Travel firms warned over brochure price claims
Yesterday Panorama Holidays and Budget Travel were engaged in a war of words over which firm offered sunseekers the best brochure prices on summer holidays.
Budget said its price for a week on Portugal’s Algarve coast in May was €460 cheaper than rival’s Panorama.
Panorama said its competitor had failed to compare like with like, but Budget insisted the two holidays were the same.
Last night, the Government’s consumer watchdog Ann Fitzgerald warned travel firms that they would be “invited in for a chat” if their brochures triggered complaints from holidaymakers.
“Staff will be spending the next month or two looking through brochures to make sure everything is all right,” she said.
“We are monitoring our (consumer complaints) phonelines to see what’s coming up and if we see a trend in relation to any one company, we will invite them in for a chat.
“It will be an informal discussion as we are all interested in the one thing and that’s good customer service.”
She said advertising standards watchdogs also had the power to force travel companies to scrap ads if they breached guidelines on accuracy.
Last year, the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland (ASAI) upheld a complaint by Panorama against Budget Travel, in a similar row over fuel surcharges on holidays.
The latest war of words was sparked after Budget’s brochure compared its holiday prices with those offered by rivals like Panorama and Stein Travel.
Quoting a week’s break for four adults at Portugal’s Club Praya da Rocha for departure on May 26, Budget’s brochure said its price was €1,316 and that Panorama’s cost €1,776.
Panorama boss Niall McDonnell insisted Budget was using out-of-date prices and had failed to quote the full cost of holidays to include all taxes, charges and fees.
He said Budget had compared prices against just two of the thousands of breaks offered by Panorama.
Urging consumers to shop around, Mr McDonnell added: “People should find out the full cost of their holidays at travel agents and then find out the full cost at Budget Travel.”
Budget, quoting a two-week holiday in Spain’s Gran Canaria for three adults with departure on July 21, said its price was €1,767 and that Stein Travel’s was €2,199.
But Stein boss David Slattery insisted that holidaymakers ought to compare holidays only when they have compared costs in full.
Insisting Stein would match any comparable Budget price, Mr Slattery said: “No Irish consumer will find a better value like-for-like holiday in the Irish marketplace than through Stein Travel.”
