Airbnb Issued $10M Fine for Misleading Australian Customers
On Wednesday in an Australian court, Airbnb was ordered to pay a $10 million fine (about AU$15 million) for charging Australian customers in U.S. dollars without their knowledge.
The company admitted to making “false or misleading representations” to about 63,000 customers in U.S. dollars for Australian accommodations between January 2018 and August 2021, per The New York Times.
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Following Airbnb’s admission, they were ordered to pay the fine within 30 days for breaching Australian consumer law, plus AU$400,000 in prosecution costs. Airbnb will also pay as much as AU$ 15 million in compensation to affected customers.
As a result of the ordeal, Airbnb revised its platform to clearly state “USD” in August 2021 to avoid confusion.
“While only a very small percentage of Australian guests are believed to have been impacted, we are disappointed that this happened,” Airbnb’s Australia and New Zealand regional manager Susan Wheeldon said in a statement, per Reuters.
“Airbnb would like to apologize to those guests,” she added.
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