The Federal Court has ordered Airbnb to pay out $30 million in penalties and compensation after admitting it misled Australian consumers. Image: energepic.com, via Pexels
The Australian Federal Court has ordered short-stay accommodation platform Airbnb to pay out $15 million in penalties and up to $15 million in customer compensation after admitting it misled consumers by displaying rental prices in USD.
Between January 2018 and August 2021, Airbnb received more than 2000 complaints from Australian consumers who felt misled when they were unexpectedly charged in US dollars instead of the local currency.
The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) initiated proceedings against Airbnb Ireland, which operates in Australia, in June of 2022.
“Consumers were misled about the price of accommodation, reasonably assuming the price referred to Australian dollars given they were on Airbnb’s Australian website, searching for accommodation in Australia and seeing a dollar sign,” said Gina Cass-Gottlieb, chair of the ACCC.
“By paying in U.S. dollars, these consumers were charged more than they expected, and were deprived of a chance to make an informed decision about whether to make the booking because of this misleading conduct.”
Susan Wheeldon, country manager for Airbnb Australia and New Zealand, said that Airbnb has worked constructively with the ACCC to improve their practices.
However, she also clarified that the final payment amount including the USD currency code was displayed before customers confirmed their purchase.
“While only a very small percentage of Australian guests are believed to have been impacted, we are disappointed that this happened. Airbnb would like to apologise to those guests,” said Wheeldon.
The company has agreed to a court-enforceable program to compensate approximately 63,000 customers who were billed in US dollars for their bookings.
The average consumer is expected to receive approximately $230 each in compensation to cover the differences in the advertised price and actual price in AUD, and any conversion fees incurred by paying in a foreign currency.
Customers eligible for compensation are expected to be contacted by Airbnb within the next 45 days.
