See Claim filed against Hilton Canada Co. (c/o Dentons Canada LLP) on June 18, 2022 (with business date of June 20, 2022) in the Small Claims Division of the Court of Quebec, File 500-32-718273-222.
May 26, 2022
VIA EMAIL and REGISTERED LETTER — WITHOUT PREJUDICE
Hilton Canada Co.
c/o Dentons Canada LLP
3900-1 Place Ville-Marie
Montréal, QC H3B 4M7
Dear Hilton Canada Co.
Re: Failure to honour terms of Hilton Price Match Guarantee
On January 21, 2022, I made a reservation with Hilton.com for a single room with king bed and free WiFi at the Hilton Garden Inn Guanacaste Airport, for the night of January 23, 2022, at a rate of USD 158 or USD 155 with Hilton Honors discount (Exhibit A). The reservation was cancellable up until one day before arrival.
I then found the same room type with king bed and free WiFi on Hotels.com for USD 151.76 (Exhibit B), also cancellable up until January 22, 2022, i.e., one day before arrival. I proceeded to make a second reservation with Hotels.com, and at approximately 6:28 pm, submitted the form provided from the Hilton Price Match Guarantee web page to request the benefit of the Price Match terms that Hilton advertised, i.e., "we will match the qualifying lower price PLUS give you 25% off the room price for the entire booking." (Exhibit C). I received confirmation of the form submission (Exhibit D).
On the afternoon of January 22, 2022, having received no response from Hilton to my form submission, and with the deadline for free cancellation of my reservations looming, I called Hilton Hotels to inquire as to the status of my Price Match Guarantee claim. This telephone call (audio below), which lasted approximately 30 minutes, required speaking with three separate representatives beyond the initial agent who answered the call (starting at 1:45, 4:54, 7:44 with silence on the Hilton line for approximately 45 seconds, and 13:41, resuming at 25:01), the last of whom informed me that if I had not received a response in more than 24 hours "most likely that claim was denied or it was not eligible for a price match". I informed the representative that this call was being recorded and that I would be taking legal action should Hilton not honour the terms of its guarantee.
The evening of January 22, 2022, I received an email from Jessica H. of Hilton.com, informing me that "Regrettably, I am unable to honor your claim as it did not meet the criteria to qualify for the Hilton Price Match Guarantee." (Exhibit E). At no point, from the time of my initial submission of the claim for the Hilton Price Match Guarantee, during my telephone conversation with Hilton representatives, or in the email from Jessica H., was any option provided for me to submit proof of the validity of my claim under the Hilton Price Match Guarantee criteria.
I then cancelled my Hilton.com reservation, keeping my Hotels.com reservation, and stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn Guanacaste Airport the night of January 23, 2022, for which I was charged 96,568.81 Costa Rican Colons (Exhibit F), approximately equivalent to USD 152.00 as of the spot rate posted on XE.com (.00157635 CRC to the USD) for January 24, 2022 (Exhibit G).
Following my stay, I provided Hilton with numerous opportunities to respect the advertised terms of their Price Match Guarantee, engaging in correspondence with various Hilton representatives: by email reply to Jessica H. on January 24, 2022 (Exhibit H), offering to provide documentation to substantiate my claim, but to which she did not respond; through the Hilton Hotels and Resorts Facebook page; and on February 10, 2022, providing screenshots of the Hilton.com and Hotels.com room rates, as per the request of a "John P., customer service representative" (Exhibit I). On May 17, 2022, I cautioned that should I be required to send a letter of demand, I would be seeking punitive damages to compensate for the loss of my time, necessitated by the hotel chain's refusal to honour its advertised terms, and on the morning of May 26, 2022, I gave Hilton a deadline to do so (Exhibit J), all to no avail.
I recognize that the dollar value saving to which I was entitled by virtue of your Price Match Guarantee is quite modest. Nevertheless, your advertised guarantee induced me to make the booking with Hilton in the first place. When I discovered that this was deceptive advertising, and that you had no intent of honouring the guarantee, despite the numerous attempts I made to draw your attention to the documentation that substantiated my claim, I was outraged. I do not believe that large corporations should be able to mislead consumers in this manner, contrary to s. 74.01(1)(a) of the Competition Act.
I also note that under the Competition Act, corporations are liable to penalties of up to $10 million for the first occurrence of false and deceptive advertising. Moreover, under the civil procedure, the Competition Bureau does not need to prove that the false or misleading advertising was engaged in deliberately or recklessly.
In consequence, I am demanding compensation in the amount of $1000.00, payable within ten (10) days of your receipt of this letter, or I will take action without further notice. Do govern yourselves accordingly.
Sincerely yours,
Dr. Jeremy Cooperstock
encl.
(A PDF copy of the letter of demand with all exhibits is available here.)