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The Priceline Group Inc.—owner of the popular travel booking website priceline.com— faces a potential class action lawsuit that alleges the company collects “taxes and fees” for reservations but does not return those fees to customers in the event that the reservations are not used.
Priceline customers can reserve hotel rooms, airfare, rental vehicles, vacation packages, and cruises. In particular, the Priceline unreturned fee class action lawsuit notes the “Name Your Own Price” feature of the website, which allows users to make an offer on a item, such as a hotel room, which Priceline then submits to various companies in the location chosen by the consumer. If accepted by one of those companies, Priceline charges the consumer that price, as well as “taxes and fees.”
“Priceline Group, in charging ‘taxes and fees’ for a rental or purchase transactions that did not complete, violated various local, state and federal laws regarding the charge and collection of taxes,” according to the Priceline class action lawsuit.
Plaintiff Richard Laquer asserts that he reserved a rental car in San Francisco through the Priceline “Name Your Own Price” feature. He named a price of $35, which was accepted, and he was charged an additional $19.05 for “taxes and fees” by Priceline. Laquer claims that he did not use that reservation, and the charges were not returned to him, even though the $19.05 was never used to pay taxes on the incomplete sale.
The Priceline class action lawsuit argues that when the company charges taxes and fees, Priceline is telling customers that those fees are necessary for the transaction to be completed.
However, “Priceline Group knew when these representations were made, or made them as a positive assertion recklessly, that it would not pay the ‘taxes and fees’ it collected from plaintiff and the putative class members to the various federal, state and local taxing authorities in the event the rental or purchase was not completed,” according to the unreturned fee class action.
This is not the only class action lawsuit Priceline faces regarding its “Name Your Own Price” feature. In July of 2015, a class action was filed alleging that Priceline intentionally hides fees from consumers, making the true price more than the consumer is willing to pay. The allegations of that class action lawsuit, specifically about hidden resort fees, are separate from this complaint.
The Priceline unreturned fees class action lawsuit seeks to represent a class of “thousands of customers of Priceline Group who reserved and paid for motor vehicles, hotels or air travel online through the Name Your Price option – and other nonrefundable reservation options – and did not use the reservation.”
Laquer asks for restitution “in an amount greater than $5 million” for all the taxes and fees collected by Priceline for unused reservations, as well as punitive damages in excess of $75,000.
The plaintiff is represented by Larry A. Tawwater and Darren M. Tawwater of the Tawwater Law Firm, PLLC.
The Priceline Unreturned Fees Class Action Lawsuit is Richard Laquer v. The Priceline Group, Inc., Case No. CIV-16-15-HE, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma.
UPDATE: On Aug. 26, 2016, Priceline filed a motion to dismiss the class action lawsuit stating that the taxes and fees are clearly represented as nonrefundable to customers at the time they make the reservation.
UPDATE 2: On Sept. 19, 2016, Laquer argued that he should have standing in this class action lawsuit because he is not seeking to enforce the tax on Priceline, only to obtain a refund for taxes Priceline did not pay to the government.
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55 thoughts onPriceline Hit With Unreturned Fees Class Action Lawsuit
back in november 2023 I booked a hotel in punta cana but decided to cancel, priceline did not return the money to my credit card stating that there was no error with the transaction, the cancellation was made within the period where they themselves say that if you cancel the transaction your money will be returned it’s entirely, I decided to disputed this transaction that was more than 2,250.00 but priceline with its lies decided to charged me for the transaction with the bank, in other words they used my credit card to collect money that does not belong to them, I’m looking for legal help and I hope to find it here.
I paid Priceline for a hotel and a rental vehicle on Priceline website it says total price with taxes and fees but when I get to the vehicle rental they want me to pay an extra 200 then I get to the hotel and they want me to pay another 150. How did I pay this much money to have to again pay both my rental and hotel even more hundreds of dollars Priceline is a scam
Makes no sense!!! Now I can’t get into the hotel or my rental vehicle. It’s clearly states that I paid for everything for the hotel and vehicle rental including taxes and fees!
I reserved a room with double bed and kitchen at the Beacon Hotel & corporate headquarter in Washington DC. I called the hotel to confirm that the room I booked was exactly what I booked with Priceline and they informed me that my room did not have a kitchen. The room they booked me in was double bed and sofa. I recorded the initial booking with their sales person to assure that I was getting the room with the kitchen. I called Priceline several times to get this taken care off and they keep telling me that they will call me after they investigate what happened. They would get back to me within 24 hours. Ive called several times and yet I’m still getting the same answer. I’ve recorded the conversation with every person I spoke to at Priceline and they were aware of the recording. The last person I spoke to I asked for the CEO name and he stated that he couldn’t give me that information. I reported my stress level, lack of sleep and upset stomach I’ve been having due to not hearing from priceline. I looked up the name of the CEO at Priceline and sent an email to him. I’m still waiting for a response. I am ready to look for an attorney to take on this case. Especially with all the recordings I have with priceline
Priceline never said tickets were non refundable until 30 days later. Yet stated I could have gotten a refund in 24 hours on a non refundable tickets They lied and were deceitful. Then offered best price guarantee they refuse to honor. They now claim there are stipulations yet do not state it on the best price guaranteed area.
Priceline will not refund for a reservation made for the wrong date. I was looking for rates for a hotel and Priceline directed me to one 6 miles away. So I went and get there, didn’t think much of the exterior upkeep , but went in , waited for hotel clerk for several minutes who tells me I don’t have a reservation.. “What please check again,” I say. He says you have a reservation for tomorrow and it will cost a lot more for tonight. I say cancel my reservation because i need a room tonight not tomorrow. He tells me there is a no cancellation policy. I left and called my credit card company to tell them I supposedly had a reservation for the next day but that it was made in error and disputed the charge with Wells Fargo. After exactly five months ;now Wells Fargo says we have to pay for this bait and switch hotel room. I would love to join in the lawsuit and follow the money to make sure that taxes go to the government since of course I don’t have a receipt, I’ll get one from Wells Fargo with that breakdown.
Let’s collective sue Priceline in federal court.
On October 13th my family and I checked into the Baymont by Wyndham for a 2 night stay. We had a double conjoined room. I got the keys and went to unload our vehicles. Got everything loaded and upstairs to our rooms and the rooms were in very poor condition. Not clean and completely run down. I went back down to the front desk and told them of the issue. They told me I could check another set of conjoining rooms but not until after all of our stuff was out of the previous room. So we go back and load everything back up and go check the other room where we were greeted with cockroaches crawling on the door. At this point we can not stay at this hotel. We go back down to return the keys and let them know that we can not stay there due to unsanitary conditions and the terrible conditions of the hotel and I asked for a refund. The front desk lady said they can not refund I would have to go through Priceline. I called Priceline and they called to speak with them. They (Priceline) were told the manager is the only one who can authorize. I was told they would be in the next morning. So we leave and go check into the hotel across the street where we all had to stay in 1 room. The next morning I go back across the street to speak with the manager which is still not there. Jay from the front desk was very apologetic and said he would contact her and for me to call back. I called back several times throughout the day and nothing. I stopped back by and was informed that the notes in the system said we never left the property and we stayed. I had to attend my sisters wedding so before I left to go back home o stopped back by again and was told that I already talked to the manager the night before because she came in which I clearly did not. So at this point I am very upset. I have read all their reviews online and even on the BBB and they all state the same thing. This hotel takes your money and refuses a refund. I called back this morning on 10/15 and spoke with Jay again and was told I wasn’t getting a refund due to the commotion I caused at the hotel and for staying. I repeated we never stayed! He then proceeded to tell me I was there longer then the 15 minute grace period which in reality takes people longer to unload their vehicles and carry their stuff in. I said that’s fraud and you guys are stealing peoples money. I said so you are going to charge me $455 dollars for something I didn’t receive and then he tells me “ well we have to make money somehow “. That’s a crooked business of I ever seen one and I am not willing to pay for services I did not receive due to the poor conditions and bug infestation of their property. Priceline sent me a email stating that the charges stand because the hotel said I never left. Terrible customer service.
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