Excerpt
The Netherlands ACM has fined World Ticket Center as it failed to include all mandatory costs in the base price of airfares, did not clearly disclose variable costs, and pre-selected optional extras such as travel and cancellation insurances.
Our analysis
World Ticket Center B.V. (WTC) was fined by the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) for displaying airfares and trip prices incorrectly on its website. The company failed to include all mandatory costs in the base price of its airfares. This deceptive practice involved variable costs that were not clearly mentioned in the base price, and were only added at a later stage during the booking process. Additionally, optional extras such as travel and cancellation insurances were pre-selected. The principles that must be adhered to include the presentation of clear costs at the beginning of the booking process, booking the trip for the advertised price, optional products and services that cannot be pre-checked, all unavoidable costs that must be included in the base price, and variable costs that must be mentioned with the advertised price.
Since 2013, ACM has focused on making prices in the travel industry more transparent to allow consumers to make well-informed choices. It has also reminded many companies in the travel industry about presenting prices correctly. WTC had unclear prices on its website, with mandatory additional costs such as a "customer service charge" that was not included in the advertised price. Additionally, booking costs were not clearly mentioned with the advertised price, and certain optional extras for trips were pre-selected, such as travel and cancellation insurances. ACM established that WTC violated the rules on price transparency laid down in the Aviation regulation and the Dutch Unfair Commercial Practices Act (WHO).
Outcome
WTC has been fined €350,000 by the ACM and ordered to adjust the information on its website to comply with pricing rules. The company has since made the necessary changes to its website.
Parties
Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) and World Ticket Center B.V. (WTC)
Case number
Case number: 14.0949.32
Decision
Related deceptive patterns
Hidden costs involve obscuring or omitting additional fees, charges, or costs until the user is well into the purchasing or sign-up process. By that point, the user has already invested time and effort into the transaction and is more likely to proceed despite the unexpected costs.
Preselection employs the default effect cognitive bias – a psychological phenomenon where people tend to go with the option that is already chosen for them, even if there are other choices available. Providers know this and often use it to take advantage of consumers. A common approach is to show a pre-ticked checkbox, though there are various other ways of doing this, including putting items in the user's shopping cart, or pre-selecting items in a series of steps. There are lots of reasons why this is a powerful deceptive pattern. Firstly, there’s simply the matter of awareness - users have to notice it, read it and work out what it all means. If the user doesn't, they'll scroll past completely unaware of the implications. There are other cognitive biases that may be employed in his deceptive pattern. For example, the content may be written to make the user feel that people to feel other people like them would accept the default so they should too (targeting the social proof bias). Alternatively, the content may use an authority figure to pressure users into accepting the default (targeting the authority bias).
Related laws
Prohibits unfair commercial practices, including misleading and aggressive practices, and provides remedies for consumers who have been harmed by such practices.