An update has been issued in the online hotel booking competition investigations being conducted that has been focusing on consumer law.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has been looking at the sector since 2017. They launched enforcement action in June 2018 on the basis that a number of hotel booking sites had reportedly been breaking important consumer law. Demands were also made for a number of companies to review their terms and practices to ensure that they’re being fair.
Matters like price guarantees and promises were also referred to the ASA (Advertising Standards Agency) over whether any statements being made were misleading.
Previous undertakings in the online hotel booking competition study
We covered the undertakings that were agreed to as part of the online hotel booking competition investigation back in February 2019.
These undertakings saw a number of sites make formal commitments to change their practices and to ensure that nothing they do could be considered as misleading to the consumer. The CMA had particular concerns with regards to promotions, scarcity messages, hidden charges, and the disclosure (or lack thereof) of information related to commissions.
The CMA also published a set of principles that made clear of their view as to what companies need to do to ensure that they’re not in breach of important consumer laws.
Latest: commitment to principles
Last month, the fruits of the CMA’s investigations into online hotel booking competition saw positive progress in the mission to ensure that consumers are being treated fairly.
A number of additional booking sites, travel agencies, meta-search engines, hotel chains and rental companies committed to the CMA’s principles. They signed up to the CMA’s sector-wide compliance principles, which has been seen as a major overhaul of the market on the whole.
It’s understood that 25 firms have made changes. These include big players in the market like Airbnb, Google and TripAdvisor. They follow companies that had already agreed to the principles, which included the likes of Accor, Hilton, IHG and Marriott.
Another vital win for consumer law
The latest developments, as well as the achievements made this year and throughout the whole online hotel booking competition investigation, are important.
It’s a vital win in terms of upholding important consumer laws that are there to make sure that people are not being ripped off.
We all want a good deal, and the internet has paved the way for a wealth of deals and packages to be put together. But when companies can abuse the system for their own gain at the expense of the consumer, changes must always be implemented.