Holiday home rental company taken to court for unfair contract terms
Commerce Commission files proceedings in the High Court.
Commerce Commission files proceedings in the High Court.
A complaint by Consumer NZ has led to court action against Bachcare.
The Commerce Commission claims that several terms in the accommodation provider’s consumer contracts are unfair and risk breaching the Fair Trading Act.
Examples included terms that:
Commerce Commission Chair Dr John Small warned consumers to read the terms and conditions when booking accommodation, especially terms about refunds and cancellations.
While Dr Small expected businesses’ contracts didn’t contain unfair terms that disadvantaged consumers, it was also important to “know what you’re signing up to before you make a booking,” he said.
The Fair Trading Act defines a term as unfair if it:
Think you’ve found an unfair term? Check out our guide to complaining.
The proceedings come nearly three years after Consumer NZ complained to the Commerce Commission under the Fair Trading Act about unfair terms in Airbnb and Bachcare’s consumer contracts.
Consumer received an influx of complaints about the companies in 2020 and found the cancellation policies imposed by Airbnb and Bachcare resulted in customers incurring significant financial penalties and being unfairly left out of pocket.
In some cases, penalties applied when travel restrictions during Covid-19 lockdowns forced cancellations and were beyond customers’ control.
Find out more about our complaint to the Commerce Commission.
We answer most frequently asked questions related to travel rights.
Member comments
Get access to comment