AUD to USD was around $0.72 USD, meaning consumers who thought they were paying $500 AUD were actually paying close to $700 AUD, before conversion fees.
“Airbnb did not compensate many consumers who complained about this conduct, and so we will be arguing that the court should order Airbnb to compensate people who were misled about the price of their accommodation,” said Cass-Gottlieb.
The ACCC is also alleging that company then told thousands of consumers who complained when charged more than the displayed price that the user had selected USD as their currency.
The ACCC claims that this was often untrue and is in its proceedings labelling this conduct as “misleading or deceptive”.
“Despite thousands of consumers complaining to Airbnb about the way prices were displayed, Airbnb didn’t amend its booking platform until after the ACCC raised the issue,” added Cass-Gottlieb.
In instituting proceedings with the Federal Court, the ACC is seeking declarations, injunctions, pecuniary penalties, orders for the compensation for affected consumers, costs, and other orders.
“By taking this action, we are stating very clearly that digital platforms like Airbnb need to ensure the accuracy of all statements that may affect consumers’ purchasing decisions,” concluded Cass-Gottlieb.
