Hotel booking sites mislead customers over room prices

High-profile hotel booking websites including Expedia and Trivago were accused of misleading customers about room prices and availability. Investigations conducted by the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) found that six travel sites regularly used tactics such as: Hidden charges (not displaying the full cost of a room upfront, including taxes, fees, and additional charges) Misleading discounts (claiming discounts that were not genuine or comparing different types of rooms), and Pressure selling (using tactics to encourage customers to book quickly without fully considering their options.) Investigations also revealed discrepancies between prices offered on mobile devices and laptops, with some "mobile exclusive" deals not providing actual savings. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) took enforcement action against six major booking sites - Agoda, Booking.com, ebookers, Expedia, Hotels.com, Trivago - giving them until September 1, 2019, to make required changes or face further action. ➕ September 2019. Booking.com was found to be using misleading availability claims after the deadline. System 🤖 Operator: Developer: Agoda; Booking.com; ebookers; Expedia; Hotels.com; Trivago Country: UK Sector: Travel/hosp it ality Purpose: Calculate price Technology: Pricing algorithm Issue: Fairness; Transparency Regulation ⚖️ The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 Legal, regulatory 👩🏼‍⚖️ Compe tition and Markets Authority. Hotel booking sites to make major changes after CMA probe

Date it happened

2019-02-01

Organisation involved

Expedia; Booking.com; Agoda; Hotels.com; ebookers; Trivago

This is a record of what was reported, not a finding that anyone broke the law. If it names your organisation and you believe it is wrong, the corrections process is free and open to everyone.