Court case won’t help Trading Standards while MyTravel execs laugh all the way to the bank – TravelMole Comment by Jeremy Skidmore

A landmark court ruling against Ryanair has got trading standards officers
hopeful of a breakthrough in their battle against companies which show prices
exclusive of taxes and charges on their websites.

But although Ryanair was this week fined £24,000 at Chelmsford Crown  Court for six cases of misleading customers under the Consumer Protection Act, it
is unlikely to lead to the airline showing fully inclusive prices on its site.

Indeed, Ryanair said it was delighted with the verdict and hailed it as a
victory.

Although the carrier got its wrists slapped, it seems that generally the
verdict was a vindication of its stance. Ryanair was fined because in six of its
adverts, it didn’t put that its low fare excluded taxes and charges.

But, crucially, a jury decided it wasn’t guilty of misleading customers for omitting to put the full price of flights on its home page.

Ryanair has long since held up its hands to those six misdemeanours and, for
the past two years, has clearly stated that extra charges will be added. Its
current ˜summer seat sale” advertises prices at 99p plus charges and the
minimum you’ll pay for a one-way ticket is £14.92, because there are £13.93 of extras.

Is that an unfair way to advertise? A crown court says no.

So, holidaymakers are going to be left with inconsistent pricing structures
across different websites for some time to come. While Ryanair continues to
offer “free” or “99p” flights, rival easyJet gives all-inclusive prices on
its site.  “You can’t fool people and they want to know the final price,” said
an easyJet spokesman.

Trading standards will continue to fight its corner and has provided the
Office of Fair Trading with a dossier of information about website pricing. As I’ve said before, the OFT has only received six complaints on the matter and
is considering them. But don’t hold your breath for change.

Meanwhile, some travel agents will have been choking on their cornflakes
this morning when the Civil Aviation Authority’s long awaited guidance paper on what constitutes a package arrived in the  post.

The CAA says more agents will need financial protection and claims its
document makes it clear about what constitutes a package. I’m not so sure about that. I’ve spoken to a few people who are still a bit hazy and we’ll need plenty of those open day discussions before everyone is satisfied.

And, to finish, am I the only one who finds the pay packets of MyTravel
executives  grotesque?
Chief executive Peter McHugh received nearly £2 million last year when you add up his bonus and basic pay, while the tour operator lost nearly £200 million. Other directors also  received handsome pay increases.

Yes, McHugh has just about saved a basket case that was losing £911 million, but now it’s a  little company worth £30 million and surely those pay packets are well over the top. 

What about the poor shareholders, who’ve seen the price plummet
from 540p in 1999 to around 6p today? They haven’t had a dividend for three
years and there’s no sign of one in the near future.

We’ve gone from hefty payments for abject failure under Tim Byrne to
enormous payments for a moderate, qualified success. Goodness knows what McHugh will get if the company ever makes a profit again.

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