Hotel booking sites Expedia, Booking.com, Agoda, Hotels.com, ebookers and trivago have all been investigated over pressure selling and misleading discount claims, the competition watchdog says.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) was concerned the sites marketing for their rooms was misleading and they needed to be clearer with their discount claims and hidden charges!
The CMA began its investigation in June 2018 but didn’t name the comparison sites it was investigating. It will now aim to make the rest of the sector follow the same rules as the six companies it has named.
According to the CMA the companies have all now agreed to the following;-
- To make it clearer how hotels are graded
- To not give a false impression of a hotel’s popularity to rush customers into making a booking
- To be clear about discounts and only promoting deals that are actually available at that time
- To show charges such as taxes, booking or resort fees in the price
