Dozens of hotels are under fire by the Federal Trade Commision after it was found that these hotels were charging extra "resort fees" without disclosing them when customers were given a price quote.
The FTC send a letter to 22 hotel operators warning them that their online reservation sites are against the law as they don't show customers the full price of what they can expect to pay for their hotel rooms. They show much lower estimates instead and customers are left paying the higher prices as they complete their payment.
Several customers complained about the issue as an FTC conference about "drip pricing." Drip pricing is when a company advertises only a portion of the price and only reveal the other charges when the customer goes through the process of paying for the hotel.
"One common complaint consumers raised involved mandatory fees hotels charge for amenities such as newspapers, use of onsite exercise or pool facilities, or internet access, sometimes referred to as 'resort fees.' These mandatory fees can be as high as $30 per night, a sum that could certainly affect consumer purchasing decisions," the FTC said in a release.
In many instances, customers had no idea that they would have to pay these extra resort fees on top of the estimated hotel rate."Consumers are entitled to know in advance the total cost of their hotel stays," Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz said in a release. "So-called 'drip pricing' charges, sometimes portrayed as 'convenience' or 'service' fees, are anything but convenient, and businesses that hide them are doing a huge disservice to American consumers."
Some hotels sites did not list the fees in the reservation price or listed them separately from the quoted price. Some include asterisks which redirect a consumer towards the tiny fine print which may include the fee information.
"These practices may violate the law by misrepresenting the price consumers can expect to pay for their hotel rooms. We believe that online hotel reservation sites should include in the quoted total price any unavoidable and mandatory fees, such as resort fees, that consumers will be charged to stay at the hotel," the FTC says, according to USA Today.
Hotels are not being punished as of yet but the letter serves as a warning in the hopes that the hotels will review their websites and ensure that their advertisements present the total prices to customers.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
