Expedition cruise line Hurtigruten has told advertising watchdogs that an IT error was to blame for misleading pricing information on its website.
It told the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) that the mistake happened due to a recent change in its IT systems and promised to correct it ‘as a matter of urgency’.
A Hurtigruten customer had complained to the ASA that the cruise line claimed on its website that a Northern Lights Expedition Cruise from London was reduced from £4,932 to £1,994, however they said they had previously booked at a lower price than £4,932 and they had never seen it advertised for so much.
They challenged whether the savings claim was misleading.
In its defence, Hurtigruten said the savings claim was pulled from the wrong location on the website due to its recent change in IT systems.
It also said that it affected only one cabin category and that it did not intend to publish misleading price reduction claims.
In its ruling, the ASA said: “We welcomed the action of Hurtigruten to correct the error as soon as they became aware of it.
“However, because Hurtigruten were unable to supply evidence that showed that £4,932 was the established usual selling price of the cruise and that the price reduction represented a genuine saving for consumers, we concluded that the ad was likely to mislead.
“The ad must not appear again in the form complained of. We told Hurtigruten Ltd to ensure their future savings claims did not mislead by including a crossed-out price that was not the usual selling price of the cruise.”
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It told the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) that the mistake happened due to a recent change in its IT systems and promised to correct it ‘as a matter of urgency’.
A Hurtigruten customer had complained to the ASA that the cruise line claimed on its website that a Northern Lights Expedition Cruise from London was reduced from £4,932 to £1,994, however they said they had previously booked at a lower price than £4,932 and they had never seen it advertised for so much.
They challenged whether the savings claim was misleading.
In its defence, Hurtigruten said the savings claim was pulled from the wrong location on the website due to its recent change in IT systems.
It also said that it affected only one cabin category and that it did not intend to publish misleading price reduction claims.
In its ruling, the ASA said: “We welcomed the action of Hurtigruten to correct the error as soon as they became aware of it.
“However, because Hurtigruten were unable to supply evidence that showed that £4,932 was the established usual selling price of the cruise and that the price reduction represented a genuine saving for consumers, we concluded that the ad was likely to mislead.
“The ad must not appear again in the form complained of. We told Hurtigruten Ltd to ensure their future savings claims did not mislead by including a crossed-out price that was not the usual selling price of the cruise.”
The post Hurtigruten says IT error led to misleading price reduction claim appeared first on Travel Gossip.
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