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Airbnb is moving for the dismissal of a class action lawsuit filed by a group of its hosts over COVID-19-related Airbnb refunds.
The Airbnb hosts who later became plaintiffs allege the company isn’t refunding reservations completely, breaching contracts and unfairly profiting from the pandemic.
In a motion filed last week, the short-term rental company argued a judge should throw the case out because hosts are obligated by the terms of service to settle disputes through arbitration.
Airbnb’s terms of service include an arbitration clause the accusing party would have to pursue first, according to the motion. Furthermore, the terms of service also include a class action waiver that applies to all Airbnb users.
“A court must honor the parties’ contractual decision and refer the matter to arbitration without exception,” Airbnb said in its motion to dismiss.
Texas resident Anthony Farmer took issue with Airbnb shortchanging his refunds on canceled reservations and filed the class action lawsuit in November.
His legal fight joins a growing field of litigation arising from the coronavirus outbreak.
When the COVID-19 pandemic initially broke out, Farmer said, Airbnb promised full refunds for guests, but not for hosts, overriding legal agreements the host and guests had with each other.
“In many cases, the refunds Airbnb claimed it was offering would come directly out of Hosts’ pockets,” Farmer said in the class action lawsuit.
Soon after, Airbnb’s CEO apologized to the company’s hosts for not consulting them first, Farmer said in the initial complaint, and set up a $250 million relief fund to help hosts. The fund would allow them to recover 25 percent of what they would have made from the reservations.
Farmer alleges Airbnb’s host fund and guest refunds aren’t being delivered. He says hundreds of guests have complained about getting their money back, reporting a confusing website, repeated calls to customer service and a complicated documentation process.
Farmer says he was expecting about $840 from his six bookings made last April and March but Airbnb only paid out $185.03. In his complaint, Farmer points out 25 percent of the promised refunds would mean he should’ve been paid $225.
He claims Airbnb’s announcement that it would refund guests in light of the COVID-19 pandemic was a publicity stunt.
The news was “widely covered in the press and helped enhance the company’s public appeal prior to its upcoming IPO,” Farmer said.
What do you think of Airbnb allegedly shortchanging its hosts? Were you refunded after booking a stay with Airbnb that had to be cancelled due to COVID-19? Let us know in the comments below.
Counsel representing the plaintiffs in this class action lawsuit are Michael L. Schrag, Geoffrey A. Munroe, and Joshua J. Bloomfield of Gibbs Law Group LLP; and Enrico Schaefer and Adrianos Facchetti of Traverse Legal PLC.
The Airbnb Refunds Class Action Lawsuit is Farmer, et al. v. Airbnb Inc., et al., Case No. 4:20-cv-7842-JST, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Oakland Division.
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9 thoughts onCiting Terms of Service, Airbnb Wants COVID Class Action Lawsuit Dropped
Add me please
Add me please
Starting one for consumers! The same thing happened to my company with a vacation rental, they simply held the refund then fought the chargeback with Visa with false information!
I’m in Tennessee. Have had the same situation.
Airbnb took advantage of an unfortunate uncontrollable situation for profit.
I for one lost money because we could not travel. I for one would like my money refunded.
Airbnb is holding all my payouts for bookings on a retroactive debit they assessed to a reservation that was not canceled (the guest simply did not show up) in September of 2020. Then 3 1/2 months AFTER the date for which the guest was a no-show Airbnb sent me a cancellation notice and assessed/debited my Airbnb account for the amount they had already paid me.under my strict cancellation policy. Now they are withholding all of my Airbnb payments. I have always had a strict cancellation policy. I have repeatedly contacted them. They keep sending me policies promulgated after the date of the pertinent reservation. They have not provided copies of any relevant policies that were in effect for the time in question. Further, Airbnb did not provide me with ANY cancellation notice prior to the arrival date for the reservation in question.
Airbnb is currently holding all monies earned in 2021.
This company is extremely unfair and vulturistic towards its hosts. I skyline rather sell my property than deal with the stress from Airbnb.
The same happened to us several times. After 30 emails back and forth last March from Airbnb (there was no manager or phone number they would provide) Airbnb agreed to “split the refund” they decided to give a guest who no showed and asked for a refund two weeks later. without our consent. We booked house again for the first time this weekend and they kept the entire $1400 again from last March. Is there a lawsuit we can join? This is just one of 4 separate situations they have done this to us on.
Agreed. I’m seeing consult for a class action against Airbnb for falsely implementing AirCover policy and arbitrarily ignoring and dismissing resolution request documented claims.