P&O Tried to Book Web Page Price but Was Charged Higher Price

Rockgod70 on 09/08/2022 - 15:55
Last edited 09/08/2022 - 16:33 by 1 other user

Hoping someone can offer some advice here. For some time the wife has wanted to go to Tasmania. I did up a spreadsheet a few months back showing the options travel, via Cruise, driving, flying etc. It was a starting point to revisit later.

While I was away on a work trip I got an email from P&O saying that, for a limited time, cruises 7 days or more would receive a free drinks package. We're not big drinkers but even 1 or 2 drinks a day adds up. Out of curiosity I clicked the link and looked up a cruise in November that was eligible and the price was $749pp twin share. I forwarded the email to the wife to discuss when I got home.

As usual the wife didn't read the email and I'd been home a few days and mentioned it to her. We went to the travel agent to check with them as I have a travel voucher that I got prior to Covid so wanted to use that. The Travel Agent looked up her system and the price was different, over $2K. She said if I see it at that price I should have jumped on it. I was confused and started second guessing myself.

I got home and looked at my laptop. Thankfully I still had the tab open. I refreshed, saved the trip, and the price was still the same as I had seen it previously; $749pp. I wasn't seeing things!

So, I proceeded with the booking….but the Book Now wasn't working. I reloaded and went through again…not working. I loaded up a different browser and tried again, same thing. Whilst in the other browser I clicked on the 'extras' button to see what that would do. It increased the price to over $3K..no thanks. I closed that browser and went back to the original browser, with the 'book now' button ready. I clicked it and…it worked, HOWEVER a pop-up came on the screen saying I had paid a deposit for a $2.5K cruise, not the $1.4K I was expecting.

I immediately tried to get onto P&O but it was outside their contact hours (Saturday in May) so I filled out the online query form. I then rang on the Monday and spoke to someone, they because it was online I needed to fill in the online query. I told them I had done that and they said I would need to wait for them to get back to me. A few weeks passed and I rang again. The person told me there was nothing they could do and I would just have to wait for the online people to respond.

A month had passed and I finally got a response: "Please be advised that prices are subject to change"… Clearly they had not read the problem, so onto the phone again. I told them I understood prices change, but this was from appearing on the screen, clicking, then the price changing. Things don't work like that!

I've now called them about eight times and each time they say they are investigating and that someone will call me back. I feel like I'm getting the run-around and they are hoping I'll give in, but I'd rather cancel than have to pay full rate. I've just got off the phone with them again and they said I need to give them time to investigate and to call back tomorrow.

I don't seem to be getting anywhere. My dad says I should contact Consumer Affairs, but that seems over the top, and I'm not sure what sort of resolution I'll get going to that extreme.

Any advice?

Travel

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Comments

  • Godric on 09/08/2022 - 16:05
    +12

    Holy Wall of Walls

  • hothed on 09/08/2022 - 16:06
    +7

    Send the correspondance to your bank and initate a charge back.

    • Rockgod70 on 09/08/2022 - 16:07

      Yeah, i haven't got to the stage where I'm asking to cancel and refund, but I'm getting close.

      • fantombloo on 09/08/2022 - 16:16
        +2

        Keep going like above and they'll probably ask to cancel and refund!

        (But anyway, good luck, and keep going anyway.)

  • bobbified on 09/08/2022 - 16:19

    Are you sure there's no fineprint on that ad somewhere that you may have missed?

    • Rockgod70 on 09/08/2022 - 16:28

      When I went through the booking it came up to the final screen and said basically here is the final cost inc all fees and charges (inc GST etc). I'm pretty sure they can't add anything on beyond that.

  • zoecot on 09/08/2022 - 16:37

    Did you screenshot everything? If yes maybe bring to fairtrade?

    • Rockgod70 on 09/08/2022 - 16:37

      Yeah, i copied it all to send to the Travel Agent to show i wasn't dreaming

  • Shadowsfury on 09/08/2022 - 16:45
    +2

    Could maybe cookies or something interfered with what you saw? Showing you old pricing from when you first clicked, vs a refreshed price a few days later - which you wouldn't have seen pull through unless you forced a refresh of the page and cookies?

    • Rockgod70 on 09/08/2022 - 16:47

      i did a refresh of page prior just in case

      • TilacVIP on 10/08/2022 - 08:44
        +1

        You probably needed to clear the cookies and cache, restart the browser.

        • Murdrum on 11/08/2022 - 11:24

          That's not an expectation that should be placed on any user. Your application has a bug if the data you've stored in the user's browser is causing problems!

          • TilacVIP on 11/08/2022 - 11:30

            @Murdrum: Agreed, but it will state something along the line they are not responsible, blah, blah, blah.

            We all know business have these T's & C's to protect themselves from being sued.

  • FLICKIT on 09/08/2022 - 16:47
    +2

    Looking at a similar cruise:
    https://www.pocruises.com.au/cruises/a-taste-of-tasmania/v25…

    It appears the drinks package is $590, "VALUE PLUS +$589.99 pp", so they may have added that to your booking when it should have been free….

    • Rockgod70 on 09/08/2022 - 16:48

      On my Booking Confirmation it says I have the "Cheers to You" package included for booking within allocated dates

      • FLICKIT on 09/08/2022 - 16:57

        What I was getting at, is the amount you've been overcharged about $1180, have they somehow charged you the normal drinks package price…

        It appears the Value-Plus and Cheers to you packages are both Premium Drinks packages

        • Rockgod70 on 09/08/2022 - 17:00

          Yeah, maybe, worth noting, thanks.
          The wording on the Booking Confirmation says "Premium Drinks package will be included for bookings made between…" etc, and I am definitely within the dates.

    • Rockgod70 on 11/08/2022 - 11:33
      +1

      I actually think you're onto something here, I'll mention it to them when they finally ring me, cheers!

  • [Deactivated] on 09/08/2022 - 17:12
    +2

    Did you cause the page to cache in your original browser and the offer was for 'one day only' or some such? Going to a new browser may have reset your account to the higher price.
    If you didn't reload or clear cache I would say the price change is on you. Especially if the travel agent was seeing higher pricing at the time.

    • Rockgod70 on 09/08/2022 - 17:28

      No, the offer was for the period 11/5 to 24/5. As mentioned, I pressed refresh on the browser to make sure it was all up to date prior to booking.

  • Tee Rex Arms on 09/08/2022 - 18:44
    -5

    “I did up a spreadsheet…” lol

    • Rockgod70 on 09/08/2022 - 18:51
      +8

      I like to compare options, plus, it's easier to show the wife what i've come up with

    • Flying Ace on 09/08/2022 - 21:18
      +3

      What's wrong with that? It's a perfectly reasonable way to compare costs.

  • Benoffie on 09/08/2022 - 19:04
    +1

    A) cruise prices can and do change within minutes. As cabins book out, they auto adjust.

    B) they will frequently state from $xxxx but when you actually go into the booking system, there's no rooms at xxxx and so you pay higher.

    The trick is not to next, next, next everything.

    If however, you can still see actual cabins available at the lower price (on the booking page, not the first page), then it's an error. Given its a month,cancel and charge back or whatever

  • bloom on 09/08/2022 - 21:27
    -1

    Maybe they just added the 14 day hotel quarantine package given your jumping on a cruise ship?

    • JimmyF on 09/08/2022 - 21:51
      -1

      LOL 2020 is calling I see.

  • JimmyF on 09/08/2022 - 21:51
    -1

    She said if I see it at that price I should have jumped on it.

    She is correct…. /thread

  • Waltervp on 10/08/2022 - 09:44
    +1

    I have booked with Carnival in the past and their administration and finance is the same. Takes years to sort things out… no idea why, maybe because of post covid finance and survival??? I try be patient as I want the show to go on, but that doesn't mean to drop it. Keep onto them!! But, depending on the value, I would definitely dispute the credit card charge asap as you can't do that after a certain time.

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