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Fred Olsen price pledge rubbished by advertising watchdogs
A Fred Olsen early booking offer that appeared in last year’s brochure was misleading, the advertising watchdog has ruled.
Upholding a complaint against the cruise line, the Advertising Standards Authority ordered Fred Olsen not to repeat the ad.
Two customers complained to the ASA after they booked cruises with the company from the brochure after seeing the offer which stated "Book now and get the best deal – guaranteed", only to find that the cruises were subsequently available for less in a 2-for-1 offer.
Fred Olsen argued that as the 2-for-1 offer required payment in full and imposed 100% cancellation charges, those booked under its early booking price pledge were more flexible and therefore offered a better deal.
In its ruling, the ASA acknowledged that exclusions which applied to the price pledge had been stated in the ad and in the small print "several pages further on". "We considered, however, that consumers were likely to interpret the claim "best deal – guarantee" to mean the price they paid for their cruises would not be bettered," it said.
"We understood the subsequent "Two For One" offer meant that the cruises could have been booked at a cheaper price. We therefore considered that the claim was likely to mislead consumers into believing they would always pay the best price."
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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