UK: Prices displayed in windows must be accurate, say councils
Travel agents have been warned that they face fines if they keep on advertising package holidays with misleading prices.
Trading Standards officers from 12 local authorities in the north-west of the country compared prices advertised in shop windows with prices of available holidays, and found that some 70 per cent of agencies were displaying incorrect information on holiday deals. More than a third of holidays advertised were no longer available or had risen by more than 40 per cent in price.
A spokesman for Wigan Council reportedly told The Sunday Times: “There comes a point where you cannot let things continue any longer. You have higher expectations of national high-street chains. These travel agents won’t have many excuses left if they keep offending once we have alerted them to our findings.”
The Association of Greater Manchester Authorities added: “Travel agents must check their windows every day if they want to avoid breaking the law.” However, a spokesman for Lunn Poly told the newspaper that it cannot guarantee prices displayed will always be right: “Unfortunately we do not have control over holiday availability as this changes constantly.”
