My daughters and I are in Las Vegas after a wonderful trip to 3 national parks. I bid for and prepaid for a hotel in Las Vegas, “New York, New York.” Priceline told me that my “Total Price,” including “Room Cost,” “Taxes” and “Fees” was $80.88. When I stepped up to to register for the room. the NY NY employee told me that I owed a “Daily Resort Fee” of $24. She pointed to a pamphlet on her desk (see the attached photo) and told me that the “fee” is for these items, including “unlimited local and 800 number calls.”
I told her that I already paid the “Total Price,” and I would not pay this “Fee.” She told me “Everyone pays this fee.” I told her that I wouldn’t pay this “Fee,” because I already paid all “fees.” She said I needed to take it up with Priceline. I told her I needed to speak with her manager. The manager (another woman) came to the front desk and told me “All of the resorts in Las Vegas charge the fee.” This was no consolation to me. She told me that I had to pay the fee. She told me that Priceline discloses that I would be responsible for paying this additional fee (this is false). I told her that I wouldn’t pay the fee, that it was fraud to charge the fee, and that I would pay it under protest, contesting it through my credit card company. I told her that I was a class action attorney and that they should be sued for a class action. The manager finally admitted to me that since Priceline told me that I had prepaid my “Room Cost,” “Taxes” and “Fees,” that it would be “unfair for me to pay an additional “fee.” She wagged her finger at me and stated that she would waive the fee this time only.
I am disturbed that this is going on. I assume that hundreds or thousands of people are being hit for this “Fee,” and that most of them are paying it rather than making a scene at the registration desk.
For any of my FB friends who are using Priceline to book rooms in Las Vegas (or elsewhere), beware that this is going on. In my experience as a consumer lawyer, merchants are increasingly tacking on these BS fees for illusory services, fraudulently making millions of dollars in the process.
Erich, I wish I would have used the attorney card( even though I’m not) there are a few hotels that don’t charge this fee but not many and not the nicest. This is a very deceiving practice and should not be legal. If you have any suggestions on how to get around this, DO TELL. Thanks, Jim
Jim: I’m a consumer attorney. I file some class actions for practices like this. A lot of people think that it’s not worth visiting a lawyer when only $24 is at stake. This would be a mistake. The business engaging in shady practice might be making millions of dollars ripping off thousands of people for small amounts of money. That is the type of case class actions are designed to address. Many of my clients step forward to serve as “class representatives” to address this type of small dollar fraud. They tell me that they are proud to do this. Their reward is that they assume the role of a “private attorney general.” Most of their reward is (if the case is successful) they receive some or all of their refund back, and they can like that all the other class members receive the same refund relief. When my clients serve as class representatives in successful cases, they usually also receive an additional payment approved by the court for their time helping out with the lawsuit. In my cases, this has ranged from $1,000 to $10,000 dollars.
A lot of people think there is nothing they can do when they are ripped off for a small amount of money, but this is not always true. If you are in this situation, contact a class action plaintiff attorney. There are many of them listed (I’m one of them) at the website of NACA (National Association of Consumer Advocates).