OFT clamps down on misleading prices on UK travel websites
Following a co-ordinated global internet sweep by ICPEN an international network of consumer protection authorities, the OFT revealed last week that it has identified over 54 UK travel websites which make potentially misleading claims about travel deals.
Claims which are being investigated under the Control of Misleading Advertisements Regulations 1988 include,
- 'hot deals' on a front page which bear no resemblance to the prices of the holiday actually available on the website;
- an advertisement stating 'Australia from £599' when the cheapest price was £891.60;
- an offer of 7 nights in Austria in March for £99, when the cheapest price was £259; and
- special offer of £64 per person per night (pppn) with certain conditions when it could not be booked for less than £128 pppn.
In addition, the OFT considers that there are more than 100 other potential breaches of related consumer legislation in relation to the following:
Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulations
This is the fifth time that the OFT has participated in an international sweep of websites and serves as a timely reminder to businesses of the wide ranging powers available to deal with misleading claims, even over the internet, and to ensure that price claims on websites are both accurate and do not unfairly mislead consumers.
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Contact
For further information, please contact Susan Barty by telephone on +44 (0) 20 7367 2542 or by e-mail at susan.barty@cms-cmck.com, or Simon Moran by telephone on +44 (0) 20 7367 3680 or by e-mail at simon.moran@cms-cmck.com
