The Supreme Court has dismissed a class-action lawsuit against Expedia and other Internet reservation giants over hidden fees charged by certain hotels.
In March 2019, a class action lawsuit was approved. Dany Lussier, a man from Repentigny, claimed that a consumer who used the websites Expedia.ca, Hotels.com or Travelocity.ca to reserve a hotel room had to pay high hotel fees in addition to the displayed price to book a hotel room to take advantage of yours Reservation.
When he booked a room in Las Vegas, he discovered that “hidden” fees were only added to the bill at the very last stage of the transaction.
These “hotel fees” are sometimes called “facility fees” or “resort fees” depending on the vocabulary of different websites.
refund
Arguing that such a practice was prohibited, the motion requested that the court order the reimbursement of “hotel fees” plus interest to consumers and the payment of an amount to be determined as punitive damages.
The objective was a joint judgment in favor of the group, estimated at $21,326,398, without regard to punitive damages, for which the plaintiff is seeking $15,000,000.
Expedia Group operates one of the world's largest travel platforms across multiple websites. In Quebec, 3,500,000 room nights per year are reserved on Expedia websites.
As of February 19, 2024, Judge Bernard Synnott did not accept the plaintiff's arguments.
According to him, Expedia and others do not receive any commission on hotel fees that the hotel charges once on site. “Expedia only acts as a third-party intermediary, i.e. as the operator of a specialized classifieds site for hotels,” the decision states.
transparency
In addition, the judge believes in the good faith of the statements made by Expedia's representatives and in the fact that they used all means at their disposal to ensure that the consumer was well informed about the entire reservation.
“The court concludes that Expedia did not take any of the measures criticized by the plaintiff,” the Supreme Court specifies, adding that the hotel costs were not concealed.
Finally, the court also comes to the conclusion that there is no prohibited practice within the meaning of the law.
Charging hotel fees is not in itself illegal, the judge said, as long as such fees are disclosed clearly and in a timely manner.
The Supreme Court cannot conclude that there has been a lax, passive or ignorant attitude towards consumer rights. “On the contrary, the evidence shows his goodwill, hard work and proactive attitude. »
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