Booking.com accused of duping customers
Booking.com has been accused of continuing to mislead consumers with pressure selling tactics despite a crackdown by competition regulators.
Consumer champion Which? Travel claims it found evidence that the online hotel booking giant was still flouting the rules.
Earlier this month, Which? researchers did spot checks on six websites which were ordered to make changes following enforcement action by the Competition and Markets Authority.
The investigation found that five – Expedia, Agoda, Hotels.com, ebookers and Trivago – has cleaned up their act.
But Which? said Booking.com was still giving customers misleading information about the availability of deals.
In one example, search results for the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge warned that just one ‘secret deal’ room was available – a superior double room (with disability access) priced at £232.
But on clicking through to the booking page, Which? found another 10 superior doubles (with internal view) available for a cheaper rate of £226.
In total, 34 empty rooms were still available at the same hotel on the same night.
Which? Travel’s Naomi Leach called on Booking.com to provide ‘cast-iron guarantees’ that it won’t continue to mislead holidaymakers.
"Otherwise the regulator will have to step in with strong action to bring it into line," she said.
A spokesperson for Booking.com replied that it had worked hard to implement the commitments agreed with the CMA, which include finding ways to inform customers about the data supporting messages on the availability and popularity of specific properties.
The spokesperson also said it ‘maintains ongoing collaboration to further enhance the consumer experience’.
"The CMA closed its investigation into Booking.com without any finding or admission of an infringement, which we were very pleased with," the spokesman added.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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