The Dutch Consumer Competition Claims Foundation (CCC) and the Consumentenbond are accusing one of the world’s largest travel websites of artificially inflating hotel prices since 2013. The two consumer organisations are initiating collective legal proceedings against Booking.com and are currently looking for affected customers.
“Consumers have been paying too much for their hotel rooms for years. We have conducted research which shows that Booking has been violating competition rules and consumer law since January 2013. Through illegal agreements and practices, Booking.com prevents hotels from offering lower prices and better conditions. Various European regulators have also already determined that Booking.com is acting unlawfully,” said CCC president Bert Heikens.
The Consumer Competition Claims Foundation and the Consumentenbond are now asking Booking.com to stop abusing their power, restricting competition, and misleading consumers. Moreover, they are asking the platform to pay a compensation to the customers affected by the misleading prices. The legal aspect of the case will be handled by Consumer Competition Claims Foundation, while the Consumentenbond will be mainly responsible for assembling affected customers.
“We proved back in 2024 that Booking is guilty of deception. For example, the platform uses fake discounts, incomplete prices, and fabricated scarcity. With those kind of “dark patterns”, Booking.com influences the choices consumers make. And that is not allowed under Dutch and European rules,” stated Sandra Molenaar, CEO of the Consumentenbond.
How much are you owed?
According tot he consumer associations, all Dutch Booking.com customers who have booked a hotel room through the platform or any affiliated sites such as Agoda and Expedia at least once since 1 January 2013 have suffered damages. They are now thus entitled to apply for the claim and can apply through the Consumentenbond’s website. Booking.com consumers who apply don’t need to pay anything any participation at the start but successful claimants may have to pay up to 25% of their compensation in legal fees if the case is won.
“Unless a judge takes a flexible approach and interprets the rules broadly, that amount of damages must basically be determined for each individual. Every case can be different, which can make it enormously complicated. The Consumentenbond’s approach will be to aim for a settlement, so as not to get bogged down in endless litigation,”Charlotte Pavillon, professor of consumer law at the University of Groningen, explains to the Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant.
The damage suffered differs for each consumer and depends on the number of bookings made, the room rates, and the destinations. The damage can range from tens to several hundreds of euros per consumer. When looking at all Dutch customers combined, the damage amounts to hundreds of millions of euros.
