Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Expedia Ordered To Pay $184M in Suit

Seattle-based Expedia has been ordered to pay $184M in a lawsuit, in a case where it was accused of inflating fees to consumers who used its service to pay for travel. According to a statement by firm Hagens Berman, which represented consumers in the lawsuit, Expedia charged users taxes based on retail prices on travel bookings, but only had to pay taxes on the wholesale price--and pocketed the difference. In addition, the law firm said that Expedia covered hotel transaction fees, saying it would use those fees to cover the cost of serving hotel reservations, but instead simply collected those as profit. In a regulatory filing, Expedia said that "the court's decision is wrong on the law and wrong on the facts," and said it would "vigorously pursue" its rights in an appeal.