P&O Sharp Practice at time of Booking

Went to book a cruise yesterday online. I keyed in all my personal and debit card details, accepted the T&C's and then got a "5043:Category is no longer available. Please select a new category and retry." message. So, booking was not accepted. Rang P&O and they said the price had gone up by £87.

In principle, I don't like this behaviour. If I see a price on the shelves at a supermarket, and certainly it happens with Tesco, I expect to pay that price at the checkout desk.

I tried the same thing today, and the same thing happened.

To me, this is the worst computer system ever - the type that p******s off customers. The booking staff didn't seem too bothered that this had happened! Get a grip Carnival / P&O !!

Mel - a potential customer, lost to Royal Caribbean.

Went to book a cruise yesterday online. I keyed in all my personal and debit card details, accepted the T&C's and then got a "5043:Category is no longer available. Please select a new category and retry." message. So, booking was not accepted. Rang P&O and they said the price had gone up by £87.

 

In principle, I don't like this behaviour. If I see a price on the shelves at a supermarket, and certainly it happens with Tesco, I expect to pay that price at the checkout desk.

 

I tried the same thing today, and the same thing happened.

 

To me, this is the worst computer system ever - the type that p******s off customers. The booking staff didn't seem too bothered that this had happened! Get a grip Carnival / P&O !!

 

Mel - a potential customer, lost to Royal Caribbean.

RCL did similar, but this time actually during the telephone booking, when the price went up by £120.00 each. On questioning, were told price only confirmed when deposit taken/paid.

Declined to pay the increase on principle, ask to speak with a manager. Manager supported the price only confirmed as/when deposit taken.

No generosity on the part of RCL towards a P, no booking by us then, and since. RCL could not care a jot, and looks like the same with P&O.

Better with Cunard, they held four cabins overnight without a deposit. Overnight the price had increased, but Cunard honoured the lower price.

Hi....this certainly does give a sour taste in the mouth but unfortunately I don't think they are in the wrong...legally. The contract is only formed when "money" has changed hands so up to that point in the booking process prices remain fluid.

In the case of Tesco if you are charged more than the price on the shelf at the checkout complete the sale and then query the price and they then have to refund you this difference because you have been overcharged...and I think Tesco refund you double the difference. If you query the price before you have paid for the item they are not legally bound to sell it at the lower price although as a gesture of goodwill they usually do.

I'm surprised that Cunard operate ethically. They use the same computer systems as P&O. What shocked me was that they could quote the price; take the full debit card details for the full amount requested, then reject the booking. And, they can do this two days running. That is Friday afternoon and Saturday morning on the same booking. So, it's not just bad timing on my part - i.e. one millisecond out, it's at least 12 hours during which they are misleading potential customers.

Just to correct the mis-information - to have a valid contract there has to be Offer, Acceptance and Consideration.The price on a supermarket shelf or on P&O's website is legally known as An Invitation to Treat. When you proceed to pay you are making an Offer to Buy, The supplier can then accept or reject the offer and if your offer is rejected then there is no Acceptance so no Contract.

It is true to say that Tesco and other retailers may well accept your offer to buy at the "wrongly" marked price but that is a Goodwill gesture.

Hi....this certainly does give a sour taste in the mouth but unfortunately I don't think they are in the wrong...legally. The contract is only formed when "money" has changed hands so up to that point in the booking process prices remain fluid.

In the case of Tesco if you are charged more than the price on the shelf at the checkout complete the sale and then query the price and they then have to refund you this difference because you have been overcharged...and I think Tesco refund you double the difference. If you query the price before you have paid for the item they are not legally bound to sell it at the lower price although as a gesture of goodwill they usually do.

Agree with RCL from their legal terms and conditions. However, a good will gesture by RCL (not forthcoming) would have been fair, decent and ethical, as the increase occurred during the booking conversation.

A clear case of "The Computer says NO".

Unfortunately it is a sign of the times as "fluid pricing" is the norm these days with cruise and land based companies. Never heard or being offered by Cunard to "hold" 4 cabins and guarantee the price over night before. We booked a future cruise on QM2 when we were onboard QE 3 weeks ago at the Future Cruise desk and she gave us a price of the cabin we requested and she said if you think about it and come back later the price might change. It did have the opposite effect to us once when booking a ski holiday online halfway through booking process and filling in details a box came up saying price had changed and when we got to final page to confirm with total price the cost had actually decreased so it can happen both ways.

This is why I do not book by computer. I phone my TA he gives me a price and I say go ahead.

Having said that I always book on day one having instructed the TA before the cruise goes on sale.

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This is why I like booking through that well known German travel agent. Their normal booking process is to give you an option booking which guarantees your cabin and price for a few days.

You can then get them to extend the option period if necessary. If the price drops you can get them to reprice the option (as long as you haven't yet excercised the option by making payment of course).

Just to correct the mis-information - to have a valid contract there has to be Offer, Acceptance and Consideration.The price on a supermarket shelf or on P&O's website is legally known as An Invitation to Treat. When you proceed to pay you are making an Offer to Buy, The supplier can then accept or reject the offer and if your offer is rejected then there is no Acceptance so no Contract.

It is true to say that Tesco and other retailers may well accept your offer to buy at the "wrongly" marked price but that is a Goodwill gesture.

That's a textbook answer, are you a procurement professional by any chance (CIPS) ?

No - Until I retired I was Company Secretary for a Public company

No - Until I retired I was Company Secretary for a Public company

Ah, right.

But if they continue to advertise a cruise at a price that is not available then the Advertising Standards Authority is the place to go. It is incorrect advertising even when on their own website.

But if they continue to advertise a cruise at a price that is not available then the Advertising Standards Authority is the place to go. It is incorrect advertising even when on their own website.

PandO are certainly not the only ones who do this

All holiday companies do it. There is an investigation just started about selling techniques on line such as ‘only 5 rooms left’ etc etc and prices increasing between selecting and paying.

It is easy enough to write an algorithm which is set to increase prices before final payment is made. Choosing and booking a holiday takes time and many are psychologically fixed on the holiday and will pay a few quid extra as not booking means starting again.

In some way its like buying a car. Very few walk once they are close to signing, especially if the extra required is only seen as a few pounds on a purchase which may cost thousands.

All holiday companies do it. There is an investigation just started about selling techniques on line such as ‘only 5 rooms left’ etc etc and prices increasing between selecting and paying.

 

It is easy enough to write an algorithm which is set to increase prices before final payment is made. Choosing and booking a holiday takes time and many are psychologically fixed on the holiday and will pay a few quid extra as not booking means starting again.

 

In some way its like buying a car. Very few walk once they are close to signing, especially if the extra required is only seen as a few pounds on a purchase which may cost thousands.

Happens with low cost air fares as well - book the flights and go to pay and you get a 'phone this number' message only to be told that the fare has gone up. The fare was probably never available at all.

Take screen shots of anything like this and then fill in the form at Advertising Standards. I did that for a UK holiday firm and now the prices that are shown upfront are always the ones you get.

It is easy enough to write an algorithm which is set to increase prices before final payment is made. Choosing and booking a holiday takes time and many are psychologically fixed on the holiday and will pay a few quid extra as not booking means starting again.

I quite agree that this is what has happened here with P&O. What really annoyed me was that they took my full debit card details, including security code, before they rejected the booking. And this was with two booking attempts spread over two consecutive days! In normal circumstance the entry of the debit card details would be the final screen before the booking confirmation.

If they are going to do this kind of psychological trick, I think British folk in general are not the type of people that will accept being manipulated in this way. P&O are playing fast and loose with their brand name - their prices don't exactly make them Ryanair of the Seas!

It may or may not be a deliberate selling method online and should be investigated. Or it could be a simple result of the sophisticated pricing algorithms they all use. If demand (booking starts) exceeds 'N' per minute increase the price. The algorithm is obviously too time sensitive for us and could be de tuned to a longer time delay but the corporate bean counters would be horrified at this.

I book via my TA during the week when there is less demand and know the price before I pay. In fact the price is the first thing they calculate.

I always book by phone with P&O after having done a dummy booking online and have never experienced any price changes such as described on this thread. Most bookings I make are well in advance soon after release of the cruise season when demand is most likely to cause fluctuation and increases. We even managed to book one of the three Oriana cruises early next year after the ‘controversial extra dry dock repairs’ at the ridiculously low advertised price and not a penny more.

Prices increasing during the booking process is perhaps not as common as some may have us believe.

I've complained via email to P&O about this attempted booking - I'm not holding my breath.

Today, I also got an email from them with a "Still keen on this holiday?" heading and containing a "Continue your booking" link. As I expected, for the third time, my booking was rejected.

I give up with P&O.

Reading this post, I suspect there was a time lapse, between viewing or receiving the price,and subsequently processing the booking.

Reading this post, I suspect there was a time lapse, between viewing or receiving the price,and subsequently processing the booking.

Three days running? No, now I'm sure it's a P&O / Carnival computer issue. They are not synchronising the website ( shop front ) with their payment system ( checkout till ). It might be intended, or unintentional, psychological prospect manipulation by the Marketing Dept., or just IT Dept incompetence. I think it's the latter, where a website is bolted onto the front of an agent centric booking system. Just a thought!

Mel

I went on the P&o website this morning and did a booking for a cruise and it told me it was £1039.00 so I rang the booking line and was told it would be £1119.00 when I asked why I was told that that price was a couple of hours old and would be told the new price online when I went to pay [emoji15]

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I went on the P&o website this morning and did a booking for a cruise and it told me it was £1039.00 so I rang the booking line and was told it would be £1119.00 when I asked why I was told that that price was a couple of hours old and would be told the new price online when I went to pay [emoji15]

 

 

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Very similar to the situation I have encountered with low cost airfare agents in the past - see post 16