Trading Standards slams operators over pricing
ABTA has defended tour operators against claims made by the Trading Standards Institute (TSI) that brochure prices represent an “unhealthy cocktail of confusion” for consumers.
It follows the breakdown of roundtable discussions between the TSI, LACOTS (the Local Authorities Coordinating Body on Food and Trading Standards), the Federation of Tour Operators and Thomson, Airtours, First Choice, JMC/Thomas Cook and Cosmos where ABTA acted as moderator.
The aim of the meetings was to try to tackle the issue of brochure prices which according to the TSI lack transparency and give consumers no meaningful way of comparing costs. Its suggestion of a maximum pricing regime (where the brochure price would never be exceeded but could be discounted) was rejected by the operators and the talks broke down.
Bruce Treloar, TSI Lead Officer, Package Travel, said: ‘It would seem tour operators continue to be intoxicated by that heady cocktail of misleading consumers with a lack of transparent pricing and trying to ensure, by pulling out all the component parts, that consumers are presented with price supplements which they would normally expect to be included in traditional holidays.”
His views were backed up by Patricia Yates, Editor of Holiday Which?. She said: “Tour operators do their best to make holiday prices bewilderingly complicated, and you can’t rely on the brochure price even if you can work out the price tables and all the supplements buried in the small print.”
Ms Yates added: “Up to three editions of the brochure can be issued for the same holiday season, with different prices in each edition, and so called ‘fluid pricing’ means that travel agents are supplied with on-screen prices that can change by the hour depending on how well holidays are selling.”
But ABTA points out that the issue of brochure pricing is not easily resolved because brochures are often printed up to a year in advance and have a long shelf life. It points out that circumstances can change during the intervening time period and operators have little option but to alter their prices accordingly.
A spokesman told TravelMole: “Many different factors come into play – oil prices can change or hoteliers can put their prices up – so it’s very difficult to have one single price. The point is that when the customer comes to book they must be made aware of every charge they will have to pay so there are no surprises.”
He added: “In other countries such as Germany they just do not discount on the brochure price – the price you see is the price you
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