Reservations.com Hit with Class Action Over Allegedly Illegal Taxes & Fees

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A proposed class action has been filed in South Carolina in which the plaintiff claims defendants Hotels.com, L.P.; Expedia, Inc.; Travelscape, LLC; and Reservations Technologies, Inc. illegally charge excessive taxes and fees for booking hotel rooms through Reservations.com.

The complaint says that when a consumer uses Reservations.com—the hotel reservation data for which is provided by the co-defendant companies—room charges are broken down into three categories: a “Room Subtotal,” “Tax & Fees,” and a “Service Fee.” The room subtotal, the case says, is the bottom-line charge for a room excluding any taxes and fees. The service fee charged by the defendants is $14.99 per booking and is processed as a separate charge from the room cost on a consumer’s credit card.

While the taxes and fees charged by the defendants reportedly do go to hotels and local governments in the correct amounts, the lawsuit alleges the actual amount of money in taxes and fees charged to customers using Reservations.com is “routinely significantly more than the sum owed to the government” as explained on the website.

Per the plaintiff’s situation, the complaint says the man booked a room with two queen beds for two nights at the Hyatt Regency Orlando in June 2017 for which he was charged $108.68 in taxes and fees. The case says the charges owed to the local government for the plaintiff’s particular reservation totaled only $69.97, meaning he was overcharged nearly $40, money allegedly kept as revenue by the defendants.