Check your reservations, travellers! Canadian residents who have booked an Airbnb stay in recent years may be eligible for a credit from the company — thanks to a new settlement in a multimillion-dollar class action lawsuit.
A federal judge approved a $6 million Airbnb settlement in Canadaresolving complaints that the company was charging a higher service fee during checkout than what it displayed during the first step of browsing.
Canadian residents across the country (aside from Quebec — sorry guys!) might be eligible to receive a credit after submitting a complaint.
To be eligible, you must have booked your first stay through Airbnb for a purpose other than a business trip between October 31, 2015 and June 25, 2019. It doesn’t matter where in the world you stayed.
Under the terms of the settlement, eligible people can get up to $45 in “non-cash” credit issued through Airbnb, which can be redeemed within two years on their next reservation.
How to qualify
People who may be eligible for credit have started to be contacted by Deloitte LLP — the company appointed by the court to distribute notices and handle claims under the settlement.
An email shared on February 10 reads, “You may be eligible to submit a request for refundable credit with Airbnb as part of the settlement.
“However, receipt of this notice does not mean you are part of the settlement or eligible to submit a claim for refundable credit,” it adds.
To make a complaint, customers must Register online. “Once eligibility has been established by answering the portal questions, it is expected that you will receive your Airbnb credit during the summer of 2022,” says Deloitte.
All applications must be submitted by March 28, 2022. Late submissions will not be accepted.
The background
In 2017, lead plaintiff Arthur Lin filed the class action lawsuit alleging that Airbnb displayed a reservation price at the browsing stage on its site, then another higher price at the checkout stage.
According to the trialthis practice violates section 54 of the Competition Act.
He says the move is “a rarely used criminal offense known as ‘double ticketing’, by charging guests […] a final price higher than the price displayed during the first stage of navigation on the Airbnb platform.”
He adds: “Specifically, Mr. Lin took issue with the fact that Airbnb added a ‘service fee’ to the final price charged for its accommodation reservation services, although this fee was not included in the price. initial price per night displayed on the Airbnb platform.”
Today, Canadians looking for a place to stay on the Airbnb website and app will see the full final price, including all additional service and cleaning fees.
The cover image of this article was used for illustrative purposes only.
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