Online reservation service must compensate customers who were unable to stay

nadiyashultana1

Online property reservation service cannot claim to be a mere intermediary and that in case of problems the consumer must seek solutions from third parties. This is what the 2nd Civil, Criminal and Public Finance Court of Aracruz (ES) decided when ordering Airbnb to pay compensation for material and moral damages to two customers who were unable to stay at the contracted location.


Dollar Photo Club
Tourists had to stay in hotels after accommodation facilities were closed
Dollar Photo Club

According to the process, the Portugal Mobile Number List couple says they booked temporary accommodation in China, paying R$1,200 for a period of ten days. However, they claim that they were unable to stay at the accommodation, as it was closed on the agreed check-in day , which is why they went to a hotel, paying R$1,800. The company assigned responsibility to the reservation host.

The lay judge, Bárbara Traba Jesus Guzzo, said she had no doubt about the company's responsibility, as it was the company that exposed the product/service for sale and marketed it to consumers. "The mere allegation that it is a simple intermediary in the provision of services is not enough to eliminate its liability."

According to the judge, Airbnb is a widely known platform, and people seek to contract with it and not with third parties, believing in its reputation and ability to generate interesting business for the consumer, and that is precisely where its responsibility arises as, at least , a member of the consumption chain.

As for the request for material damages, they must be accepted, the judge pointed out, since upon arriving at the reserved location, the authors of the action found it closed, and, after an exhausting attempt to communicate with the company, they had to go to a hotel, culminating in spending R$600.00 more than expected.
               


Bárbara Guzzo also understood that compensation for moral damages was appropriate, because when the consumer is in another country, with a different language and outside the normal conditions of communication and experience, there is no doubt that they are in a more fragile situation, and situations such as narrated in the records.

"The abusiveness of the company's conduct in not providing what was contracted is relevant", concluded the judge, establishing compensation for moral damages in the amount of R$4,000 for each of the authors. The sentence was approved by judge Grécio Nogueira.