For discreetly juggling the values of the American and Australian dollars, misleading its customers about the real price of rentals, Airbnb was fined 9 million euros in Australia on Wednesday December 20. The platform will also have to reimburse overpayments to the tenants concerned.
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With our correspondent in Sydney, Grégory Plesse
They thought they were getting a good deal, before discovering that their Airbnb rental had cost them 25 to 30% more than they thought they would pay. This is what happened to nearly 63,000 Australian customers of the accommodation platform who, believing they were paying for their reservation in Australian dollars, were in fact billed in US dollars.
Result: the federal court sentenced the platform on Wednesday December 20 to a fine of 15 million Australian dollars, or approximately 9 million euros. She allegedly misled and overcharged by playing on the confusion between the Australian dollar and the US dollar and the significant difference in value between these two currencies.
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Between January 2018 and August 2021, only the dollar sign appeared next to prices on Airbnb’s Australian site. The mention USD, or AUD, differentiating American or Australian dollars, being specified, in very small print, only at the last step, that of payment.
Behavior likely to deceive customers, according to the federal court, which, in addition to the fine, ordered the company to reimburse the sums unduly taken from thousands of customers. Which represents a sum estimated at around 9 million euros. Compensation must be offered to all affected customers by February 5.
“ Although only a very small percentage of Australian guests were affected, we are disappointed that this happened », Reacted Susan Wheeldon, regional director of Airbnb for Australia and New Zealand in a press release. “ Airbnb would like to apologize to these customers “, she added.