California State Parks website contractor adds illegal junk fees, lawsuit claims
Even those seeking peace in the great outdoors can’t seem to escape an annoying facet of today’s online world: surprise junk fees.
That’s the argument of several California residents who filed a federal class action lawsuit Thursday against a government contractor, alleging the company has been illegally tacking on last-minute reservation fees in the online check-out process — a violation of the state’s 2024 Honest Pricing Law.
In December 2023, the California Department of Parks and Recreation entered into a contract with Tyler Technologies Inc. to run the booking website “ReserveCalifornia,” which the public uses to book campsites and lodging in some of the 280 state parks.
Since operating the site, Tyler Technologies has been illegally charging park visitors a reservation fee by not listing the total amount upfront, the complaint alleges. The $8.25 fee can increase the total reservation cost by 24%.
In a federal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court of Northern California, two state residents who used the booking system, James Chowning and Adam Fitzgerald, argued that adding the reservation fee at the end of the checkout process, after they had selected the dates and location of the campsite, is an unfair business practice.
Honest Pricing Law mandates disclosure
The Honest Pricing Law requires businesses to list the price of purchase with all mandatory charges as a way to tamp down on “drip pricing,” which is the slow accumulation of fees and other charges when going through several steps of online purchases.
Additionally, the plaintiffs said they believed the cost of the reservation would go to support California State Parks. Instead, that fee goes entirely to the private company running the site, the lawsuit states.
“The false impression about where the money is going is also deceptive,” Wesley Griffith, a lawyer for Chowning and Fitzgerald, said in an interview. “This is an ongoing cash cow that could generate between $35 and $42 million a year in revenue for this government contractor.”
Over the contract’s 10-year lifespan, the company could receive up to $398 million, according to the agreement with the state.
The parks department said the agreement with Tyler Technologies is a “no-cost contract,” meaning the company is paid through the reservation fees for operating the website and a point-of-sale system for the state parks.
New contract coincided with fee increase
Tyler Technologies took over operations of the website in August 2024, which was the same time that the reservation fees increased. The baseline camping reservation fee increased from $7.99 to $8.25, according to the parks department’s website, where all the cost associated to booking are posted.
Both Tyler Technologies and the California State Parks department declined to comment, citing the pending litigation.
The contract between Tyler Technologies and the California parks department states that the company must follow state and federal law while operating the booking website, Griffith said.
He said that it is clear to anyone who has made a reservation on the site that Tyler Technologies added a last-minute fee — a clear violation of California consumer protection laws.
Griffith noted that the complaint was filed in a federal court because the plaintiffs are residents of a different state than where the defendant is based. Tyler Technologies’ headquarters is in Texas but has offices across the world, including one in Modesto.
California State Parks is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
This story was originally published May 8, 2025 at 5:18 PM with the headline "California State Parks website contractor adds illegal junk fees, lawsuit claims."
