Travel agencies still luring clients with misleading officers, Dutch consumer group says

Travel agencies are still trying to lure customers with misleading offers, the Consumentenbond concluded after new research. Prices often changed during booking, according to the Dutch consumer association. “Or mandatory costs are added during or after booking, or essential information is missing.” The interest group is now also threatening legal action.

Consumentenbond investigators looked at 250 offers from ten parties in the travel industry to see what they could actually book for the advertised price. Two-thirds of the examined offers turned out to be misleading, the association said. At Prijsvrij/D-Reizen, KLM Holidays/Transavia Holidays, and Expedia, none of the offers examined were correct. Things were also often wrong at TUI, the researchers said.

Early last year, travel agencies promised improvement after a similar study by the Consumentenbond reached similar conclusions. “Yet we still see countless misleading advertisements. That we find so little improvement in one year is downright disappointing,” said Consumentenbond director Sandra Molenaar. She said the association has also shared the investigation results with Consumer and Markets Authority (ACM) with a request that the regulator take action.

ANVR, the association for travel agencies, stressed that travel companies must comply with laws and regulations and the advertising code for travel offers. That contains the agreements for travel advertisements.

“Over the past year, regulator ACM has come up with completely new insights into price transparency, although not so much based on changed legislation. That concerns inclusive prices, including costs per booking and local taxes. ANVR advises its members to follow these new insights, and we have now started revising the advertising code to adapt it accordingly,” a spokeswoman said. The ANVR said it understands that it will take “some time” before the travel companies can successfully implement the changes, the organization said.

However, the Consumentenbond thinks the travel providers have had a particularly weak response to the problem. The association has sent them a letter and is giving the parties two weeks to show improvement. If they do not do so, the association will consider filing a lawsuit and issuing summons. "Enough is enough."

The District Court in The Hague ruled last October that the Consumentenbond did not have to redact or amend an earlier publication about misleading offers from travel organizations. Travel operators Prijsvrij and D-Reizen had sued the consumer association because they wanted the organization to clarify its reporting.

The case revolved around a publication in which the consumer organization stated that travel providers mislead consumers on a wide scale with their offer claims. The appeals court that heard the case also ruled in favor of the Consumentenbond.