Liability of AirBnb can be triggered by illegitimate dispute resolutions

[Denis227]

European Commission is raising the red flag against AIRbnb 

In a recent report endorsed by the EC, the following statement was made by the european  coordination of national offices of fair trade : 

Quote 

(AirBnb) cannot limit (as it does) the basic legal rights of consumers to sue the host in case of personal harm or other damages suffered , especially when these are caused by negligence, willful conduct or other wrong doing. Moreover, (Airbnb) cannot limit ot totally exclude (its ) liability in connection to the performance of any of their contractual obligations , while they impose a general and absolute obligation on the consumer to assume all possible risks. Any term that creates a significant imbalance of rights between (AirBnb) and consumers can be considered a breach of Eu consumer law. 

Consumers should be able to exercice their rights that relate to the non or partial performance of (AirBnb's)   contractual and other legal obligations . This implies that standard terms and conditions should be drafted in a way to  acknowledge that the liability of ( AirBnb)  may also be triggered when their actions or omissions have  contributed to the conduct or the damage / loss on which a claim is based. 

Unquote 

"Consumers"  here is taken alternatively to mean only guests ( first lines ) or both  guests and hosts (final lines) . The last sentence means that ABB dispute resolutions  must be questionned by courts of justice whenever necessary.  

Are you seriously waiting for Airbnb to improve its huge bias towards guests on its own will  ?

Haven't you understood that AirBnb strategy is and will remain " let's spoil the guests at  owners' cost  to ensure  high sales growth  and world domination "   ? 

They will not improve the situation unless forced to. 

It is high time we take AirBnb to court and tell them  "Get off your hands from my security deposit, and let me manage it as I like " 

Anyone wants to ponder on this ? 

[David126]

Would it not be easier to use another booking service?

[Denis227]

@David0 

I can feel , thru your somewhat detached  and polite reply,  that you might be walking on eggs.  Sarah is right.  Remember Bob Marley " Stand up for your rights " ? 

 I can only add that the other available dominant  platform ( Homeaway ) has  unfortunately its own shortcomings ( different from ABB) . So the choice is between the rope and the hanged,  as we say here.   

There used to be a time, a couple of years ago when Homeaway was unescapable in France  if , as a private owner, you didn't want rental agencies to be involved.  

The role has been taken over by AirBnb. For the better or the worse.  

Whose else has the  responsability  to make AirBnb compliant ?

Travelers ?  They don't care ( unless they have been fooled  by a malicious owner)

Administration ? They live on a planet of their own. They just react when told to react.  In even then, their job is to set up the global regulatory framework. They leave the details for caselaw. 

Hosts ? Why not ? 

After all,  multinational corporations deserve multinational civil defense action group .

[Sarah977]

@David126  There are all kinds of things in life that are "easier" than working to effect change. It's easier to stay home and watch TV than to get out and vote. It's easier to put blinders on and ignore all the injustices in the world as long as they don't directly effect you. 

I applaud people who take the time to speak up and work to make corporations, politicians, etc, accountable.

[Donna240]

i think we were forced to agree to a waiver of the "right to sue" when we signed up for this service.

[Ellen33]

Apperantly belgium has said airbnb needs to pay a 25000 euro fine since they dont want to share info with belgium about who is renting out on airbnb. I got this info from my parents who heard it on the radio

[Denis227]

Abusive clauses have no legal foundations. Whenever a clause is considered abusive, it is considered as UNWRITTEN or NULL. 

In the case of ABB, what the EU has just stated ( see above ) is that  the  waiver of the right to sue  is abusive. 

Therefore you may (and you must act)  as if it is not written. 

Many things are abusive in ABB contract with hosts and guests.

By their own recognition, the EU has only brought to light the most salient ones. 

If sects can be abusive,  there is no reason why sharing  economy  can't be abusive.  

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Donna240

Yes we did agree to certain terms and conditions when signing up with Airbnb but it doesn't mean Airbnb necessarily had the right to enforce and implement those Ts&Cs to all users in the first place. 

Thanks for sharing @Denis227 Agree that the bullying from Airbnb has got to stop! 

[Paul154]

Airbnb = deep pocket that EC wants to pick.

[Denis227]

Airbnb in Europe  = deep pocket located in the irish fiscal paradise,  paradise created ex-nihilo by the same  business community  which actively oppose any  fiscal harmonization in Europe,   and guarded by irish fiscal authorities,   where  individual Member States (not EU) want to pick their legitimate share. 

[Susan17]

@Paul154 Here's a little background on Airbnb's tax situation in Europe... 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2013/09/13/what-a-surprise-airbnb-chooses-dublin-as-europea...

https://amp.theguardian.com/business/2017/aug/10/airbnb-faces-eu-clampdown-fair-share-tax

[Mia93]

I keep having some issues with guests these two weeks so I enquiried airbnb a lot more than before. To be fair, during 5 recent contact attempts, I received one satisfied resolution and the rest is polite but unprofessional and pointless. From information I gathered from here and other forum, airbnb intentionally or unintentionally gives inaccurate information to hosts in order to favour guests. It creates an illusion that they are actually quite strict with rules and terms which is true when you seek support from them.

To protect myself and my property, I choose to tighten up my house rules and filter guests more.I tried other listing platforms but they did not work out in my property. So I just learn from experience and try to prevent dispute.