After the announcement of the claim Thursday, the registration website was even temporarily out due to the large number of registrations. In the meantime everything works again and the registrations continue to flow in.
The Consumers’ Association announced on Thursday morning together with the Consumers Competition Claims Foundation (CCC) to start a claim procedure against Booking to artificially high hotel prices. According to the organizations, the well -known hotel booking site has violated competition rules for years. That is why a fee for consumers would be appropriate.
Large Claim case against Booking.com, Website Consumentenbond crashes by busy
The organizations say that the damage can be tens to hundreds of euros per consumer. In total it concerns hundreds of millions of euros. The claim clubs state that all Dutch consumers who have booked a hotel room at least once from 1 January 2013 through Booking have suffered damage. But also people who have booked elsewhere, for example at their hotel itself, can register. By acting booking, their prices could also have been higher.
First registration
According to the spokeswoman, not much data is yet required for the first registration. “But in principle you participate. Then you can be eligible for compensation.” A lawsuit can take years, the spokeswoman acknowledges. The claim clubs first want to talk to Booking.
The company emphasized on Thursday to have always been committed to offering travelers ‘the best possible prices and a transparent booking experience’. Booking.com also rejected all the claims that suggest the opposite.
Hotels
“While we are still looking at the content of the claim, there are allegations that we would ever have tried to artificially increase prices for travelers,” said a spokesperson on Tuesday. “The purpose of the earlier ‘parity clauses‘ in our similarities with accommodations in Europe was to ensure that everyone had access to the best possible prices,” he adds about the policy that is disputed by the claim organizations that hotels were not allowed to offer lower prices or better conditions through other booking sites or their own website.
Hotels can also submit a claim. That procedure runs through another foundation, Hotel Claims Alliance. This claim is supported by, among others, Koninklijke Horeca Nederland (KHN).
