In a letter sent on 12 March 2026, Euroconsumers and its national member organisations issued a formal ease-and-desist notice to eDreams and a demand for compensation to consumers who have lost money through the comparison site’s deceptive design. 

The letter followed a decision last month by the Italian Competition and Market Authority (AGCM), which ruled that the company engaged in unfair and aggressive practices in the way it ran the eDreams Prime subscription service. 

The AGCM decision came with a €9 million fine for eDreams (which has been appealed by the company)but the comparison site, as stated in the sanctioning decision itself,  is still engaging in unfair conduct that breaches EU consumer law and costs people money.

Additionally over 3,000 complaints from consumers in Belgium, Spain, Italy and Portugal show the practices are systemic and ongoing.  Euroconsumers say it’s time to stop and compensate consumers. 

What did the Italian Consumer Watchdog say about eDreams?

The AGCM investigation concluded that eDreams uses manipulative website design, sometimes referred to as “dark patterns”,  to push consumers towards taking out unnecessary subscriptions which are deliberately difficult to cancel.   

First, consumers were misled by confusing price displays, false claims about savings, complex free trial sign-ups, and automatic enrolment into the most expensive subscription option called ‘Prime Plus’ during booking.  

Then, consumers were faced with a bewildering and intentionally onerous unsubscribe process, which obscured cooling off period options and used pressure tactics to discourage cancellations. This left consumers trapped into paying monthly subscriptions which offered little benefit to them. 

Dark patterns are harmful and illegal

Design tricks like pre-ticked boxes, misleading price comparisons, countdown timers and hidden cancellation options have become so normalised in digital markets that consumers may not realise they are prohibited under EU consumer law.

The AGCM’s finding reminds us again how these design tactics harm consumers and highlights the real consequences online businesses face when they rely on manipulation as a commercial strategy.

eDreams must wake up and make changes 

Off the back of a €9 million euro fine and thousands of unhappy consumers, it’s time eDreams woke up to its responsibilities and changed its game. Euroconsumers letter calls on eDreams to: 

• • Stop all deceptive and aggressive practices, including pre-selected subscription options, misleading price comparisons and hidden cancellation pathways. 
• • Provide full reimbursement to affected consumers, particularly those charged without explicit consent, billed despite free-trial offers, automatically enrolled in Prime Plus or prevented from cancelling their subscriptions. 
• • Revise its digital interfaces to ensure full transparency regarding subscription costs, renewals and cancellation procedures, in line with European consumer protection law. 

Euroconsumers has given eDreams 30 days to respond with a comprehensive remediation and compensation plan.  If there’s no response, then we’ll look at options for cross-border complaints and collective action at the European level.