29 September 2017
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Impending eruption of government and private litigation over Resort Fees (mandatory service fees). Big shaking again. Is this the big one?
Two significant developments may signal an eruption of government and private claims over Resort Fees — (1) publication of the FTC 2017 Report and (2) commencement of proceedings regarding Resort Fees by a national task force of Attorneys General for 46 states plus the District of Columbia. This article focuses on the FTC Report. The next article will discuss the national task force.
The FTC issues its 2017 Report on Resort Fees
In January 2017, the FTC’s Bureau of Economics published a 44-page report entitled “Economic Analysis of Hotel Resort Fees” (the “FTC 2017 Report” or the “Report”).
The Report sets forth an aggressive regulatory position suggesting that it is a deceptive and misleading practice to advertise hotel rates without including Resort Fees, unless the total price (with Resort Fees) is the first and most prominently displayed price (in position and font characteristics) so consumers can easily comparison shop. It is not enough to disclose Resort Fees after the “room only” price even if this disclosure is made prior to booking a room. However, once the all-inclusive price has been disclosed, it is permissible to give a breakout of the total price into Resort Fee and other components.
The Report finds that “separating mandatory resort fees from posted room rates without first disclosing the total price is likely to harm consumers by increasing the search costs and cognitive costs of finding and choosing hotel accommodations.” The Report also finds that this drip pricing approach is unlikely to result in any benefits to offset the harm to consumers. Apparently, the Report’s authors find that the harm to consumers who may incur greater search costs and/or make incompletely informed decisions (and pay more for a room) justifies damages or enforcement actions under section 5 of the FTC Act.
Some highlights from the FTC 2017 Report
Here are some bullet point highlights extracted from the Report. CONTINUE READING →