Times are tough for Booking.com, the pioneering Dutch company in online accommodation booking. Its practices have already been condemned by European courts, as well as in Spain, Germany and Hungary. Now, Booking.com faces a mass legal complaint from the Dutch consumer association Consumentenbond (CCC). Since the announcement on Thursday, June 26, The CCC’s switchboard has been inundated with calls and its website has been difficult to access. The association says it will represent anyone (even if they are not Dutch) who booked rooms and accommodation through the platform since 2013 and who, according to the organization, have been duped into paying excessive rates.
The organizers of the lawsuit estimate that the amounts involved could reach €1 billion. “We have done research and it shows that Booking.com has been violating competition rules and consumer law,” explained CCC president Bert Heikens. According to Heikens, customers who made reservations through the American company Expedia or Agoda – based in Singapore and acquired by Booking.com in 2007 – are also being asked to come forward. The same applies to customers who were forced by hotels to apply overpriced rates through Booking.com.
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