‘News and Views’
4 | Bed & Breakfast News | Summer 2017
- Airbnb in the News in July -
Competition watchdog orders changes to make Airbnb reviews fairer
The Competition & Markets Authority
(CMA) has ruled that Airbnb customers
who leave early or refuse to stay in
accommodation after finding it is
unacceptable must be able to leave bad
reviews.
Currently Airbnb’s reviews system does not
allow guests to rate accommodation which
they have chosen not to stay at or left
early. Reviews could only be left with the
assistance of Airbnb’s customer services
department.
However the CMA has ruled that this must
change, and now Airbnb will update its
ratings system by August 31 this year.
Once the new system is in place guests will
be able to leave feedback with important
information, such as the suitability of the
host or the accommodation, or the reason
they chose not to stay (or to cut short their
stay), regardless of whether they cancelled
on the day of check-in or during their visit.
Gordon Ashworth, CMA Project Director,
said: “Airbnb is a popular platform used
by people searching for accommodation,
and the online reviews and opinions left
by other guests are an important source of
information.
“It’s therefore imperative that customers are
able to access the complete picture about a
property they are considering booking.
“We were concerned that, if someone cut
short their stay, it was too hard for them
to leave a review under Airbnb’s existing
reviews system and so we are pleased that
Airbnb engaged constructively with us
and committed to making the necessary
changes.”