Airbnb has been fined A$15 million and agreed to pay compensation after it was discovered that it misled about 63,000 Australian clients.
Some lettings on the firm’s website were priced in US dollars rather than lower-value Australian dollars; however, this was not made evident at first.
As a result, some consumers paid more than intended for their lodging.
Airbnb apologized and stated that the company is committed to “price transparency.”
Airbnb acknowledged providing false or misleading promises to Australian users between January 2018 and August 2021, and the fine was imposed on Wednesday by Australia’s Federal Court.
The short-term rental company has also agreed to pay A$15 million in compensation to those affected.
Customers in Australia observed a price shown with the dollar sign but no indication that it was a US dollar value for some lettings on the Airbnb website.
This was true until the final booking screen, when USD was presented in small type.
The problem is thought to have affected 70,000 bookings and 63,000 customers.
Airbnb received almost 2,000 complaints from Australian customers who were concerned about being charged in US dollars, and the court concluded that some of these customers were informed they had chosen to pay in US dollars when they had never done so.
The commission said the fine sent “a strong signal to large digital platforms like Airbnb that they must comply with the Australian Consumer Law and not mislead consumers.”.
The commission’s chair, Gina Cass-Gottlieb, said: “Affected consumers ultimately paid significantly more than they expected to pay because of the prevailing USD/AUD exchange rate at the time.
“Some users also paid additional charges to their banks as a result of paying in a foreign currency.”
She stated that customers who are eligible for compensation should be contacted by Airbnb within the next 45 days, but anyone can contact the company if they believe they were affected and have not heard from them by that deadline.
Airbnb, which operates globally, has since modified how costs for countries that use dollars are shown, with a three-letter code designating the currency displayed throughout.
Airbnb’s country manager for Australia and New Zealand, Susan Wheeldon, apologized and said that while only a “small percentage” of Australian users were believed to have been impacted, the company was “disappointed that happened.”.
She noted that the issue had been rectified and added: “It is important to note that the final payment amount clearly displayed the applicable currency code, including in USD, at the point at which guests confirmed they wanted to proceed with the booking.”
