Holiday accommodation false advertising: your ACL refund options

You saved for months, booked what looked like the perfect holiday rental, and arrived to find the "ocean view" is a sliver of water visible if you lean out the bathroom window, the "heated pool" hasn't worked in two seasons, and the "three-bedroom cottage" is really a two-bedroom with a fold-out couch in a converted laundry. The host or booking platform says the cancellation policy is non-refundable and there's nothing they can do.

Here's the thing: a cancellation policy can't take away your ACL rights if the accommodation was materially misrepresented. Misleading conduct contravenes the Australian Consumer Law whatever the terms and conditions say, and you have real options — even after you've checked out.

Quick answer

What you can claim depends on how the accommodation differed from the listing and whether you've already stayed. If it was advertised in a way that was false or misleading, you may have a claim under section 18 of the Australian Consumer Law (misleading or deceptive conduct) and section 29 (false or misleading representations about services), and you can claim the loss that conduct caused you (section 236). You may also have a claim under the consumer guarantees for services, for example that the service wasn't rendered with due care and skill (section 60), or wasn't reasonably fit for a purpose you made known (section 61).

For a stay you've already taken, the practical claim is usually compensation for the drop in value, plus reasonably foreseeable extra costs you can evidence and took reasonable steps to limit. If you cancel because of a major failure, a failure that can't be fixed, or one the business refuses or fails to fix within a reasonable time, a refund covers the part of the service you haven't used. A "non-refundable" booking policy doesn't override these statutory rights.

What the law actually says

The Australian Consumer Law sits inside the Competition and Consumer Act 2010. Its misleading-conduct rules apply to conduct in trade or commerce, including by booking platforms, property managers and hosts who rent out accommodation as a business. The consumer guarantees apply where you acquired the service as a consumer under section 3 of the ACL: broadly, the price was $100,000 or less, or the service is of a kind ordinarily acquired for personal, domestic or household use (either is enough). Check how section 3 applies to you.

Three overlapping parts of the ACL are relevant here.

Misleading and deceptive conduct — section 18. A business must not, in trade or commerce, engage in conduct that is misleading or deceptive, or is likely to mislead or deceive. This is a broad prohibition. It covers outright lies ("heated pool included") but also half-truths, omissions, and photos that create a false impression. The test is objective: would a reasonable person in your position have been misled? You don't have to prove the host intended to deceive you; as the ACCC puts it, "It makes no difference whether a business intends to mislead or not." If the listing created a false impression, section 18 is likely contravened. To recover money, you'll need to show you lost something because of it, for example because you booked relying on the listing. For a deeper look at how this section works in practice, see our guide to section 18 misleading conduct examples.

False representations about services — section 29. Section 29 prohibits false or misleading representations that services are of a particular standard, quality, value or grade, or have performance characteristics, uses or benefits they don't have (section 29(1)(b) and (g)). Holiday accommodation is a service. Claiming it has features it doesn't have — a pool, a certain number of bedrooms, proximity to the beach, air conditioning — can breach section 29.

Consumer guarantees for services — sections 60 and 61. When you acquire a service as a consumer, section 60 requires it to be rendered with due care and skill. Under section 61, if you made known a particular purpose, or the result you wanted, the service must be reasonably fit for that purpose, and of a nature and quality that might reasonably be expected to achieve that result. Neither applies if the circumstances show you didn't rely, or it was unreasonable to rely, on the supplier's skill or judgment. You also can't take action under section 61 if the failure happened only because of someone other than the supplier (or its agents or employees), or a cause independent of human control after supply (section 267(1)(c)). If you told the host (or the platform, if it supplied or arranged the booking) that you needed a working pool for a family with young children, and the pool was out of action, section 61 may be engaged. There's no services guarantee that the accommodation matches its description (the description guarantee in section 56 covers goods only), so a gap between listing and reality is mainly a misleading-conduct issue. Our article on services that go wrong under the ACL explains these guarantees in more detail.

Remedies. For the services guarantees, section 267 sets out the remedies, and they depend on whether the failure is major. Under section 268, a failure is major if a reasonable consumer fully acquainted with the nature and extent of the failure wouldn't have acquired the service; the service is substantially unfit for a purpose services of that kind are commonly supplied for, unfit for a particular purpose you made known, or not of such a nature, or quality, state or condition, that it might reasonably be expected to achieve a result you made known, and can't easily and within a reasonable time be remedied; or it creates an unsafe situation. Two or more failures that aren't major on their own are together a major failure if a reasonable consumer fully acquainted with them, taken as a whole, wouldn't have acquired the service (section 268(2)).

• Major failure, or one that can't be remedied: cancel and get a refund for the part of the service not yet consumed (section 269), or keep the contract and claim compensation for the drop in value.
• Non-major failure that can be remedied: you can require the supplier to fix it within a reasonable time. If it refuses or doesn't, you can have it fixed elsewhere and recover the reasonable cost, or cancel (section 267(2)).
• Other loss: you can also claim reasonably foreseeable loss (section 267(4)), such as alternative accommodation, if you can evidence it and took reasonable steps to limit it.

For misleading conduct under sections 18 and 29, you can claim damages for the loss it caused you (section 236), and a court can also make compensation orders (sections 237 and 243).

Under section 64 of the ACL, a booking term is void to the extent it purports to exclude, restrict or modify the consumer guarantees or the remedies for breaching them. (Section 64A can allow limits for services not of a kind ordinarily acquired for personal, domestic or household use, which won't usually describe a holiday booking.) A "non-refundable" clause or a "no liability for inaccuracies" disclaimer can't remove those statutory rights, and disclaimers generally don't protect a business from a misleading-conduct claim if the overall impression was misleading. A term that misrepresents your guarantee rights can itself be a false or misleading representation (section 29(1)(m)).

When this applies (and when it doesn't)

The ACL protections described above apply, and you're in a position to recover money, when:

• You booked through a business — a platform like Airbnb, Stayz or Booking.com, or a property management company — or directly with a host renting out accommodation in trade or commerce, which can include individual hosts who rent regularly (not a one-off private arrangement between friends).
• The accommodation was materially different from how it was described or depicted. In practice, the difference needs to matter: the kind of difference that would have affected your decision to book or the price you'd pay.
• You can show what was advertised — screenshots of the listing, booking confirmation emails, any written communications with the host or platform.
• You suffered a loss because of the misrepresentation — you paid for something you didn't receive, or you incurred extra costs (for example, you had to book alternative accommodation).

The protections are less straightforward when:

• The difference is minor or subjective. "The photos made the living room look bigger" is harder to run than "the listing said four bedrooms and there were three." Courts and tribunals tend to look for objective differences.
• You booked through an overseas platform or host. According to the ACCC, the ACL applies when an overseas business supplies services directly to consumers in Australia, but not where the business doesn't directly offer them in Australia or the whole transaction happened overseas. Factors like an Australian entity, an ABN or Australian-dollar pricing are relevant but not decisive, and enforcing a claim across borders can be hard in practice.
• You're disputing a change-of-mind cancellation. If the property matched its description and you simply decided not to go, the ACL doesn't require a refund — that's a contractual question governed by the booking terms.
• The issue was disclosed before you booked. If the listing noted "pool under maintenance during December," you're unlikely to have a claim on that specific point, as long as the disclosure was clear.

What to do today

Acting quickly and methodically gives you the best chance of a good outcome.

1. Preserve the evidence before anything disappears. Take screenshots of the original listing — every photo, every amenity listed, the map showing location, the description text. Do this immediately, even if you're still at the property. Also photograph the actual condition of the property on arrival: the broken amenities, the missing features, the view that doesn't match the photos.

2. Check your payment route. If you paid by card, ask your card issuer now whether a chargeback is available; if you used buy now pay later, ask the provider about its dispute process. Both follow the card scheme's or provider's own time limits, not the ACL's, and they vary.

3. Report to the host or platform in writing while you're still there. A message sent through the platform's own messaging system is timestamped and hard to dispute. State specifically what was advertised and what you found. Ask for a response. This creates a contemporaneous record and gives the business a chance to remedy the situation — which matters if you later go to a tribunal or court.

4. Work out who supplied the accommodation. Check the checkout screen, your booking confirmation and the terms that applied when you booked. Your contract may be with the host, the platform, or both; the ACCC says whether the platform or the business supplying through it must meet particular consumer guarantees "will depend on the situation".

5. Calculate your loss. Work out what you actually paid versus what you received. If you had to book alternative accommodation, keep those receipts. If you paid a premium for specific features (a pool, a beachfront location, a certain number of rooms) that weren't delivered, that premium is part of your loss. You can generally claim the loss the misrepresentation caused you, such as the difference in value between what was advertised and what you got, plus reasonably foreseeable extra costs you can evidence and took reasonable steps to limit.

6. Send a formal demand letter. Once you're home, put your claim in writing. Address it to the supplier, and also to the platform if it made or adopted the representation. Reference the specific misrepresentations and the ACL sections engaged (section 18, section 29, and/or the relevant consumer guarantee sections), and state clearly what you want — compensation or a partial refund for the drop in value, reimbursement of extra costs such as alternative accommodation, or a refund of any unused part if you cancelled. Give a deadline of 14 days (a practical default, not an ACL requirement). fairgo can generate this letter for you: start your demand letter here.

7. Use the platform's dispute process too. Many booking platforms have a resolution process or guest policy, so check its terms. Use it in parallel with your ACL demand, but don't let it be your only avenue: a platform policy isn't the ACL and may be narrower than your legal rights. If you paid the host directly instead of through the platform, you may not be able to use the platform's process at all.

What if the business refuses

If the host or platform doesn't respond to your demand letter, or refuses to refund you, you have several escalation paths.

Your state or territory consumer protection body. Your state or territory consumer protection body may help, for example by contacting the business or conciliating, if your complaint meets its criteria. Most expect you to have tried to resolve the matter with the business first, and eligibility rules vary by state and dispute type (in the ACT, for example, statutory conciliation applies only where the remedy you seek is worth $5,000 or less). These bodies don't make binding orders in ordinary consumer disputes and can't make the business settle. Contact details are at /agencies.

A tribunal or court with jurisdiction. In NSW, Victoria, Queensland, the ACT and the NT, a tribunal (NCAT, VCAT, QCAT, ACAT or NTCAT) hears many consumer claims within its limits; in Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania, ordinary consumer claims go to the Magistrates Court. Jurisdiction depends on each forum's enabling legislation, the type of claim and the amount, so confirm the forum and its current thresholds on the official site before filing. You can usually run a claim without a lawyer, though some forums restrict legal representation (QCAT, for example, requires permission). Check current filing fees on the official site, and ask about fee exemptions, waivers or deferrals if cost is a concern. A well-documented case (listing screenshots, photos of the actual property, written communications) is strong evidence. Our guide to choosing the right tribunal or court has more.

Card chargeback. If you haven't already, ask your card provider about a chargeback. It runs under card scheme rules, not the ACL. As AFCA's chargebacks fact sheet explains, each scheme has its own rules and time limits, raising a chargeback doesn't automatically result in a refund, and there's no chargeback right if you simply change your mind.

ACCC. The ACCC doesn't resolve individual disputes, but reporting a host or platform you think is misleading consumers more widely can still be worthwhile. It has taken action over accommodation pricing. In December 2023 the Federal Court ordered Airbnb to pay $15 million in penalties, and Airbnb offered up to $15 million in compensation, after it admitted representing to Australian users between January 2018 and August 2021 that prices for Australian accommodation were in Australian dollars when, for many of them, the prices were in US dollars. In April 2022 Trivago was ordered to pay $44.7 million in penalties for misleading representations about hotel room rates. A report won't resolve your own claim, though. For that, your state or territory consumer body and a tribunal or court with jurisdiction are the relevant routes.

Common mistakes

Accepting the platform's decision as final. A platform's internal resolution process is not the ACL. If the platform's guest policy doesn't cover your situation, that doesn't mean the ACL doesn't. The two are separate.

Not preserving the original listing. Listings get updated or taken down. If you can't show what was advertised, your claim is much harder to run. Screenshot everything immediately.

Waiting too long. Time limits apply. A damages claim for misleading conduct must be started within six years after the cause of action accrued (section 236), but tribunal and court time limits can be shorter (NCAT, for example, generally requires consumer claims within three years), so check the forum's limit early. In practice, evidence fades, listings disappear, and hosts become harder to contact. Act within weeks, not months.

Overstating the claim. Asking for a full refund when the property was 80% as described and the pool was the only issue that wasn't working is likely to be seen as unreasonable. A partial refund proportionate to the shortfall is more likely to succeed.

Confusing the booking platform with the host. Depending on how the platform operates, your contract may be with the host, the platform, or both. Check the checkout screen, your booking confirmation and the terms that applied when you booked to see who supplied the accommodation. Address your letter to that supplier, and also to the platform if it made or adopted the representation; the misleading-conduct provisions can apply to the platform as well as the host, depending on its role.

Not mentioning the ACL by name. A vague complaint about being "disappointed" is easy to dismiss. A letter that references section 18 of the Australian Consumer Law and states what remedy you're seeking is harder to ignore.

Related reading

• Section 18 misleading conduct — real examples under the ACL
• Services that go wrong: your ACL rights explained
• Real estate misrepresentation in Australia — what the ACL covers
• Business refused your refund? Here's what to do next

This article is general information about Australian Consumer Law, not legal advice. It also touches on complaint and escalation pathways (state and territory consumer bodies, tribunals and courts, the ACCC, platform dispute policies and card chargeback rules) and limitation laws, whose scope, rules, thresholds and processes sit outside the ACL or can change. Confirm the current position with the relevant body before lodging. For advice on your specific case, see your state or territory consumer body — full list at /agencies.