Mihoubi v. Priceline.com, L.L.C.

The class action alleged that Priceline (among other defendants) contravened the Consumer Protection Act by advertising prices that are lower than the price ultimately charged to consumers.

You may claim an indemnity if:

1. You are a natural person who did not make a reservation on behalf of a business;
   1. You made a reservation for accommodation through the defendant Priceline
   2. on the website priceline.com between January 27th, 2017 and June 17th, 2023; or
2. on Priceline’s mobile application between January 27th, 2017 and January 9th, 2024 (for the mobile application available on the Google Play Store) or January 12th, 2024 (for the mobile application available on the Apple App Store);
3. At the time of this reservation, you resided in Quebec and were located in Québec;
4. You made your reservation directly on Priceline’s website or mobile application, and not via any intermediary, agency, or “white-label” business;
5. You did not cancel this reservation; and
6. You paid a price higher than the price initially advertised, with the exception of fees payable under a federal or provincial law when, under this law, these fees must be collected directly from the consumer to be remitted to a public authority.

Priceline denies any fault. Without any admission of liability, Priceline agreed to settle the litigation against it. The agreement includes the following key provisions:

• An indemnity will be distributed to each member of the Class. This indemnity will be distributed in cash (by Interac e-transfer) or in the form of a single-use, non-combinable and non-transferable coupon that the member may redeem to make several types of reservations on Priceline's website or mobile application, up to 30 months after the coupon is issued. The coupon will come along with Priceline Platinum VIP status until the coupon is used or expires.
• Each member can choose the method of distribution of his or her indemnity. An indemnity in cash cannot be combined with an indemnity in the form of a coupon.
• Priceline will pay a lump sum between $1,242,828 and $1,621,080. The exact sum to be paid by Priceline will depend on the Class members’ choice to receive either a coupon or cash. The net indemnities per member are the following for the member’s eligible reservations:
  • §$10.48 US in the form of a coupon for the first reservation;
  • §$6.49 US in the form of a coupon for any subsequent reservation.
  • (The value of a coupon will be converted to Canadian dollars based on the exchange rate in effect at the time the coupon is used.)
    - or -
  • §$8.00 US (namely 10.81 $ CA) in cash for the first reservation;
  • §$5.01 US (namely 6.77 $ CA) in cash for any subsequent reservation.
• Priceline modified the price display on its website and mobile applications in Canada to indicate the total price of a reservation on the first screen displaying search results, without any admission of liability;
• As authorized by the Court, the Class members’ attorneys will be receiving legal fees representing 25% of the lump sum of $1,242,828, plus taxes and disbursements, subject to additional legal fees being authorized by the Court at a later stage.

The full text of the agreement is available on the following website: https://tjl.quebec/en/class-actions/online-accomodation-reservation/.

For more information on the claims, please consult the Administrator’s website at https://conciliainc.com/priceline.

You can also ask questions by contacting the Administrator directly by email at [email protected].