False advertising or not

[Bin man]

Just tried to book a iona cruise balcony Oct 23 with £600 obc was only £240 yesterday tried booking through my TA when we got to the end came up as only £240 seems P and O glitch in the system .Tried it on the p and o  Web site and now comes up as an error cannot book for 5 ring in and speak to the Holland and American line rep They really know how to unsettle the apple cart .Have been monitoring this cruise for 6 weeks and thought this was a great offer very much the same price paid last year when we got £660 obc  .Took screen shots of the offer and rang direct got through and spoke to sales on p and o and confirmed they had made some kind of mistake on the obc .So I declined to make the booking and asked to send me the quote

 

[Magnu]

I’ve had a very similar experience. Booked a 2025 cruise this afternoon on the P&O website.

2025 June cruise on Ventura in a superior deluxe balcony on D deck for £3757 in including £800 and CPS parking included. Fantastic I thought, until the invoice came through and it only had £380

OBC. So I rang P&O and after an hour on the phone including sending screenshots they said that there was a problem with OBC on the website and would not honour what was on the website. I told the very nice lady to refund the deposit that I have paid an hour previously. Not a happy bunny.

[david63]

Did it say £600 or "up to £600"?

[lindylooellalouise]

1 hour ago, Bin man said:

Just tried to book a iona cruise balcony Oct 23 with £600 obc was only £240 yesterday tried booking through my TA when we got to the end came up as only £240 seems P and O glitch in the system .Tried it on the p and o  Web site and now comes up as an error cannot book for 5 ring in and speak to the Holland and American line rep They really know how to unsettle the apple cart .Have been monitoring this cruise for 6 weeks and thought this was a great offer very much the same price paid last year when we got £660 obc  .Took screen shots of the offer and rang direct got through and spoke to sales on p and o and confirmed they had made some kind of mistake on the obc .So I declined to make the booking and asked to send me the quote

 

Just had the same issue wanted to book Iona 27 Jan 24 offered online £600 obc increase to £720 or car parking, when we enquired it’s £320 obc unbelievable  how they can advertise this it’s so wrong.

[Magnu]

The P&O website is still showing increased OBC for Ventura N514, upto £1400 for a suite !!!!

[Bin man]

Screen shot of offer selecting car parking on a select standard balcony cabin doesn't say upto £600 

[lindylooellalouise]

3 minutes ago, Bin man said:

Screen shot of offer selecting car parking on a select standard balcony cabin doesn't say upto £600 

 

3 minutes ago, Bin man said:

Screen shot of offer selecting car parking on a select standard balcony cabin doesn't say upto £600 

That’s exactly the same as we were offered online, but very different story when we phoned to book.

[heatherb1958]

We booked a 2024 Arvia cruise through an online Travel Agent  2 days ago and got my  P&O invoice from them  today confirming £700 OBC plus the coach transfers . The cruise is 14 days and we booked a balcony.  Hope it isn't a mistake and they take it off us !! 

Edited July 26, 2023 by heatherb1958

[Bin man]

What was the cruise no .If it was a Mediterranean cruise that was a different offer double obc for arvia and Britannia cruises which ends if booked before  31st July if that helps 

[heatherb1958]

Just now, Bin man said:

What was the cruise no .If it was a Mediterranean cruise that was a different offer double obc for arvia and Britannia cruises which ends if booked before  31st July if that helps 

 

Yeh , just checked that on the website . We are good to go 😎.  

Shame about your blip 😔.  

[Bin man]

Checked the p and o website this morning now showing correct obc so finally got it right at present. Will see if they make any better offers in the next few days

[Magnu]

Just checked mine Bin Man and it’s showing reduced OBC. Apparently P&O knew of this problem days ago and it only affected their website, all the TA’s showed the correct amount.

To be fair i have booked 20 P&O cruises direct on their website and this is the first time I’ve had a problem. Shame it was a good deal for 3 adults.

[Sheep Flavour]

Not really false advertising but more of a mistake then? 

[Bin man]

Took them 3 to 4 days to rectify on the site .This does not give you confidence to book any offers that appear 

[Magnu]

I have absolutely no confidence in booking online with them. Their customer agents had no idea what was going on. 
I have reported this to ABTA -ATOl and trading standards, don’t suppose anything will happen but made me feel better.

[Bin man]

Yep I got the same impression unfortunately. It was the first time in booking 32 cruises I thought I would check what they would say if I tried to book direct as my travel agent could only get the £240 obc and she looked it online and could see the £600 obc that wasn't correct that I saw .Never mind I will keep tracking and see if they make a new offer next week and book via my TA

[Magnu]

 Checking for great deals is part of the fun of cruising…isn’t it ?
I will wait until we are on Ventura in October and see if there are any offers n board.

[FamilyCruiserUK]

Its not just P&O website its all the online websites. How many times have people looked at a deal, cruise, air fare only for it to all change when you get to booking screen. Its wrong in so many ways but its expected to differ untill you get the booking confirmation. I always check online before i click accept or ask the agent on phone to confirm before i accept booking. 

[Bin man]

Thats what I did as well as others on this particular question. It was there IT systems that threw up this offer that nobody could book as the true offer was only £240 in my case and not the £600 that was showing because of the IT system  being wrong and taking 3 to 4 days to get it corrected. Its strange as this cruise same date last year on same ship was £660 obc so I thought history was repeating itself not so lucky this time .

[FangedRose]

It's the same as the shelf edge ticket in a shop. If it's wrong and gets corrected at the till the shop has no obligation to honour it. Many will, but they don't have to.

 

You have to prove it was deliberate and not a genuine error to claim it was false advertising.

[Bin man]

Now we have the next promotion live today £600 obc for balcony on Iona cruise but the select price has increased about the same amount with same cabins available. So the offer is about the same .Notice if you decided to take the saver option you cannot get your car booked with cps only taking select booking .So still thinking will it change anymore ? Last year we booked this similar offer and was reduced again after booking can't win really just have to grin and bear it .

[Bin man]

On 7/30/2023 at 3:48 PM, Magnu said:

I have absolutely no confidence in booking online with them. Their customer agents had no idea what was going on. 
I have reported this to ABTA -ATOl and trading standards, don’t suppose anything will happen but made me feel better.

Have you checked today's latest offers

[Magnu]

Hi Bin Man, yes I have checked and it’s back to what it showed last week. Didn’t have confidence in the P&O website so checked with a cruise travel agent. Rang the TA and told them what had happened and they came back with an even better offer. Got what I wanted and cheaper too.

Still waiting for the refund from P&O though, arrogant so and so’s won’t respond to emails and it’s a waste of time ringing them.

[Cruisemeister2002]

OBC, Oh what a wonderful thing to behold. Or is it ? What is it really worth given that many items onboard are hugely overpriced such as bottles of wine that you can get in say Asda or Morrisons for under a tenner costing at least double that. I ordered two glasses of wine , Sauvignon Blanc on a recent cruise and my gasted has never been so flabbered when I saw they cost me nearly 20 pounds. Another item with a huge mark up are bars of chocolate and sweets. My ideal would be that all the food in all venues was upgraded even if it cost a tenner per person per day extra. That drink at the table was cheaper instead of throwing OBC around like confetti and that if you went to the Spa it wasn't their intent to either flog you more treatments or products that if you turn down there seems to be a definite change in the attitude of staff. Not being a positive one at that. Also that it isn't compulsory to have to pay extra to get a decent sunbed. Not bothered about being away from the main group of passengers by having to pay twenty quid per person per day. 

[Bin man]

I agree whole heartedly with you on that .Would rather have the cruise reduced a bit further .Its hard to spend if you don't drink like us or go on any excursions .We had £810 last year bought a new phone £300 at the time was cheaper onboard and bought xmas presents with the rest pandora etc but still ended up with a bit to spend on the chocolates overpriced as you say.