Carousell takes action against 2 sellers who asked user about race during hotel bookings
Online marketplace Carousell has taken action against two sellers for discriminatory behaviour when conversing with a user who had tried to purchase hotel packages.
Stomper Saran said he had been enquiring about hotel packages listed on the platform last week.
One seller, @hotel000 asked about his race, while another seller claimed that only Chinese guests are accepted for Saran's selected dates due to "the latest covid-19 rule".
Saran told Stomp: "Ridiculous, isn't it? I don’t think there are rules and regulations that only Chinese people can stay in a hotel?"
He subsequently reported the users and informed Carousell about the matter.
In response to a Stomp query, a spokesman for Carousell said it does not condone offensive or discriminatory behaviour of any kind.
The spokesman said: "Seller @mbs_hotel was immediately restricted from the marketplace while we conducted investigations. We had also conveyed this restriction to the buyer when they had reached out to us."
The seller acknowledged the restriction, said Carousell, and their account is now reinstated.
Seller @hotel000 was issued a formal warning and user education.
Carousell added further action will be taken against both sellers if any other offences are made.
The spokesman added: "We are in touch with the buyer to communicate the measures taken and are committed to investing in and improving our marketplace capabilities to provide a safe and trusted environment for buyers and sellers to transact.
"Trust and safety of our users are of utmost importance to us. We are continuing to ramp up our efforts to accurately detect and review listings with discriminatory behaviour."
The community marketplace reminded users to make a report should they encounter similar issues.
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