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Hotel Advertised Prices Class Action Lawsuit Overview:
- Who: Chafik Mihoubi filed a class action lawsuit against hotel reservation websites, including Priceline, Hotwire and Orbitz, among others.
- Why: Mihoubi claims the websites unlawfully exclude taxes and fees in their advertised prices.
- Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in the Superior Court of Quebec.
Hotel reservation websites such as Priceline, Hotwire, Orbitz and Kayak unlawfully charge consumers a higher price than what they initially advertise, a new class action lawsuit alleges.
The Superior Court of Quebec ruled to authorize the class action lawsuit, according to a judgment filed by the court last week.
Plaintiff Chafik Mihoubi claims that, during the course of the reservation process, only a base price without taxes or fees is shown to consumers.
Mihoubi claims this method of only showing the final price at the very end of the process is in violation of the Quebec Consumer Protection Act (CPA).
The hotel reservation websites unsuccessfully argued that the CPA “does not apply to contracts regarding the sale, lease or construction of an immovable,” according to the judgment
Websites Must Include Full Cost Of Stay In Advertised Price
While some of the hotel reservation websites provide a warning in “small characters” that more fees will later be added, the total price is only displayed once a consumer makes a choice for the room they want, according to the judgment.
The hotel reservation websites would need to include all of the costs the consumers would need to pay in their advertised price to be in compliance with the CPA, Mihoubi claims.
Further, Mihoubi argues the CPA “prohibits breaking down the price into components, giving greater prominence to the price of the room rather than the all-inclusive price of the stay,” according to the judgment.
Mihoubi wants to represent a class of Quebec residents who reserved rooms on websites operated by companies including Priceline, Hotwire, Orbitz, Kayak, Homeaway, B&B, Canadastays, Benjamin & Brothers, Accor, Hilton, Six Continents, Hyatt and Wyndham.
A separate class action lawsuit involving hotels was filed against Pan Pacific last month by former employees who claim the hotel wrongfully terminated them during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Have you purchased a hotel reservation from one of the businesses targeted in the class action lawsuit? Let us know in the comments!
The plaintiff is represented by Mathieu Charest-Beaudry and Lex Gill of Trudel Johnston & Lespérance, Bruno Grenier and Cory Verbauwhede of Grenier Verbauwhede Avocats Inc., and Peter Shams of Hadekel Shams S.E.N.C.R.L.
The Hotel Advertised Prices Class Action Lawsuit is Mihoubi v. Priceline.com, L.L.C., et al., Case No. 500-06-001041-207, in the Superior Court of Quebec.
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13 thoughts onClass Action Claims Priceline, Others Fail To Properly Include Taxes, Fees, In Advertised Price Of Hotel Rooms
I made a reservation with Priceline they claimed that my card could not be charged, due to my bank so the hotel canceled my reservation but I was still charged by Priceline and tried for hours to contact someone on the same day to rectify it and received no help. I couldn’t speak to a live person ever.
I was charged twice for the same hotel, it is now 3months since I’ve been going back and forth with booking.com and priceline in which they keep putting the blame on each other and im sick of this. When they decided to take payment it didnt take them long at all, why cant i be refunded just as quick as it was when my money was taken?