Airbnb Follows the Rules and Improves the Way it Presents Offers to Consumers

Photo source: European Commission

‘For these summer holidays, Europeans will simply get what they see when they book their holidays.’ – Věra Jourová, Commissioner

Airbnb, the online home-sharing platform, has improved and fully clarified the way it presents accommodation offers to consumers, which is now in line with the standards set in EU consumer law.

This follows the call from the European Commission and EU consumer authorities in July 2018.

“Airbnb addressed all the demands made by the European Commission and national consumer protection authorities, to bring their practices and terms fully in line with EU consumer rules,” a recent announcement by the European Commission said.

The main improvements and changes are as follows:

Photo source: Airbnb

– In accommodation searches with selected dates, users see the total price in the results page, including all the applicable mandatory charges and fees (such as service, cleaning charges and local taxes). There are now no surprise mandatory fees appearing on later pages;
– Airbnb clearly distinguishes if an accommodation offer is put on the market by a private host or a professional;
– Airbnb provides an easily accessible link to the Online Dispute Resolution platform on its website and all the necessary information related to dispute resolution.

Airbnb also revised its terms of service in which it:

Photo source: European Commission

– makes clear that users can bring a case against Airbnb before the courts of their country of residence;
– respects users’ basic legal rights to sue a host in case of personal harm or other damages;
– commits not to unilaterally change the terms and conditions without clearly informing users in advance and without giving them the possibility to cancel the contract.

“For these summer holidays, Europeans will simply get what they see when they book their holidays… I am very satisfied that Airbnb stood ready to cooperate with the European Commission and national consumer protection authorities to improve the way its platform works,” Věra Jourová, Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, said, adding that she expects other platforms to “follow suit”.