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Hidden fees like that are not legal in the EU, although enforcement differs per country.

kortilla 7y ago
They aren’t hidden. They show up right on the details page for a rental. The frustrating part is that they aren’t incorporated into the nightly rate which is what the listings page shows.
- Carpetsmoker 7y ago
  Well, we could argue semantics, but that sounds like a hidden fee to me: advertise with one price, while there is a second "hidden" one later on. Can also call it "additional charges" or something. Either way, it's not legal: https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/unfair-treatment/unfair-pricing/index_en.htm https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/unfair-treat... and https://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-18-4453_en.htm https://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-18-4453_en.htm I dealt with this issue a few years ago at a job I worked at for a similar service to AirBnB, the original design was list an accommodation for, say, €500, and then add-on €25 booking costs and insurance later on in the checkout process. We had to change it to list the full price up front. Enforcement varies per country; in the Netherlands it's quite strong and you run a real risk of fines, but in UK it's very weak and it's common for there to be additional or hidden charges. It's interesting how the "sell an item" pages for ebay.co.uk and ebay.nl differ: on the .nl site it's very clear up-front what you will pay exactly, on the UK site it's not even clear you have to pay anything unless you follow 3 links.
  - kortilla 7y ago
    You’re not following. It’s not that they change the total between screens, it’s that they advertise the nightly rate. This is not illegal since this is how it works in Europe as well.
    - Carpetsmoker 7y ago
      The full price (that is, the price that will get charged to your CC) should always be the price that is displayed/advertised. So if you advertise with nightly rate in the listing and then add on cleaning costs, booking costs, or anything else in the details page for an accommodation, then that's not allowed. It's not just me internet-lawyering that, I sourced it from the European commission press release (linked in previous comment), which seems pretty clear on it: "Airbnb should: modify the way it presents information on pricing from the initial search on their website, in order to ensure that, whenever properties are offered, the consumer is provided with the total price inclusive of all the applicable mandatory charges and fees, such as service and cleaning charges, or, when it is not possible to calculate the final price in advance, clearly inform the consumer that additional fees might apply"
      - kortilla 7y ago
        Have you been on the Airbnb site? It’s possible to browse properties without specific dates so it’s not possible to display the full price. The number of nights that one-time fees (or long stay discounts) will be amortized over is not known on the listings page. So your “it’s not allowed” is just internet lawyering. Even the quote you have indicates that they are exempt if the calculation can’t be made for the listings page. This isn’t some special case of Airbnb trying to screw people. It’s common across any industry where there are one time costs amortized over quantities.
- moltar 7y ago
  I was just looking at Airbnb a few days ago, and at least in Canada, the search results displayed average price per night, which included all of the fees. I’m guessing maybe you need to enter the dates before they can calculate that. And maybe without the dates Airbnb shows the price without fees.
- lazyasciiart 7y ago
  I use a chrome extension which does include the fees on the listing page, it's a much better experience.

They aren’t hidden. They show up right on the details page for a rental. The frustrating part is that they aren’t incorporated into the nightly rate which is what the listings page shows.

Carpetsmoker 7y ago
Well, we could argue semantics, but that sounds like a hidden fee to me: advertise with one price, while there is a second "hidden" one later on. Can also call it "additional charges" or something. Either way, it's not legal: https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/unfair-treatment/unfair-pricing/index_en.htm https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/unfair-treat... and https://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-18-4453_en.htm https://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-18-4453_en.htm I dealt with this issue a few years ago at a job I worked at for a similar service to AirBnB, the original design was list an accommodation for, say, €500, and then add-on €25 booking costs and insurance later on in the checkout process. We had to change it to list the full price up front. Enforcement varies per country; in the Netherlands it's quite strong and you run a real risk of fines, but in UK it's very weak and it's common for there to be additional or hidden charges. It's interesting how the "sell an item" pages for ebay.co.uk and ebay.nl differ: on the .nl site it's very clear up-front what you will pay exactly, on the UK site it's not even clear you have to pay anything unless you follow 3 links.
- kortilla 7y ago
  You’re not following. It’s not that they change the total between screens, it’s that they advertise the nightly rate. This is not illegal since this is how it works in Europe as well.
  - Carpetsmoker 7y ago
    The full price (that is, the price that will get charged to your CC) should always be the price that is displayed/advertised. So if you advertise with nightly rate in the listing and then add on cleaning costs, booking costs, or anything else in the details page for an accommodation, then that's not allowed. It's not just me internet-lawyering that, I sourced it from the European commission press release (linked in previous comment), which seems pretty clear on it: "Airbnb should: modify the way it presents information on pricing from the initial search on their website, in order to ensure that, whenever properties are offered, the consumer is provided with the total price inclusive of all the applicable mandatory charges and fees, such as service and cleaning charges, or, when it is not possible to calculate the final price in advance, clearly inform the consumer that additional fees might apply"
    - kortilla 7y ago
      Have you been on the Airbnb site? It’s possible to browse properties without specific dates so it’s not possible to display the full price. The number of nights that one-time fees (or long stay discounts) will be amortized over is not known on the listings page. So your “it’s not allowed” is just internet lawyering. Even the quote you have indicates that they are exempt if the calculation can’t be made for the listings page. This isn’t some special case of Airbnb trying to screw people. It’s common across any industry where there are one time costs amortized over quantities.
moltar 7y ago
I was just looking at Airbnb a few days ago, and at least in Canada, the search results displayed average price per night, which included all of the fees. I’m guessing maybe you need to enter the dates before they can calculate that. And maybe without the dates Airbnb shows the price without fees.
lazyasciiart 7y ago
I use a chrome extension which does include the fees on the listing page, it's a much better experience.