1100 Dutch hotels claim money back from Booking.com

The hotels claim that they suffered for years under Booking.com's terms and conditions, which stipulated that hotels were not allowed to offer lower prices on their own websites or on competing booking sites.

Probably not allowed

Because of Booking.com's powerful market position, many hotels can't ignore the site and have been more or less forced to agree to these terms. Last year, the European Court of Justice ruled that these kinds of terms fall under competition law, but it's up to another court to determine whether the law has actually been violated.

The hotels that joined the lawsuit say they paid too much commission to Booking.com because of these rules. Booking.com's terms allegedly disadvantaged other booking sites, preventing any serious competition. This, in turn, allowed Booking.com to charge higher prices. Hotels also lost revenue from direct-to-consumer sales because they were not allowed to charge lower prices.

Claim in the making

"European hoteliers have long struggled with unfair terms and inflated costs. Now is the time to stand together and demand compensation. This joint case sends a powerful message: abuse in the digital market will not go unchallenged," said Alexandros Vassilikos, CEO of the European hotel club Hotrec. In the Netherlands, the claim is supported by the Royal Dutch Hospitality Association (Koninklijke Horeca Nederland).

A formal claim has not yet been filed. Hotrec will now analyze and compile all the applications to prepare the case. The intention is to bring the case before the Dutch court. Booking.com states that it has not yet received any formal notification.

"At this time, HOTREC has not contacted Booking.com about a claim, so there is no official case yet. Booking.com is always open to constructive dialogue, but is also prepared to fight the claim in court if it comes to that," said a company spokesperson.

Customers also angry

The upcoming mass lawsuit from hotels isn't the only concern for Booking.com. For the same reasons, consumer groups are also preparing a claim on behalf of customers who believe they were duped by Booking.com. They claim to have been overcharged for years because Booking.com prohibited hotels from offering a better price elsewhere.

In this video you can see how you can claim money from Booking.com yourself: