Consumer group warns holiday firms over hidden charges

The Dutch consumer association Consumentenbond has warned Dutch operators it will take legal action if they continue to place “misleading adverts” for holidays on their websites.

The organisation has given them two weeks to start publishing the full picture about the cost of holidays, saying two-thirds of adverts do not include key information or compulsory costs are added on later. Last year there were problems with 83% of holiday ads, the Consumentenbond said.

For example, the ANWB hid compulsory harbour fees of €120 for cycling cruise in Croatia while Eliza Was Here (Sunweb) did not mention mandatory cleaning costs attached to a cottage in the Algarve. The Travel Club also failed to include mandatory service charges of €415 on a cruise.

In other cases, airports were not named which could mean “you end up flying from Dusseldorf and return to Brussels,” spokeswoman Babs van der Staak told broadcaster NOS. “Then try and get home in the middle of the night when your car is in Germany.”

In total, the body looked at 250 adverts promoted by 10 different holiday firms. None of the adverts looked at from Prijsvrij/D-reizen, KLM Holidays/Transavia Holidays and Expedia were correct, and Corendon is the only one not to have been given a warning.

Last year the Dutch advertising standards authority found in favour of the Consumentenbond in cases against a number of tour operators, including Prijsvrij and D-reizen. The consumer authority ACM is also involved in several cases to get holiday firms to be clearer about their pricing.