31/10/2017
CMA turns the spotlight on hotel booking sites (UK)
While 70% of people who shopped around for hotels last year used hotel booking sites, the Competition and Markets Authority has concerns whether the sites helped them select the best deal or made it more difficult for them to make the right choice and has launched a consumer law investigation to explore their experiences.
In addition to looking in general at the clarity, accuracy and presentation of information on the sites, ‘Call for your views: Share your experiences’ focuses on a number of specific practices, including
- Search Results: after customers have entered their requirements, the extent to which factors such as the amount of commission a hotel pays the site influence the results of the search
- Pressure Selling: whether claims about how many rooms may be left or how long a price is available are used to create a false impression of room availability or rush customers into a booking decision
- Discount Claims: whether a discount claim offers a fair comparison – eg is it based on a higher price available only for a brief period or irrelevant to the customer’s search criteria
- Hidden Charges: the extent to which sites include all costs in the price they first show customers or whether people are later faced with unexpected fees, such as taxes or booking fees.
As part of the investigation, the CMA has written to companies across the sector asking for information about their practices. A YouTube video – ‘Online hotel booking: We want to hear your experiences’ – has also been generated to help persuade people who use the sites and hotels that advertise with them to share their experiences.
The investigation follows a year-long market study of online comparison tools, during which the CMA determined that, for compliance with consumer law, they must be
- clear on key issues such as how they make their money
- accurate in the information they provide
- responsible about how they use people’s personal data
- easy to use
If their practices or claims are false or misleading and breaking consumer law, the CMA could take enforcement action.
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