Wrong hotel price sdverised

[Terry252]

Hi

 

I have just booked a hotel through British Airways, paid for it and got the confirmation e mail. They have also taken the money for the hotel. A couple of days later BA rang to say that the wrong price was put on the website and it should have been £1200 more than advertised. They are trying to make us pay more. What I would like to know is:

Can they make us pay more?

Can they cancel the booking as we do not have the "goods" as such?

Thanks

 

Terry

[perplexity]

This would depend upon the particular terms and conditions.

 

The general rule is that the supplier of a service may cancel the contract so long as the consumer is also allowed to cancel, so it is not so unusual for the terms and conditions to provide for both.

 

What exactly did the confirmation email confirm?

 

If their subsequent demand contradicts what was previously confirmed, you should point to that and see what they have to say. If the e-mail confirmed an available date but not a particular price, I doubt that there is a case to be made of that.

[rebel11]

Hi Terry

 

Welcome to CAG

 

The guys will be happy to advise as soon as they are available.

[mike1212]

any updates just had the same happen to me

[BazzaS]

My understanding is that their advert / website remains only "an offer to treat" until the contract is established. So, pressing "submit order" on their site means you have offered to pay Y amount for x goods or services, not that they have accepted it (what exactly does the website say at each stage?). So, IF you'd submitted the order but they'd not accepted it and not taken payment, they can refuse the order unless you pay the higher price.

 

However, in your case things have progressed further : a) you have a confirmation e-mail (but does it confirm they have RECEIVED your order, or ACCEPTED your order), and, more crucially, they have taken your payment (hard for them to claim the order has only been received, not accepted).

 

I don't believe (but I'm not a lawyer, usual caveats, etc.) they can charge you the £1200 difference. Do their T's and C's contain any relevant clauses? Even if there is a clause in there, it'd still have to not breach any statutory rights, nor be an unfair contract term.

With those caveats my understanding is that if they cancel the booking and you have to book elsewhere for the same package at a higher cost, then you could look to BA for the difference in cost, as you had a contract with BA to supply goods/services x at cost Y, established by you seeing it advertised, you placing the order and them accepting your payment.

 

Are there any relevant clauses in their T's and C's?

Edited August 2, 2011 by BazzaS

[raydetinu]

agree if they have accepted payment and confirmed booking, a contract now exists.

If they cancel or wish to cahnge it then you would be entitled to compensation.

[perplexity]

agree if they have accepted payment and confirmed booking, a contract now exists.

If they cancel or wish to cahnge it then you would be entitled to compensation.

 

 

I would rather be surprised if the terms and conditions to book a hotel did not contain a clause to allow them to cancel, subject to certain conditions.

 

The need is then to examine the conditions and I would also expect that BA's terms and conditions refer in turn to those of the particular hotel, perhaps to the effect that the deal is subject to the eventual approval of the hotel.

 

Consumers often assume that when money is paid, that would conclude the contract, but it is not at all so unusual for the terms and conditions of an online supplier to provide that the contract is not concluded before a written notice to that effect.

 

The OP appears to assume that the contract was concluded but I doubt that BA would be quite so careless and we have yet to see their side of the story.

[Cheshire11]

Hi,

 

My brother went through the same thing last week.

He booked his hotel (i'm not sure who with) and paid for it. A few days later he was told that it should not have been £300 it should have been £2300 a huge difference. They said they has put the wrong price on the website and they will be cancelled all bookings made,

 

He then got an email the next day saying they have looked into it and have decided to houour the first price. So he has ended up with a bargain.

 

I don't know what the law states over this but i'm sure if they didn't have to lose out on all that money they wouldnt have done.

 

I remeber when I used to work in retail if I priced anything wrong then the customer had to have it that price!!

[perplexity]

A trader can't be forced to trade if the trader would rather not, but is obliged to inform without misleading.

 

None the less, mistakes are allowed:

 

17.—

 

(1) In any proceedings against a person for an offence under regulation 9, 10, 11 or 12 it is a defence for that person to prove—

 

(a) that the commission of the offence was due to—

 

(i) a mistake;

(ii) reliance on information supplied to him by another person;

(iii) the act or default of another person;

(iv) an accident; or

(v) another cause beyond his control; and

 

(b) that he took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence to avoid the commission of such an offence by himself or any person under his control.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2008/1277/regulation/17/made

[BazzaS]

Hi,

 

My brother went through the same thing last week.

He booked his hotel (i'm not sure who with) and paid for it. A few days later he was told that it should not have been £300 it should have been £2300 a huge difference. They said they has put the wrong price on the website and they will be cancelled all bookings made,

 

He then got an email the next day saying they have looked into it and have decided to houour the first price. So he has ended up with a bargain.

 

I don't know what the law states over this but i'm sure if they didn't have to lose out on all that money they wouldnt have done.

 

I remeber when I used to work in retail if I priced anything wrong then the customer had to have it that price!!

 

What the law states is what I posted previously .... an advert or price ticket is "an invitation to treat", and on its own doesn't have to be honored.

Once an offer of payment of that price is made AND ACCEPTED, the contract is established and the price honoured.

 

Retailers might choose to honour a price ticket in the name of good customer service, especially if it wasn't obviously an error ... but don't have to, unless payment was made and accepted.

If I see a £200 camera with a £20 price ticket and take it to a till, they don't have to sell it to me. If the staff say "that is £20 please" and I hand them £20 .... Its mine. If I put £20 On the counter and they don't take it and say "Sorry, that is priced wrongly" ... they don't have to sell it to me.

[perplexity]

It should be added that an invitation to purchase could be enforced as a unilateral contract, but there would have to be more than the advertisement of goods for sale, a promise to supply so long as a condition is fulfilled.