Airbnb facing host lawsuit over Covid refund policy

Airbnb faces a lawsuit claiming it is short-changing hosts and guests over cancelled Covid-19 bookings.

Host Anthony Farmer filed a lawsuit against Airbnb alleging it violated contract terms wby offering full refunds to guests under its ‘extenuating circumstances’ policy because of the pandemic.

He claims hundreds of dollars are owed from cancelled bookings.

The suit is seeking class action status, and alleges breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and violation of California consumer protection laws.  

It suggests Airbnb is not always passing refunds back to guests.

"Because of the Covid crisis, hosts aren’t getting paid, guests often aren’t getting refunds and Airbnb is just coming out way ahead," said attorney Aaron Blumenthal.

"Something that the lawsuit will be seeking is an accounting of where the money is."

Farmer had already raisied the issue and gone through arbitration court as per Airbnb’s terms and conditions, but with no success.

The allegations in this complaint are completely frivolous and without merit," Airbnb said, and claims the arbitartion process is still ongoing.

Written by Ray Montgomery, US Editor