Name: Booking.com cancels $4K reservation, offers same rooms for $17K
Uploaded: 2025-11-25T07:38:51.296Z
Duration: 1 min 56 s
Description: Booking.com cancelled Erika Mann’s $4,300 Montreal hotel reservation and offered her the same accommodations for quadruple the price. A digital rights lawyer says such cases show how weak consumer protections allow online platforms to shift risk and costs onto travellers.

Booking.com cancelled Erika Mann’s $4,300 Montreal hotel reservation and offered her the same accommodations for quadruple the price. A digital rights lawyer says such cases show how weak consumer protections allow online platforms to shift risk and costs onto travellers.

Montreal

Erica Mann booked a four-bedroom hotel unit in Montreal for the 2026 Grand Prix through Booking.com for $4,300, only to have her confirmed reservation cancelled weeks later due to a reported rate error. She was then offered the same room for over $17,000, and despite repeated requests, neither the hotel nor Booking.com would honour the original price, citing company policy.

After media intervention, Booking.com reversed its decision, agreeing to honour Mann's original booking and reimburse her for any price difference after her stay. The incident highlights concerns about consumer protection and the power imbalance between travellers and online booking platforms.

Booking.com cancels $4K reservation, offers same rooms for $17K

When Erica Mann booked a hotel for the 2026 Montreal Grand Prix, she thought her family's accommodations were locked in. Race organizers hadn't confirmed the exact dates, so she played it safe, booking the same four-bedroom unit for two possible weekends in May, both with free cancellation. I was super excited and jumped right on it. After the official dates were set, she cancelled the extra booking, exactly as Booking.com allows. Weeks later, her confirmed $4,300 reservation, that's the regular rate for that room, was gone. The website told her the hotel she booked reported a rate error, so she could either cancel for a refund or, get this, pay more than $17,000 for the same unit on the same dates. When she refused, Booking.com cancelled it anyway. By that time, hotel prices were rising fast. That was just so outstandingly outrageous that I couldn't believe it. The hotel says that pricing error on Booking.com briefly impacted two units on the property. One of them is the one Erica Mann booked. She tried repeatedly to get the website and the hotel to honour that confirmed booking, but neither would, pointing to a Booking.com rule that says if they decide there's a problem with the price, they can cancel. Highly unfair. It shows the power imbalance between travellers and booking platforms, says this expert, especially since many booking sites have similar fine print. Our consumer protection laws are not great. Booking.com is one of the biggest online travel agencies out there. The company told GoPublic, our procedures do allow for cancellations in limited circumstances where a genuine rate mistake has occurred. Adding, in this case, communication to the customer fell short of our usual standards. After GoPublic's questions, the travel site reversed course, saying it will honour Mann's original booking after all, and reimburse her for the price difference after her stay. Mann says she's relieved, but getting help shouldn't require contacting the media.

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