I was wondering if a lawyer amongst us could give an opinion on a possible Class Action aginst hotels for tacking on an unpublished energy surcharge which is not revealed at the time of booking.

This is simple bait and switch. Energy consumption is a part and parcel of running a hotel. It is the cost of doing business. There is absolutely no reason why hotels should not include this cost in the rate they quote people.

However they are quoting people a different rate and charging them another. This is not for an optional service like parking but for a necessity. For people who reserve their rooms though pre-paid services like Priceline, there is not even an option of walking out of the door to a different hotel. You are compelled to pay a different rate than what you were quoted.

Is there any legal recourse to this? Please advise.

snake says that it appears from the information that you have provided to us that you have the makings of a good case, send us a $10,000 retainer and we'll get working on it!

I am positive that is what will become of these hidden surcharges. It is nothing more than price gouging and/or deceptive pricing. Unfortunately most of the cash in these types of lawsuits go to the lawyers, all we can expect to get is some crappy coupons for 10% off the rack rate. I don't want the coupons, maybe I should change my area of practice...

I share in your frustration as this really stinks. But is it any different than the airlines' fuel surcharges? In fact my residential trash removal company even added on a fuel surcharge. I'm waiting to see if these so called fuel or energy surcharges vanish once their costs go down.

Let's see now.

Class action lawsuit. Hotels spend millions defending themselves. Finally settle. Lawyers get millions. We get certificates worth very little (like 20% off rack rate on tuesdays). Hotel has to recover cost of lawsuit. They raise their rates.

Who pays?

All your points concerning the rewards obtained by the attorneys are on point, but you must know that they don't work for nothing, and they risk losing $ if they don't prevail.

In any event, regardless of the "payout" to the Road Warriors, I would have thought that the main aim that we are interested in is not so much a redress for the surcharge, as much as its termination!

IF anyone is really trolling for a class action lawsuit, may I suggest Hertz, in particular, that advertises that you will get bonus FF points, and yet, they don't even post the base points that you are entitled to! In my mind, that is fraudulent and deceptive advertising!

Well, speak of the devil!

http://www.hmmonline.com/hospitality...headlineID=431

The risk/reward ratio for taking on these types of cases is pretty good. Even if you don't become lead counsel on the case you almost always get cash out of it anyway under the splits. I think the attorney generals of numerous states should have jumped on this one...

Exactly my sentiment. The cost of energy should be included in the room charge, not as an additional surcharge. I often use Priceline and I presume that I do not have to pay anything extra. I cannot walk out of the hotel and am forced to pay $3-4/day. It adds up to about $30-40/pm or $400/year!

Want to hear the CRAZIEST outrageous example of this phenomenon? I work in downtown San Francisco. My local coffee/sandwich/snack joint has begun arbitrarily tacking on $0.10 to every order, listed as "energy surcharge" on your receipt. Thus, when I buy a cookie in the middle of the afternoon at the advertised $1.40 price, my bill is $1.50. I asked the guy at the counter what the hell this was, and he explained that it goes on every order, no matter how big.

So Charles Schwab caters lunch for its execs at $400, and they get charged the 10c, and so does the slob on the street who asks for a cookie. That looks like a 7% gouge for the hungry snacker expecting the advertised price. Something tells me I'm sorry the Attorney General moved his people back to the Civic Center. Check it out if you're here: Specialty's (sic)(several financial district locations; use of apostrophe is their fault alone).

During the recently completed Texas Legislative session, several state Reps and Senators got hit by energy surcharges by Hilton (thru their Doubletree brand). These folks spent the last 140 days in the downtown Austin Doubletree and knew nothing of the charges until check out. Wrong people to mess with. The Texas Attorney General is now investigating Hilton for decepitive business practices. Another funny thing is, in Texas, Hilton is the only hotel group tacking on the surcharge.

Well I guess this one of those issues where I can see where some people would freak out about $2/day, moving the costs from $229/night in San Francisco or Los Angeles to $231.50. However is this any different from a car rental?

A recent Hertz receipt from Phoenix Sky Harbor:

3 days at $44 = $132
Concession Fee Recovery = $13.20
Additional Charges = $18
7.5% Exc Tax on FF MI = $0.27
TX 14.5% on $163.20 = $23.66
City Surcharge = $2.50

Net Due $189.63

This is minor when you compare it to a rental at DFW.

In addition to the company that employs me (and causes all of the travel) I also happen to own a coffee shop/deli here in Sacramento. The surcharges for our industry is similar to that of a hotel. Our average monthly utility costs have risen from $290/month to over $750 with an additional increase of 64% coming next month. Now I don't add a $0.10 surcharge, but I have new prices going into effect on Friday 6/1.

The problem with changing your prices, like I did, vs. adding a surcharge is justification. Most of our customers live here in California so they understand a temporary surcharge. But because I bought an existing place, they are used to coming in an paying $1.40 for a cup of coffee and a change in that menu board may send them to Starbucks.

So, maybe they should just increase the room prices until this challenge passes. But I still don't have a problem with paying a surcharge (I did in Southern CA last week), it's no differnt than renting a car to me.

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Ken in Sacramento

The difference is that on a car rental all those additional fees are disclosed when you make the reservation. I make sure all my quotes include the fees. These hotels don't inform you until you are there, or in one case after I checked out.

I don't know about you guys, but EVERY hotel I've ever checked into has a warning on the receipt that I sign saying that additional charges, including energy surcharges, resort fees, etc. may be added to my bill. I imagine this covers their butts.

I don't think I'd have a problem with a coffee shop adding a surcharge, as long as they had a sign on the counter explaining it and setting out the amount (whether per-order, per-item, or flat). The issue with hotels is that they spring it on you in many cases after it's too late to do anything about it; in the case of a coffee shop, if I find the price after surcharge to be too high, I can just walk out.