When Erika Mann booked a hotel for the 2026 Formula One Grand Prix in Montreal, she played it safe. Her relatives were flying in from the Netherlands to watch the races with her, and Mann, who lives in Oakville, Ont., wanted to make sure their accommodations were locked in. On May 25, she booked a four-room unit on Booking.com at Montreal’s Holland Hotel, steps from the heart of race-weekend action. Price tag: $4,300. “I was super excited and yeah, jumped right on it,” Mann told Go Public. But weeks after her reservation was confirmed, her excitement ended. Mann says both the hotel and Booking.com told her the price was a mistake — and if she still wanted the unit for May 22-24, 2026 she’d need to cough up four times the amount — more than $17,000. “That was just so outstandingly outrageous that I almost couldn’t believe it,” she told Go Public.Got a story for Go Public? Contact Rosa and the team at GoPublic@cbc.caDigital rights expert David Fewer says shocks like this are becoming more common as online travel sites and hotels rely on automated booking and pricing systems. He says Booking.com’s policies allow confirmed reservations to be cancelled if the company decides the original rate was an error, leaving consumers exposed — especially when prices surge during big events, a practice known as event pricing. “She’d done the research, she’d found the deal … and she’d booked it and thought she was done, and she was not,” said Fewer, who directs the Samuelson-Glushko Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) at the University of Ottawa.”It’s a weak position … our consumer protection laws are not great.”‘Everything about this felt off’When Mann booked the accommodations, Formula One organizers hadn’t locked in the exact race dates. So she covered her bases — reserving the same four-bedroom unit for two possible weekends in May 2026, both with free cancellation.Once the official dates were announced, she cancelled the extra booking, in line with Booking.com rules.Mann says she first heard there was a problem weeks later on June 27, when the hotel called her saying the price was wrong and she needed to cancel or pay the new rate. She contacted Booking.com, which gave her two choices: Cancel the reservation herself or pay that new sky-high rate for the same unit on the same dates.When she refused and demanded to keep her original booking, the website cancelled it.At this point, Mann says flights were already booked, and accommodation prices in Montreal were rising quickly.”It felt like they were running out the clock,” she said.Despite her efforts, nothing changed. “It felt like Groundhog Day, to be honest,” she said. “Every time it was the same thing. You call in, you’re on an immense hold, you talk to someone, you tell the whole story over again.”The Holland Hotel by Simplissimmo is at the heart of Montreal, close to tourist hot spots, and the Formula One Grand Prix events. (Charles Contant/CBC)Hotel blames pricing glitchThe Holland Hotel where Mann had booked, told Go Public a “synchronization error” with Booking.com caused the issue, allowing non-event pricing to briefly appear for two units at the property. When they did, the hotel says Mann booked one of them.It said an automated software updates prices through Booking.com’s system — which means the hotel can’t manually override the rates shown on the platform. The hotel says that when Formula One organizers confirmed in 2024 that the 2026 Montreal Grand Prix would take place on the third or fourth weekend of May, the system should have automatically adjusted those dates to “event pricing.”Mercedes driver George Russell, of the United Kingdom, drives during Formula One auto racing action at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal on June 15. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press)Booking.com says the hotel asked them to review the case. The site sided with the property after it reported the posted rate was an error. Mann says Booking.com did offer alternative accommodations for roughly what she paid — but none were remotely equivalent and would have meant squeezing her in with her adult step brother, step sister and partner, plus her 24-year-old son and husband.”One was a single-room studio with two beds,” she said. “Another had one bathroom. We’re a group of adults, not backpackers.”Fine-print pitfall Booking.com’s terms note that “Obvious errors and obvious misprints are not binding. For example, if you book a premium car or a night in a luxury suite mistakenly offered for $1, your booking may be cancelled, and we’ll refund anything you’ve paid.” The hotel told Go Public it was this Booking.com rule that allowed Mann’s reservation to be cancelled, and noted that “nothing about this case is unusual.”It says rates are always higher during the Grand Prix, and the increased prices were a “consistent and a well-known market reality” during the event.Digital law expert David Fewer says booking platforms offer few protections to users and consumer protection laws are lacking. (Naomi Fewer)Fewer isn’t convinced. “It’s not like they missed the decimal point, right? They gave you the hotel for a buck instead of a thousand bucks. This is something else,” Fewer said. “This is where I think consumers should get the benefit.”He says the bigger problem is that travellers are often left to fend for themselves, noting that many booking platforms have policies that don’t protect customers, and consumer protection laws haven’t caught up. “What we need is a consumer protection statute,” he said. “Especially for these kinds of things like surge pricing or after-the-fact event pricing … consumers get the benefit of the deal that they found.”Booking.com takes action — after Go Public inquires After Go Public contacted Booking.com, the company took another look at Mann’s case. In a written statement, it said the hotel requested the cancellation.WATCH | Booking.com is one of the biggest online travel agencies:Booking.com cancels $4K reservation, offers to rebook for $17K | Go PublicAn Ontario woman booked a $4,300 hotel for the 2026 Montreal Grand Prix, but Booking.com cancelled it and offered her the same rooms on the same dates for more than $17,000. A digital rights lawyer told CBC Go Public the situation is an example of how automated pricing and weak protections can leave travellers exposed.”Our procedures do allow for cancellations in limited circumstances where a genuine rate mistake has occurred,” Booking.com wrote to Go Public. “That being said, we recognize that communication to the customer fell short of our usual standards.”The company says the cancellation was approved under its standard policy permitting properties to void bookings in “rare cases where a property identifies a clear rate error.”Following Go Public’s questions, Booking.com told Mann it would honour her original booking and cover the price difference — allowing her to keep the same four bedroom unit at no additional cost. Mann says she’s relieved, but says getting help shouldn’t require contacting the media.”You’re basically left holding an empty bag and have no power.”How Canadians can protect themselvesFewer says travellers booking accommodations during major events should take the following steps to protect themselves:Taking screenshots during the booking including numbers and prices.Calling hotels directly to confirm the reservation rate.Using credit cards with strong dispute policies.”You need to protect yourself the way you would with any contract,” he said.Mann says she did everything right — booked early and documented everything — and still ended up fighting for almost two months to get what she paid for.”I’ve used Booking.com for so many other trips and travels, but to me, when this sort of thing happens,” she said, “You lose faith.Submit your story ideasGo Public is an investigative news segment on CBC-TV, radio and the web.We tell your stories, shed light on wrongdoing and hold the powers that be accountable.If you have a story in the public interest, or if you’re an insider with information, contact gopublic@cbc.ca with your name, contact information and a brief summary. 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Booking.com cancelled woman’s $4K hotel reservation, then offered her same rooms for $17K
