Holiday Extras has been told off by the Advertising Standards Authority for wrongly claiming it offered free cancellation on an airport parking product.
A customer looking through listings for parking at Stansted Airport on the holidayextras.com site on 3 March clicked on a text box saying ‘Flextras: Free Cancellation’, which linked to a pop-up box that said: “FLEXTRAS: FREE CANCELLATION is our most flexible option. You can amend or cancel your booking up to your booked arrival time, without any fees.”
A further link went to on to say refunds within seven days of booking would be issued as a voucher, which could be exchanged for a cash refund within 14 days of receipt.
For cancellations made seven or more days after the booking, £10 of the refund would be withheld and saved to the customer’s account to be put towards a future booking.
Bookings cancelled on the date of arrival would not be eligible for a cash refund.
The customer complained to the ASA that the claim ‘free cancellation’ was misleading
Holiday Extras argued that to explain the voucher provision on the first page of booking would cause more confusion than benefit and it was fair and reasonable for that information to appear in the terms and conditions.
The terms were implemented as a safeguard against a small number of customers making a large number of bookings and then cancelling at the last minute, the company claimed.
However, the ASA said customers would assume they would be able to cancel or amend a booking until their booked arrival time without incurring a financial penalty and be refunded in full.
Holiday Extras was told to ensure future adverts do not mislead and include information clearly and prominently.
The post Travel company’s ‘free cancellation’ claim was misleading appeared first on Travel Gossip.
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A customer looking through listings for parking at Stansted Airport on the holidayextras.com site on 3 March clicked on a text box saying ‘Flextras: Free Cancellation’, which linked to a pop-up box that said: “FLEXTRAS: FREE CANCELLATION is our most flexible option. You can amend or cancel your booking up to your booked arrival time, without any fees.”
A further link went to on to say refunds within seven days of booking would be issued as a voucher, which could be exchanged for a cash refund within 14 days of receipt.
For cancellations made seven or more days after the booking, £10 of the refund would be withheld and saved to the customer’s account to be put towards a future booking.
Bookings cancelled on the date of arrival would not be eligible for a cash refund.
The customer complained to the ASA that the claim ‘free cancellation’ was misleading
Holiday Extras argued that to explain the voucher provision on the first page of booking would cause more confusion than benefit and it was fair and reasonable for that information to appear in the terms and conditions.
The terms were implemented as a safeguard against a small number of customers making a large number of bookings and then cancelling at the last minute, the company claimed.
However, the ASA said customers would assume they would be able to cancel or amend a booking until their booked arrival time without incurring a financial penalty and be refunded in full.
Holiday Extras was told to ensure future adverts do not mislead and include information clearly and prominently.
The post Travel company’s ‘free cancellation’ claim was misleading appeared first on Travel Gossip.
Continue reading...
