Slater Vecchio LLP has filed class action lawsuits against Hotwire Inc., Benjamin & Brothers LLC (d/b/a Reservations.com), Accor SA, Great Canadian Gaming Corporation, Coast Hotels Limited, and Northland Properties Corporation (d/b/a Sandman Hotels). It is alleged that the failure of these defendants to disclose certain mandatory fees at the outset of the process to reserve hotel accommodations constitutes false and misleading advertising.
Slater Vecchio LLP alleges that this conduct constitutes “price dripping” and “double ticketing” in violation of Canada’s Competition Act.
Drip pricing occurs when the first price that a company advertises for a product or service does not equal the final price at checkout because the company adds non-government-imposed fees on top of the originally represented price. The fees are typically called a “service fee”, a “process fee” or an “improvement fee”.
Double ticketing occurs when a company represents two different prices for a product (i.e. one price excluding mandatory fees and a second price inclusive of mandatory fees) and charges the higher of the two prices (i.e. the price inclusive of the mandatory fees).
A class action is a legal case through which one person makes a claim to the Court on behalf of a similarly situated class of people who have the same or a similar legal claim. A class action seeks to hold a defendant or defendants responsible for their conduct that affects each member of the class by resolving issues that are common to the class in the same legal proceeding, instead of each class member bringing a claim individually.
The individual who first files the claim must ask the Court for permission to proceed as a class action. If permission is granted (referred as “authorized” in Quebec, and “certified” in all other Canadian provinces) and the case may proceed as a class action, the Court will appoint an individual as “Representative Plaintiff” to represent the best interests of the class during the litigation and will define the class group. Each person who meets the criteria of the class group is considered a “Class Member”.
For more information or to participate in this class action, please fill out the form on this webpage.
