Good news: Hotel and concert apps and websites can no longer display misleading prices upfront, with hidden fees revealed only when you go to checkout. As of this week, the practice is illegal in the US.
Amusingly, one of the biggest offenders – Ticketmaster – is trying to claim credit for complying with the law, acting as if it’s doing us a favor …
It’s long been common for hotel and concert apps to show a misleading headline price when you first search for a room or event tickets. It’s only when you’ve been through several subsequent steps that hidden fees appear, often dramatically increasing the true price needed to make the booking.
Hidden fees are now illegal
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced back in December of last year that it would be outlawing the practice.
Consumers searching for hotels or vacation rentals or seats at a show or sporting event will no longer be surprised by a pile of “resort,” “convenience,” or “service” fees inflating the advertised price. By requiring up-front disclosure of total price including fees, the rule will make comparison shopping easier, resulting in savings for consumers and leveling the competitive playing field.
To give companies time to update their systems to comply with the law, the FTC gave them 120 days’ notice. The law then took effect yesterday.
The Rule prohibits bait-and-switch pricing and other tactics used to hide total prices and mislead people about fees in the live-event ticketing and short-term lodging industries. These unfair and deceptive pricing practices can harm consumers and undercut businesses trying to compete fairly on price.
Companies are still allowed to add things like booking fees, but all costs must be factored into the first price you see, so that there are no surprises.
Ticketmaster tries to claim credit
Engadget spotted Ticketmaster trying to claim credit for … complying with the the law.
Ticketmaster wants you to know it’s “all in” on up-front pricing. In a blog post published on Monday, the company triumphantly declared that it’s “putting fans first” and including fees in the first price you see for a ticket. Not mentioned in Ticketmaster’s announcement: An FTC rule requiring that exact change just so happened to take effect today.
The company shows the example of a ticket costing $80 with a service fee of $10.50. Previously, you would have seen the $80 price up-front, with the true cost disclosed at checkout. Now, you’ll see the price shown as $90.50 with the breakdown shown at checkout.
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