Home > Ask Our Experts > Mistake on Holiday Website: Should We Have to Pay Extra?

Mistake on Holiday Website: Should We Have to Pay Extra?

By: Sarah Clark (ILEX) - Updated: 30 Jul 2020 | comments*Discuss
 
Contract Holiday Trading Standards Goods

Q.

My wife and I looked on various websites for a cheap holiday for the two of us and our two children. We found a good deal for a holiday to Fuerteventura which was fairly cheap, but not ridiculously so. As such we booked it. The details on the email confirmation mention the flight out, the flight back and the hotel accomodation. It specifically states that there is no transfer included, which suits us as we always hire a car for our independence.

Late this afternoon I received a call from a representative of the holiday company stating that there had been a mistake on their websites and that the flights were not included in the price. He said if we still want the holiday we need to pay more money, which in effect more than doubles the cost of the holiday. He said I could have time to think about it and pretty much pressured me in to contacting him again tomorrow.

As far as I am concerned, they made the mistake. I booked a holiday at a certain price. The flights are on the email confirmation. Can they charge me extra like this? The cost of the flights obviously hasn't changed, but they obviously, (and they have admitted so), made a mistake and didn't charge us for them.

Now we could just walk away and have a refund, but we were looking forward to this holiday and I don't feel I should have to walk away. I thought companies had to honour the price at point of sale. Do I have a right to demand the holiday at the price we booked it at? What was a good deal, with their price hike, way more expensive than their competitors.

(A.C, 18 May 2009)

A.

There are two issues here. The first issue is that in contract law, a trader does not have to sell you their product at the price advertised. In fact they don't have to sell you the product at all. For example, if you were to go into a shop and see an item displayed at a particular price and it transpired that the item had been wrongly priced, you could not make the retailer sell you that item at the marked price.

A price on a display or even in a brochure is described in contract law as an 'Invitation to treat' and is simply an invitation for you to make the seller of the goods an offer to buy them. When you make this offer, the seller can refuse to sell the goods if he realises that the price displayed is a mistake. Once he realises that a mistake has been made, he should withdraw the goods from sale and put them back on sale at the correct price, inviting you to offer the correct price.

In practice, many retailers would simply decide to honour the original price because it's less hassle. But in contract law, they don't actually have to, and this is what the holiday company is relying on.

The other issue here is whether the contract to buy the goods has been completed,and this is the more difficult part of the problem. It's easy to say that there is no contract when you come up against this scenario in a shop, but when you book online and have a receipt for payment setting out what you think you've purchased, it's a greyer area.

Normally a contract is only concluded when you pay (or agree to pay) and the seller gives you your goods or services. This is called consideration. Plainly, as you haven't been on the holiday, there hasn't been any consideration on their part yet. This puts the holiday firm in breach of their contract to supply a holiday to you. You should be entitled to compensation - but can only insist on a refund, not that they provide the holiday at the cost advertised.

You have two potential courses of action - you could accept the refund and try to find a suitable holiday elsewhere, or pay more for the holiday. If you decide to pay more, you could try to claim the extra money back through the small claims court, but whether or not this will be successful depends very much on the circumstances. A district judge would look at whether the company were reasonable in asking you to pay for their mistake and may decide that they were, in this case. They will also take into account the holiday company's offer to refund.

You could also mention that you will be reporting the company to your local trading standards office for misleading advertising. Legally, whether any action will be taken is again very much dependent on the circumstances, whether the mistake was genuine and whether they continued to advertise the holidays after the mistake was noticed. But sometimes just the threat of trading standards can produce results.

You might also like...
Share Your Story, Join the Discussion or Seek Advice..
[Add a Comment]
Booked a three night break in a Warner Hotel for my wife and myself and paid the full asking price only to then be contacted by them to say that the price we had paid was per person and therefore we needed to pay again for the second person or claim a refund. I’ve got all relevant paperwork and invoices. Can they do this.
Billy - 30-Jul-20 @ 8:52 AM
Hi, I went onto the Thomas Cook online page and selected all my options holiday, room upgrade and extra baggage, when I received quote it was at a higher price than if I add the prices up on calculator. I got in touch with Thomas Cook by their chat line and was told that we work live and prices are changing all the time. This is not right as I am going to buy at the price I can afford, it’s also disappointing that the holiday I thought I was going to book I can’t. Are they allowed to treat customers in this way, cannot say this has happened with Thomas Cook before, and we have been on a lot of holidays with them. To me it seams like a bit of a con, I thought the price quoted would be the price you get it at, regards Brian
Godders - 25-Jul-19 @ 9:51 AM
I booked flights to Bangkok via an agent I rang due to a good price they had. They didn't have that flight but rang me back the next day with a flight that suited us. They said we needed to pay a deposit then the balance on confirmation. Whilst on the phone they sent an email with the details of the flight that I needed to reply "All OK" to confirm then pay £100 deposit each (off £800 ticket). I was told the flight would be confirmed when my deposit had been verified and that I would receive a receipt. The agent after I had paid the deposit said that it may take a couple of days to confirm the flight. Today, 3 days later the agent tells me that it will take 2 weeks to get confirmation. This has now made me very worried. Added to that, my credit card company says I am not protected until after the date of the flight as I gave them my details willingly. Their t&c's, on closer inspection say deposit it non refundable and the price can change and the agent also said the flight dates may change. Turns out they are not Atol or Abta but their parent company that we paid the deposit to is. Can someone please tell me where I stand?
SPG1970 - 19-Jun-19 @ 8:30 PM
Hi I booked 7 nights accommodation with Amoma in June 2018 for £105 for the whole bill (obviously a website error) we paid for it and received confirmation straight away. In October we queried whether the booking was ok as when I contacted the hotel they said there was no booking. Amoma said everything was fine and again confirmed our booking. We are due to do in August and Amoma have said they cannot get us the room so offers alternative which we accepted they now say they cannot get that room and are only offering us our money back. Do we have any rights thanks.
Dbox - 24-May-19 @ 7:04 PM
Booked a holiday online phoning to add a checked in case.paid in full 996 pounds.next day checked my credit card to find i have been charged 177 pounds more 1173 on total.no expla ation surely this is not legal to simply take more money
Saa - 13-May-19 @ 5:36 PM
this has happened to me i booked a holiday to NYC for July next year (and paid in full) only for the hotel to email saying there was a computer 'glitch'and the hotel was actually $1000 extra and if i didn't pay then the booking would be cancelled. i have been in touch with Expedia who seam to think this is perfectly acceptable and claiming that there are no hotels now for the price i paid.With this been such an expensive trip to start with i don't want to pay anymore and i cant cancel the flights. has anyone had this happen to them and if so how did you resolve it? it has been nothing but stress from the minute i booked!if it isa'glitch' on their system then how is that my fault when i paid the whole advertised amount!
kirsty - 27-Oct-18 @ 5:22 PM
Hi. I booked and paid 100% on the phone to a large hotel booking dept (confirmed booking verbally and by email) for a stay in a hotel in Croatia for 2 rooms 4 people in April 2018. When we arrived at the hotel in August in Croatia! the reception staff informed me that there had been a mistake and that they had undercharged me by about £1000. The booking office had made the mistake in getting the currency mixed up during the booking procedure. I refused to pay as I simply didn’t have the extra £1000 and asked them, that if there was a problem with the booking it should have been brought to my attention much earlier and not when I arrived with my family for my holiday in another country. I’ve since arrived back home and they threatening legal action unless I pay the extra money. Can anyone advise please. Thankyou Stuart.
Metaltonic - 31-Aug-18 @ 12:23 AM
I booked a weekend break with Hoseasons, paid in full and received a booking confirmation, two days later they contacted me saying they had got the price wrong and I would have to pay almost 5 x the price the break was sold at or loose my booking, I told them I was not willing to part with any more cash but I would be open to alternative equivalent accommodations and dates, they contacted me a week later offering me a lesser accommodation 7 miles away and again tried to get me to pay extra (just under double the original price). I emailed them back and explained how unhappy I was with this offer and told them that I wanted the accommodation I had booked at the price I had paid and that they would not be getting any more money from me no matter how hard their sales people tried. Hoseasons did not reply to my email or contact me and a week later they had returned the money to my account, no explanation no apology. It is my opinion that following the recent GDPR legislation, Hoseasons are advertising holidays that don’t exist to harvest customer deatails and create a “legitimate” purpose to contact customers to sell holidays. The moment they know your not going to pay the extra they refund you without any notice or explanation.
Tom - 18-Jul-18 @ 2:51 PM
I’ve booked and paid for my package holiday and my friends have booked exact same package and also paid in full. We saw a room upgrade option of £20 per booking before final payment and then decided to go ahead on re logging in on both accounts it said the upgrade was now minus £108 but when trying to add it it adds £124. I contacted the tour operator who said the issue would be fixed but it’s now £140 per room for the upgrade. I declined as the steep rise and asked why they were false advertising the price. They just said it was subject to change obviously I understand that, but it is still showing at -£108 and adding cost now a few weeks later. As it’s still doing this I can’t tell if the cost is fluctuating in my favour. Can I get them to do anything about this? Thank you x
Kslatz - 11-Jun-18 @ 10:57 AM
Can a holiday let owner through trip advisors holiday let's site, increase the price of a holiday after accepting our deposit and sending us booking confirmation?
Gwyni79 - 2-Jun-18 @ 8:06 PM
Hi, we had a holiday booked with teletex holidays for xmas 2017 but had to change date to April as father inlaw had a stroke we paid an extra £700 for the holiday after several phone calls , we still didnt receive invoice or booking confirmation, so today called again this time demanding i wanted conformation , to then to be told theres no booking , they then manged to trace payments made in full , then the advicer said to bare with him while he updated which took about 20mins plus then received confirmation of holiday which states holiday is £800 cheaper , on invoicewhen asked about this was told just to ignore as holiday is now booked , what should we do please
Gobby - 7-Mar-18 @ 7:40 PM
Hi I was on line in 2017 then phoned tour operator and went through what I wanted for my holiday in May 2018 flights, hotels, transfers, was quoted a price that increase 3 times before Ibooked it. Paid in full for whole holiday for four of us. Know been sent email saying I have outstanding balance of £205 pounds. Can they do this?
Lynn - 27-Feb-18 @ 12:22 PM
Hi I was sent a holiday quote by email - in the email it states - this is for club class'. In the quote the flights state 'economy'. CanI hold them to these prices for club class seats? Thank you!
Delta - 17-Feb-18 @ 5:55 PM
hi i booked a holiday on line with thomas cook on saturday and paid a deposit and set up a direct debit for the next payment. i have just been contacted by thomas cook to say that they priced the holiday incorrectly and that the full holiday price should be an extra £18000 on top of the original price of my holiday. they have offered to give me a refund, or have offered that as a goodwill gesture i only pay an extra £5000 towards the new cost of the holiday.is there any way i can insist they honour the original price confirmed by them at thr time of booking??
josie - 6-Feb-18 @ 2:35 PM
Sukie- Your Question:
Hi, just wondering if you could give me some advice on a situation I have with a Travel Agent. Basically we have a remaining payment of £4000 outstanding on an holiday with this Travel agent. We have been paying monthly however, we recently received an email from them saying this £4000 has been paid off and we have nothing else to pay, i.e our remaining balance is zero. We have assumed they done this in error as we didn’t pay this amount to them. They corrected it a few hours later, however I am wondering what are our rights, could we be fortunate enough to demand that we have nothing else to pay because they have sent it to us in writing? Thank you so much and awaiting your reply.

Our Response:
No, it's an error on their part, they have noticed it and contacted you. You will still have to pay what you owe.
YourTravelRights - 29-Jan-18 @ 11:41 AM
Hi, just wondering if you could give me some advice on a situation I have with a Travel Agent. Basically we have a remaining payment of £4000 outstanding on an holiday with this Travel agent. We have been paying monthly however, we recently received an email from them saying this £4000 has been paid off and we have nothing else to pay, i.e our remaining balance is zero. We have assumed they done this in error as we didn’t pay this amount to them. They corrected it a few hours later, however I am wondering what are our rights, could we be fortunate enough to demand that we have nothing else to pay because they have sent it to us in writing? Thank you so much and awaiting your reply.
Sukie - 26-Jan-18 @ 5:53 PM
Emmag1980 - Your Question:
Booked holiday with Thomson last night and paid more than 50% of the total cost as a deposit. I Got a call this morning from them to say they priced it wrong and we either need to pay an extra £1600 for it or cancel it. They are offering no compensation. Where do we stand with this. Many thanks

Our Response:
There's not much you can do. They should give you a full refund however, so don't accept any cancellation fee request etc
YourTravelRights - 8-Jan-18 @ 11:44 AM
Jo - Your Question:
Good morning, I wonder if you can help I booked a holiday in October this year for December 26th depart. A 4 star hotel in Playa las Americas all paid for and ready to go mid December. I then receive an email 2weeks before departure saying that they had made an error on their website and the hotel was actually a 2star. They offered to send us to an alternative resort but we needed to be in playa las Americas as was holidaying with friends. I desperately contacted numerous other 4star hotels but all were full. So we had to go on the holiday we were falsely sold.My question is are we entitled to compensation as we are not happy with the standard 2 star hotel we were missold?Thanks in advance of your advice.

Our Response:
Did you take photos / make notes when you were on the holiday? If your holiday wasn't as described, you should be able to claim some compensation (despite being offered an alternative elsewhere as that wasn't your chosen resort). Work out how much you were affected, both in terms of what you paid for the holiday and how the hotel reflected that...together withany services/particulars that you might have expected from a 4 star hotel which weren't present etc.
YourTravelRights - 8-Jan-18 @ 11:01 AM
Booked holiday with Thomson last night and paid more than 50% of the total cost as a deposit. I Got a call this morning from them to say they priced it wrong and we either need to pay an extra £1600 for it or cancel it. They are offering no compensation. Where do we stand with this. Many thanks
Emmag1980 - 5-Jan-18 @ 1:37 PM
Good morning, I wonder if you can help I booked a holiday in October this year for December 26th depart. A 4 star hotel in Playa las Americas all paid for and ready to go mid December. I then receive an email 2weeks before departuresaying that they had made an error on their website and the hotel was actually a 2star. They offered to send us to an alternative resort but we needed to be in playa las Americas as was holidaying with friends. I desperately contacted numerous other 4star hotels but all were full. So we had to go on the holiday we were falsely sold. My question is are we entitled to compensation as we are not happy with the standard 2 star hotel we were missold? Thanks in advance of your advice.
Jo - 5-Jan-18 @ 9:59 AM
Hello I was wondering if you could help I was on the Thomas Cook website today and I found a holiday for 21 days all inclusive in Gambia for £59.98 for 2 adults on 23.1.18 obviously I booked it. I then went to a Thomas Cook shop and asked them to print the documents off which they did. They then went onto Thomas Cook chat and asked them if about the pricing and the chat advisor said it was a glitch and the pricing was wrong and someone will get in touch with me within 48hrs. I have got confirmation and travel documents. Where do I stand please.
Puggygirl - 4-Jan-18 @ 6:36 PM
David333 - Your Question:
Booked spa holiday (Italy) with Lastminute. The Hotel then charged €25 to use spa faclicities i.e swimming pools etc had to hire towels. This was not advertised. Lastminute refuse to refund.Do I have I case to take it to Abta and is it worth it ?

Our Response:
If the holiday did not meet the description given when you purchased, you can try and claim compensation. ABTA is a good place to start.
YourTravelRights - 2-Jan-18 @ 3:38 PM
re Spa Holiday, Spoke to a 3rd party who advised making a complaint to Abta and have completed on line form etc so no need for response.
David333 - 29-Dec-17 @ 4:58 PM
Booked spa holiday (Italy) with Lastminute. The Hotel then charged €25to use spa faclicitiesi.e swimming pools etc had to hire towels. This was not advertised. Lastminute refuse to refund. Do I have I case to take it to Abta and is it worth it ?
David333 - 26-Dec-17 @ 5:12 PM
Hi i have booked a week in menorca on a full board basis with an online agent. I contacted the hotel to ask about other activities and have been told my booking is half board. I sent them the booking confirmationwhich states i booked full board which they accepted but said they do not offer full board and that they only offer half board and all inclusive. I contacted the online agent who say that full board is correct and that they will investigate. What could be the outcome of this? Do i have the right to a refund if full board cant be offerd? Or even a free upgrade to all inclusive? Thanks
Ss - 13-Nov-17 @ 1:43 PM
Hi looking for advice please as Thomas Cook do not seem very helpful unfortunately never had this before I may add ! We have booked package holiday to NY . But after confirming with them even after booking transfer is included! So we then find out actually no sorry made a mistake transfer isn’t now and you will have to pay extra !!!! We booked 11 months in advance . When tried to ask for manager to sort was advised to make a complaint instead ?! How does that help when we go away in three days !
Em - 30-Oct-17 @ 9:46 PM
Hi, I’m after some advise if possible. We have booked and paid for a holiday with aTravel agent, the quote given in email for the holiday was what we paid the deposit on, however when the invoice came through, the total cost of the holiday was £300 more than agreed in the quote, my girlfriend then paid the full amount without checking if it was correct. The travel agent is arguing that it was because of the addition of all inclusive, however this is clearly stated in the original quote that it was included. It’s a last minute thing(going in 5 weeks)and they won’t refund us the overpaid money, is there anything we can do? Thanks
Mike - 9-Oct-17 @ 11:08 PM
Sophie- Your Question:
HiWe have booked to go to Milan for 4 nights in October. Firstly, before anything was agreed the travel agent went ahead and booked a quad room an hour away from Malpensa. Nothing was explained as to why it was only when we asked that she explained and was told it was non refundable etc. So we've paid the monies they asked. We submitted passports x 4 only to find that our eldest son was omitted from the booking. So we again sent his details across. Only to be told that we would need to pay extra for his flight. I am sure this is wrong as original email confirmed all our stay at the price so why we being charged for their error? This travel agent has not assisted us and we feel that we've been pushed into buying as we are none the wiser. Is there anyway we can get a full refund? Thanks in advance

Our Response:
If this was booked as a package the Package Travel Regulations give you the right to:
-get the holiday that was described to you and the agreed price,
-be given details about the holiday that are factually correct and not misleading
-be provided with accommodation and resort that is clean and safe.
Tell the travel agent you want a refund because they have notbooked what you asked for. If necessary tell them you will take to the small claims court.
YourTravelRights - 8-Sep-17 @ 12:52 PM
Hi We have booked to go to Milan for 4 nights in October. Firstly, before anything was agreed the travel agent went ahead and booked a quad room an hour away from Malpensa. Nothing was explained as to why it was only when we asked that she explained and was told it was non refundable etc. So we've paid the monies they asked. We submitted passports x 4 only to find that our eldest son was omitted from the booking. So we again sent his details across. Only to be told that we would need to pay extra for his flight. I am sure this is wrong as original email confirmed all our stay at the price so why we being charged for their error? This travel agent has not assisted us and we feel that we've been pushed into buying as we are none the wiser. Is there anyway we can get a full refund? Thanks in advance
Sophie - 7-Sep-17 @ 7:29 PM
jimbob123 - Your Question:
Hi, Around 3 months ago I booked a package holiday to Santa Clara in Cuba with thompson, a honeymoon for myself and wife. This week I receive an email from thompson informing me that my flight (in November this year) from Manchester to Santa Clara has been cancelled and that they no longer will be operating any hotels in the santa clara region - which includes my hotel - so essentially they have completely cancelled a holiday I have already bought and paid for. They said they still can fly to Varadero (the other side of cuba) and still operate hotels in that region and would be willing to pay £100 towards any additional costs it we wished to re-book there but the package deals are for that area at this later stage are more then double what we originally paid for our holiday to santa clara - what can I do in this situation - they also wont accept any of my calls, every time I try to call them they keep my on hold and then eventually they just hang up.

Our Response:
The company should offer you a full refund in this instance. Email customer services and send a written copy to their headquarters you shouldn't have to accept an alternative that you do not want.
YourTravelRights - 15-Aug-17 @ 2:19 PM
Share Your Story, Join the Discussion or Seek Advice...
Title:
(never shown)
Firstname:
(never shown)
Surname:
(never shown)
Email:
(never shown)
Nickname:
(shown)
Comment:
Validate:
Enter word:
Topics
Latest Comments