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The EU Would Very Much Like Airbnb To Know That the Rules Are Different in Europe (fortune.com)

Posted by msmash on from the when-in-rome dept.

Airbnb is facing fresh regulatory pressure in Europe. But this time it's not about the short-term home rental platform's core business model -- it's about its terms and conditions, and the way the company presents pricing to consumers. From a report: 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. The American company's terms and conditions are illegal under EU law for a variety of reasons, the regulators added. For example, the company tells people in the EU that they cannot sue a host in cases of personal harm or other damages, and it claims it can unilaterally change its terms and conditions without giving customers a warning and the option of cancelling their contracts. These sorts of terms might fly in the U.S., but they're banned in Europe.

2 of 105 comments (clear)

  1. It took this long? by ranton · · Score: 4, Interesting

    These violations seem easy to identify, so why has it taken this long for the EU to act? I cannot tell from the story how long Airbnb has operated in the EU but they do mention other EU legal battles in the past so I'm guessing it has been many years. It's not like Airbnb is a small company that could have flown below their radar.

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    -- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
    1. Re:It took this long? by captbollocks · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Probably because they have lots of worse behaving US companies to contend with.

      Try one of the big travel booking companies that closed their European office and thought it was ok to just lock the doors without notice and not pay any staff any money at all nor even give the staff termination notices which meant the staff couldn't even claim social security.