A customer made a reservation through the Booking.com travel platform for accommodations in France. Upon arriving at the accommodation on the appointed date, he discovered that his reservation has been unilaterally canceled by the host because he had not made additional payments which were required for the holding reservation.
The Court held that the platform misled the customer and is therefore obligated to compensate him for the amount of the reservation. A travel agent, including a travel platform, is obligated not only not to mislead its customers, but also to actively disclose material details about the transaction. In addition, as long as the platform is required, for any reason, to present the transaction terms in a way that makes them difficult to understand, it is the platform's duty to provide the customer with a clear summary of the transaction terms so that he can make an informed decision regarding the contract. When an agreement contains a payment obligation which date of payment is not agreed, payment is due within reasonable time considering the circumstances of the matter, the contract and the type of obligation. Here, the platform did include in the order form information regarding the obligation to pay the additional payments, but did not specify the deadline for making the aforementioned payments, and the customer was within his rights to construe that the aforementioned payments can be made within a reasonable time, that is, until the actual order date. The platform presented the client with lacking information and omitted essential details, in a manner that voids the client's confirmation of the transaction, as it was granted on the basis of a misleading representation, and is therefore obligated to compensate the customer for his damage.