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Comment by paxys | Hacker News Reader

> Doesn’t seem very transparent since they specially state that you’d see all taxes when you pay on Airbnb.

They do not. When you toggle the setting for "total price" when searching it specifically says "Includes all fees, before taxes" right next to it.

I also just tried to book the hotel you mentioned (https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/801588170672441756) and there is no security deposit or resort fee.

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I think OP was talking about fees that got charged once he arrived at the hotel, not the fees that showed up at airbnb checkout.

Ah, that sucks, but ultimately it is exactly as predatory as booking through the hotel directly. It is crazy that hiding "resort fees" in their booking terms and conditions is legal.

In the description, they say they charge extra fees:

*******

▶ Mandatory fees

You’ll be asked to pay the following charges at check-in or check-out:

• A damage deposit of $350 will be collected by credit card. You should be reimbursed within 7 days of check-out. Your deposit will be refunded in full by credit card, subject to an inspection of the property.

• A resort fee of $40.16 per night

• There will be taxes and fees that need to be paid at the front desk

▶ Optional Extra

• This property allows pets however there is a $350 pet deposit per stay. 50 USD is kept for a deep cleaning fee, and the remainder is refunded if there is no pet damage.

• Parking $78 for 24 hrs and $93 for oversized. no in and out

I think the issue is that Airbnb claimed and advertised they would begin offering true pricing that included all fees displayed upfront so you could compare all the bookings against each other in the search engine and not buried in the terms and conditions:

https://mashable.com/article/airbnb-actual-price-listing-fee...

It's insanity to have to search through each listing and add random fees to compare the prices of different listings against each other. I don't think the OP disputes that this appears in the terms and conditions.

Requiring users to toggle a setting in order to achieve normal expected behavior is defacto a dark patten.

What other hotel booking site shows you the price with all fees included? As far as I can tell, Airbnb is the only one that even gives you the option.

Other hotels having dark patterns does not make them not a dark pattern.

Put it this way: What store have you gone to (in the US) that shows you the price of the item with taxes included? Including taxes isn't the norm nor expected. Nor is including fees for the travel industry, with the notable exception of airlines.

Airbnb giving you a toggle to show "With all fees" (but without taxes) is better than every other booking site out there.

If everything is a dark pattern then nothing is a dark pattern. Not advertising the various state and local taxes up front and instead calculating them at checkout is nearly 100% of transactions work in this country.

Are you seriously asserting this?

...you were downvoted?!? I can't think of a more cut and dry example.

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