The Polish competition authority has opened two proceedings against Holiday Park & Resort: one concerning alleged practices that infringe consumers’ collective interests, and another examining whether provisions in the company’s terms and conditions are unfair. The investigation focuses on the presentation of accommodation prices and mandatory fees, as well as clauses that may allow the company to change terms for bookings already made.

The authority describes a booking example for three people staying seven nights in a summer-season cottage with a garden. The initial screen showed a rate of PLN 88.78 per person per night, calculated on the cottage’s maximum capacity of nine guests rather than the three people actually travelling. At a later stage, the displayed rate rose to PLN 99.30 per person per night, still based on nine guests. The booking then added mandatory charges of PLN 249.99 for preparing and cleaning the cottage and PLN 413 for the garden, bringing the stated total to PLN 6,255.99. The per-night rate was displayed more prominently than the total price.

The preparation and cleaning charge was automatically added and could not be declined, although the booking form presented it as an optional “upgrade”; the company’s rules described the service as mandatory and paid. Near the end of the booking process, customers were also told that the amount labelled “total to pay” excluded, among other things, a PLN 899 deposit and a daily operating fee. In summer, the operating fee was PLN 4.99 per person per day. Although the deposit could be refunded, it increased the amount customers had to pay before their stay.

Customers were not informed during the online booking process that they would also be charged for electricity, gas or heating, water and sewage. These utility costs were collected at checkout. Sample bills provided to the authority showed charges of around PLN 100 to more than PLN 200 for stays of five or six days. The authority says the deposit, operating fee and utilities could together exceed PLN 1,000 and sometimes account for more than half of the overall stay cost.

The authority is examining whether this gradual disclosure of mandatory charges amounts to “drip pricing”: showing an attractive initial price and revealing additional compulsory payments as customers proceed through the booking process. It says this can make it harder for consumers to assess the true cost and compare offers.

The second proceeding concerns clauses allowing Holiday Park & Resort to amend its rules. Earlier terms reportedly allowed new conditions to take effect after publication on the company’s website and a 14-day period, without specifying an important reason for changing the contract. The current rules allow changes to existing bookings for an “important reason”, but the list of reasons is non-exhaustive and includes changes to services, preventing abuse, correcting inaccuracies and improving privacy protection. The authority will assess whether these broad and imprecise grounds give the company excessive discretion to alter concluded contracts.

If the allegations are confirmed, the authority may order the company to stop the practices, declare the challenged terms unfair and prohibit their continued use. It may also impose a fine of up to 10% of the company’s annual turnover for each challenged practice.