Decolar condemned for misleading hotel advertising: luxury was ‘trash’

A Sao Paulo judge has ordered online travel agency Decolar to pay R$10,000 in compensation to a tourist who was the victim of a false advertisement.

In 2022, while planning to travel to Toronto, Canada, a tourist was able to access the website and, based on the available photos, made a reservation at the Deluxe Inn, in the city center, paying about R$7,600 on his credit card.

“I thought I had chosen a luxurious and comfortable hotel,” said the tourist, who planned to stay at the hotel for 15 days.

Arriving there, after a 14-hour flight, the tourist discovered that the hotel was not at all what he imagined it to be.

“The disappointment was immediate. The facilities were awful, old building, no hotel look, dirty, with rubbish sloshing through bins, completely different than what was advertised.”

The tourist said that there was trash in the room left by other guests, the lights were burnt out, the heater was rusty, and the toilet was old and clogged. It was not Wifi And the stove is not working properly.

“The bed had bed bugs and mosquitoes,” he declared.

The tourist stated that he contacted Decolar, but the company did not take any action. It did absolutely nothing to solve the problem.”

In the defense presented to Justice, the agency stated that it is a travel portal that only mediates between the hotel and the consumer, and is not responsible for failures to provide the service. He said that the customer signed a service contract that provided this information.

Decolar stated, “The hotels make the images available, and take exclusive responsibility for providing the services.”

And the company announced that it had done its part, making reservations at the hotel. If there is any copyright infringement [do processo]It wasn’t because of Decolar. “

Judge Monica De Stasi said in the sentence that Dicollar is responsible, yes, according to the Consumer Protection Act. It stated that the advertisements displayed on the site are misleading, “given the contradiction between the available images and the reality experienced by the tourist.”

Decolar can still appeal.

The column was unable to contact the hotel.