Marriott to be fined in the UK and accused of deceptive 'drip pricing' in the US
Last November, Marriot declared that the central reservation database of Starwood properties, which the hospitality operator had acquired in 2015 for US$ 13 billion, had been hacked. The data breach exposed information of more than 383 million guests.
According to latest reports, UK’s data protection authority will fine Marriott International US$ 123 million over the data breach that was only discovered in November 2018 despite claims that it occurred way back in 2014. The hacked reservation system was subsequently pulled out from operations by the hospitality giant.
As per the Guardian newspaper, The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is proposing a US$ 123 million fine for Marriott. The ICO also cited Marriott’s failure to introduce sufficient steps to ensure that it’s IT system was secure, after it acquired Starwood.
Marriott plans to respond and defend its position. Arne Sorenson, Marriott International’s president and CEO said: “We are disappointed with this notice of intent from the ICO, which we will contest. Marriott has been cooperating with the ICO throughout its investigation into the incident, which involved a criminal attack against the Starwood guest reservation database.“We deeply regret this incident happened. We take the privacy and security of guest information very seriously and continue to work hard to meet the standard of excellence that our guests expect from Marriott,” he added.
Marriott also sued in the US
Hotel chain Marriott International was sued by the District of Columbia on Tuesday over allegedly deceptive “drip pricing” practices that tacked on hidden fees to hotel bills. “Marriott reaped hundreds of millions of dollars in profit by deceiving consumers about the true price of its hotel rooms,” D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine said in a news release.
The fees for the hotel room were sometimes grouped as “taxes and fees” and not presented until after customers had already entered their credit card information, the complaint alleges. In other cases, the fees were advertised as covering amenities, such as parking, that were either complimentary or that guests had to pay for when they got to the hotel even after paying a resort fee, according to the complaint.
Resort fee (also known as destination or amenity fees) is supposed to be disclosed separately from hotel room prices.Often; guests are not informed about these prices and find out about it towards the end of the booking process. The report suggested that this has been going on for more than 10 years.
The Washington, D.C. Attorney General is seeking a court order to force Marriott to advertise the full price of a stay as well as pay penalties and restitution to affected guests.
Source; in2ition
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