LateRooms.com overcharging by 20%

Katana_2

I recently booked 5 nights in Dubai through LateRooms.com. Having been to Dubai before I was aware that there is a local charge of 20% tax which is based on the price of the stay.

I chose to book through LateRooms.com as they specifically stated that 'All taxes are included'.

The cheapest rate available at the time was with Prestigia, however they clearly stated that there would be a 20% tax applied at the hotel which would make the total cost more than Laterooms.com

With this in mind, I booked through LateRooms.com as they included all taxes in their rate.

However, when I received the confirmation email I was shocked to find that the price I had paid did not include taxes after all!

How is it legal for them to clearly state that 'All taxes are included' when there are another 20% worth of taxes to pay?

They won't give me a refund - I called instantly as soon as I received the email.

They won't even honour their PricePromise as they state that the Prestigia rate has a 'flexible cancellation' policy whereas the LateRooms.com rate does not! This is for the same room, at the same hotel, at the exact same dates....

So if you do decide to use LateRooms.com be very, very careful as the rate you think you're being charge may not be the rate that you end up paying.....


----
I have screen shots of the booking process which illustrate the problem perfectly, but as a new user I'm not allowed to post links yet - If any experienced users would be kind enough to post them for me I'd be most grateful.

InsideInsurance

What has their response been to the query on "all taxes included" and then adding another tax afterwards?

jackieblack

what does your screenshot of the booking page show under the ‘View City Tax’ section?



Are taxes included in the total price?

All prices on LateRooms.com are inclusive of all local taxes and service charges. However, in some overseas destinations certain hotels do charge city tax, details of this can be found on the Make a Booking tab under ‘Important Information’. If you’re reading this on our mobile site any taxes will be shown on the booking page under the ‘View City Tax’ section below the total price of your booking.


http://laterooms.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/94/kw/taxes/session/L3RpbWUvMTQ0MDUwMTk5Ni9zaWQvd3M3WWhPdW0=

kaneap

I have been caught out by this on other hotel booking sites too. Surely any supplier selling to retail customers should be forced to display full price including taxes at point of sale rather than rely on small print?

Katana_2

jackieblack wrote: »

what does your screenshot of the booking page show under the ‘View City Tax’ section?


I have PM'ed you a link to the screen shot of the booking page. It doesn't show any mention of any other taxes etc. Neither does it provide a link to any further information.

All it says is 'All taxes are included". To me that statement is clear and unambiguous.

If I walked into a car dealership and bought a car and the salesperson said here is the price - all taxes are included. I wouldn't expect to receive a bill for 20% after I signed the (non refundable) contract!

How is it legal or acceptable for LaterRooms.com do the same thing?

Does anyone know who they are regulated by and how I would go about making a formal complaint?

jackieblack

Here are the OP's screenshots

http://imgur.com/43j9Jw4,CiOoJ9o#1
http://imgur.com/43j9Jw4,CiOoJ9o#0

jackieblack

http://www.laterooms.com/en/hotel-reservations/241608_fairmont-the-palm-dubai.aspx?d=20150917&n=3&rt=2-1&rt-adult=2&rt-child=1


If you click the Useful Info tab, or scroll down the page to Useful Info, by Important Information, it says:
13/03/2014 to 31/03/2023 - Please be advised that beginning March 31, 2014, a Tourism Dirham fee of AED 20 per room, per night will apply to all stays and will be charged by the hotel upon check-out.The LateRooms.com rate for Fairmont The Palm in Dubai is the total price of the room and not the 'per person' rate. All taxes are included, with the exception of city tax, which will be charged at 20.00% of your total accommodation price and is payable to the hotel directly.

Katana_2

I arrived at LateRooms.com via a Trivago search and proeeded straight to the booking page - I didn’t see any reference to a 20% charge anywhere. I was aware of the Dubai hotel tax but as it said all taxes are included I thought that all taxes would be included

If you look at the second link you’ll see that Prestigia make it very clear what is and what is not included in the booking.

Am I alone in thinking that the phrase ‘All taxes are included’ should mean that all taxes are included? Not ‘All taxes are included but if you search the customers support section of our website you’ll see that what we mean is all taxes are included except….'

Why would I deliberately search the website to double check if the claims that it makes at the point of sale are actually true?

jackieblack

I just think that by having the information clearly available on the page that gives all the information for the hotel LateRooms would consider that the information is clearly displayed.

SW17

jackieblack wrote: »

I just think that by having the information clearly available on the page that gives all the information for the hotel LateRooms would consider that the information is clearly displayed.

I think that Laterooms are sailing very close to the wind on this one. 20% city tax forms a major part of the price, and putting it in the hotel info but not the booking path is a highly unusual practice for a European website. They do seem to be doing this across Dubai, not just in this hotel.

The AED 20 Tourism Dirham is one thing, as it has to be paid directly to the hotel, but IMO it's pretty disingenuous to say that a price includes "all taxes" when a 20% city tax is excluded. That does not need to be paid directly and it is material. I'm not a lawyer, but I wouldn't fancy having to defend that practice in court, and it's not something I've seem from reputable UK websites before (and I would say that in general Laterooms is a respectable organisation).

It would seem that Laterooms are likely to stand firm, it might actually take litigation to challenge this, and the question there is always whether it is worth the hassle.

jackieblack

SW17 wrote: »

I think that Laterooms are sailing very close to the wind on this one. 20% city tax forms a major part of the price, and putting it in the hotel info but not the booking path is a highly unusual practice for a European website. They do seem to be doing this across Dubai, not just in this hotel.

The AED 20 Tourism Dirham is one thing, as it has to be paid directly to the hotel, but IMO it's pretty disingenuous to say that a price includes "all taxes" when a 20% city tax is excluded. That does not need to be paid directly and it is material. I'm not a lawyer, but I wouldn't fancy having to defend that practice in court, and it's not something I've seem from reputable UK websites before (and I would say that in general Laterooms is a respectable organisation).

It would seem that Laterooms are likely to stand firm, it might actually take litigation to challenge this, and the question there is always whether it is worth the hassle.

I agree about the 'all taxes included' claim being disingenuous, just saying that I would imagine that LateRooms will say that the information is clearly shown.
It also states that the city tax is payable to the hotel directly.

I totally understand why the OP feels aggrieved, but the information is clearly available before starting the booking process.
IMO it would be reasonable to assume that before booking the customer would view the page showing the hotel's details, room types, facilities etc, which is where the additional charges are stated but which the OP bypassed, unfortunately.

ETA
A quick Google search reveals that the 20% 'city tax' is in fact made up of a 10% municipality fee and a 10% service charge, so not actually a tax at all.