ASA criticises Thomas Cook over price claims
Company was not rigorous enough in its price checking, says watchdog
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has criticised Thomas Cook over an advertisement that claimed it offered the cheapest fares on the internet.
According to reports, the holiday company’s advertisement read: “We check our prices daily on hundreds of scheduled airlines to ensure we always offer you the best fares. But if you should find a cheaper one elsewhere we will match it.” The company did state that the offer did not apply to prices from charter flights and budget carriers.
However, ASA was contacted by a member of the public who said he wanted to challenge Thomas Cook’s claim that “you won’t find a cheaper flight online”, according to the online news provider Ananova. Though Thomas Cook told the regulator that its staff regularly checked fares against those of competitors, but the ASA said evidence suggested that the checks were made on Mondays only.
In its adjudication, the watchdog said: “Because of that the Authority considered that the advertisers had not proved their price checking of competitors’ fares was vigorous enough to support the claim.”
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