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US giant Airbnb will pay a $ 3 million bill for “hidden charges” through its billing system. Each member registered for the class action in Quebec will receive $ 9.77.
Last week, the accommodation rental platform sent an email to its users regarding this redeemable credit on a future reservation. It must be used before October 15, 2022.
More than 200,000 complaints
In September 2019, Airbnb, and Martin Preisler-Banoon, who was represented by LPC Avocat, had reached an amicable agreement which provided that each member of the group could receive compensation in the form of a single exchangeable credit. ” a maximum value of $ 45 CAD.
However, this amount, which cannot be exchanged for money, depended on the number of complaints. More or less 206,650 users in Quebec registered for the class action received compensation.
They shared a jackpot of just over $ 2 million.
The rest of the money was used to cover administrative costs, taxes and lawyers’ fees.
Between 13% and 17%
In the court documents, we can read that Mr. Preisler-Banoon criticized Airbnb for displaying, during a reservation, a price “higher than that announced during the first stage of navigation on the platform, excluding the tax. sales tax or the goods and services tax ”.
According to the complainant, the hidden service charge in the initial rental price caused the bill to jump from 13% to 17%. This violated the Consumer Protection Act.
To take advantage of the $ 9.77, people had to have made a reservation for a stay abroad from Quebec. The contract was to have been signed between August 22, 2014 and June 26, 2019.
Despite the deal, Airbnb says it did not break the law. The company says it signed this agreement to “avoid a lawsuit and additional costs and disbursements.” The company has since also changed its billing system
