An Australian federal court ordered Airbnb to pay a fine of US$15 million and the company to pay more than US$15 million in compensation for providing misleading statements to more than 70,000 customers.
Airbnb was sanctioned on December 20 for failing to specify that transaction amounts were in US dollars and not in Australian dollars. Guardian.
The “$” designation has no precision between January 2018 and August 2021. During this period, 63,000 users made 77,000 bookings.
The court recalled that 2,088 Australian consumers had complained to Airbnb.
Before the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (CACC), the company admitted breaching the Australian Consumer Law.
Airbnb has already refunded 8,000 users the full cost of accommodation, amounting to A$9.4 million, but the court found the full value of the difference between Australian and US prices for the bookings in question to be $16.8 million.
The company said that the problem was caused by a computer bug, which has now been fixed.
CACC President Gina Cass-Gottlieb said the outcome of the legal proceedings “makes sense” for customers.
“Eligible consumers will be contacted by Airbnb within the next 45 days and asked to file a claim,” he said. If they are eligible for compensation and have not been contacted, they can contact Airbnb with questions about their claim.
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