Cruise customers misled by firm about P&O deal

A large number of cruising enthusiasts were misled by a specialist cruise agent advertising ‘half-price’ P&O journeys, according to a ruling by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) this past week.

A complaint, stating that a newspaper advertisement offering a ‘half-price’ P&O world cruise, placed by Gill’s Cruise Centre, was misleading, was upheld by the ASA.

The ruling held that the per-person price of £14,651 quoted in the advert, and used as the basis for calculating the ‘half-price’ offer, was the full brochure price to which a fuel surcharge had been added.

Gill’s was not able to prove that anyone had ever been charged the full brochure price. The ASA ruling went on to note that the ‘discounted’ price of £7,389 that was offered in the advert was without the fuel surcharge, which would add approximately £500 to the cost of the cruise.

“It is vital that customers are given the correct information and know exactly what they are paying for,” said a spokesperson for the ASA.

The managing director of Gill’s, Steve Philippou, replied that the ASA ruling wouldn’t affect their advertising practices.

If it is determined that Gill’s misleads consumers again, the ASA can place the company on a ‘blacklist,’ meaning that it would no longer be able to advertise in the media and it could also be referred to the Office of Fair Trading.

Thanks to www.telegraph.co.uk for the quote above, for more information on this article please visit their website.

www.asa.org.uk