Airbnb may face crackdown in EU after being accused of breaking consumer law

[MariusJS]

To summarize;

 

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On Monday, the European Commission and a number of EU consumer watchdogs accused Airbnb of breaking consumer law. If the company does not change the way it operates by the end of August, then it could face legal action.
 

Specifically, the regulators said Airbnb must show people total prices up-front that include all charges and fees, and it must clearly tell customers whether a property is being offered by a private host or a professional.

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Airbnb usually has trouble in the EU regarding its model of letting regular people rent out rooms or whole properties on a short-term basis. The company has had to impose limits on these rentals to appease the authorities in cities such as Barcelona, Berlin and London, where people are concerned about the model raising prices for long-term renters.

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If Airbnb does not propose “detailed solutions” on fixing the problems by the end of next month, there will be a meeting between the company and the regulators in September. If the regulators are still not happy with the outcome, then they “could decide to resort to enforcement measures,” they said.

 

 

 

To me personally it seems like the same problems Uber and other American based companies have had opening divisions of their business here, it almost seems like it's their business model to do business in countries where they know they are operating outside the law, and they continue operating until they get shut down, then they complain about the laws that are in place.

 

So, do you think that these companies did not understand what they were doing, or do you think it was a calculated risk to get people using the service, and some may even be relying on it for their income, so that local people would want the laws to change in favor of the corporations?

 

 

 

Source: http://fortune.com/2018/07/16/airbnb-eu-pricing-terms/

[Shally]

EU cracking down on stuff hard it seems

[MariusJS]

7 minutes ago, KendoSapion said:

EU cracking down on stuff hard it seems

Yup, I personally think it's mostly a good thing tho, and I would even go as far as saying some things they are too soft on.

[spellmanuk]

I completly agree with this ruling i went on there to book a single night as i was just stopping off on a road trip i though hmm £60 isnt bad got to the checkout screen price was now almost £100 with £20 cleaning fee and a charge from AirBnb. Was not impressed.

 

I guess id never noticed as much before as i normally only use it for week long stays so the £40 fees kinda get hidden better

[evilmatchbox]

 

This better not change anything drastic at least until after September 9th.  Ive got an air Bnb in Denmark for a week. lol

[dizmo]

Weird. Looking at their website it's changed quite a bit. I remember it laid out pretty plainly the extra fees you'd be charged for cleaning and such.

Though maybe the app is more in depth?

 

[MariusJS]

1 hour ago, peej said:

I completly agree with this ruling i went on there to book a single night as i was just stopping off on a road trip i though hmm £60 isnt bad got to the checkout screen price was now almost £100 with £20 cleaning fee and a charge from AirBnb. Was not impressed.

 

I guess id never noticed as much before as i normally only use it for week long stays so the £40 fees kinda get hidden better

Yeah, I've actually had the same experience once with airbnb, it was still cheaper than a hotel, but the difference was not that huge after all the "addons"

[ignaloidas]

If all rules would be actually enforced world would be such a better place (at least no more dumb "share contests" in Facebook). Glad to see EU actually enforcing good rules (just don't approve stupid ones please).

[Mihle]

I haven't used Air BnB, but this is good.

[Christophe Corazza]

I’m all for clearly knowing the final price.

Also, nothing worse than going someplace, only to find out the place you were going to stay at has canceled on you with no warning.