A union of French hoteliers is taking legal action against user review giant TripAdvisor and parent company Expedia over what it calls "unfair commercial practices".
The Synhorcat group filed a lawsuit at the Commercial Court in Paris last week with a raft of claims against the two companies and sister site Hotels.com.
The deposition is pretty fierce and cannot be corroborated at present.
Visitors to these websites, hotel guests and hospitality professionals today are deceived by false information provided on these sites, 'pirates of the canvas'.
"The Synhorcat began a dialogue with those operators who are deaf to its demands, however legitimate, to restore a fair and accurate information."
"Visitors to these websites, hotel guests and hospitality professionals today are deceived by false information provided on these sites, 'pirates of the canvas'.
"The Synhorcat began a dialogue with those operators who are deaf to its demands, however legitimate, to restore a fair and accurate information."
In short, Synhorcat says visitors to TripAdvisor are being misled because they are often directed to Expedia for more information rather than the hotel's website.
The union told the AFP wire that if the property does not have an agreement with Expedia, "then it tells you that the hotel is full" instead of offering an alternative.
TripAdvisor would not respond to any of the accusations, remarking only that it does not comment on ongoing litigation.
The user review firm recently launched its Business Listings product so hoteliers can buy additional links to their own pages.