Too good to be true

YoureSoVain

I hope this is the right forum to post this.
I was looking to book a luxury hotel for a weekend for my parents. I was looking up the prices for a 5 star hotel in Dublin and the prices for 2 people for 2 nights ranged from 350 to 1880. I was checking out various dates when I came across a price of 66 euro !!!!! This was for 2 people for 2 nights in the most expensive suite in the hotel....the room that was normally 1500-1800. So I booked it.
Surely this cannot be right. I know from time to time hotels have amazing offers but this....????
I'm just wondering what to do....do I ring the hotel and ask? And sound like a total idiot? are they going to wonder am I mad? Are they going to say its the wrong price and I will be raging thinking well its their mistake and I have a confirmation e-mail?

Help please!

Shinaynay

YoureSoVain wrote: »

I hope this is the right forum to post this.
I was looking to book a luxury hotel for a weekend for my parents. I was looking up the prices for a 5 star hotel in Dublin and the prices for 2 people for 2 nights ranged from 350 to 1880. I was checking out various dates when I came across a price of 66 euro !!!!! This was for 2 people for 2 nights in the most expensive suite in the hotel....the room that was normally 1500-1800. So I booked it.
Surely this cannot be right. I know from time to time hotels have amazing offers but this....????
I'm just wondering what to do....do I ring the hotel and ask? And sound like a total idiot? are they going to wonder am I mad? Are they going to say its the wrong price and I will be raging thinking well its their mistake and I have a confirmation e-mail?

Help please!

If its the Gresham Im fairly sure I heard they had an amazing deal like this.

YoureSoVain

There was nothing to advertise there was a special deal. It was just in a list of prices....nothing to make it stand out in any way. I just stumbled upon it

dvpower

You should post the details here

bfocusd

Possibly a typo? do a print screen and hold onto it if they question it, had a similar problem with an order in Argos, went into collect and they tried to charge full price till I showed them the print out, kinda knew it was too good to be true, but got it for the price advertised in the end!

Shinaynay

YoureSoVain wrote: »

There was nothing to advertise there was a special deal. It was just in a list of prices....nothing to make it stand out in any way. I just stumbled upon it

Well goods must be sold at the advertised price thats the law so looks like your on to a winner

YoureSoVain

dvpower wrote: »

You should post the details here

No point putting it in bargain alerts cos I booked it so its gone!

YoureSoVain

bfocusd wrote: »

Possibly a typo? do a print screen and hold onto it if they question it, had a similar problem with an order in Argos, went into collect and they tried to charge full price till I showed them the print out, kinda knew it was too good to be true, but got it for the price advertised in the end!

Its too late to do a screen print because when I booked it it disappeared off the screen because obviously it was only one room and it was no longer available

Shinaynay

YoureSoVain wrote: »

bfocusd wrote: »

Possibly a typo? do a print screen and hold onto it if they question it, had a similar problem with an order in Argos, went into collect and they tried to charge full price till I showed them the print out, kinda knew it was too good to be true, but got it for the price advertised in the end!

Its too late to do a screen print because when I booked it it disappeared off the screen because obviously it was only one room and it was no longer available

Maybe its haunted......

theteal

tbh deals like this are not unheard of. was it d4 hotels were selling rooms mid-week for 10-30 (i dont recall the exact figure but distinct interest was created) quid a while ago? op, keep an eye on your inbox tomorrow, if it was an error, the booking will be quickly cancelled

djk1000

Shinaynay wrote: »

Well goods must be sold at the advertised price thats the law so looks like your on to a winner

Nope! It's just good practice. An advertised price has no contractual obligation on the seller.

theteal

djk1000 wrote: »

Nope! It's just good practice. An advertised price has no contractual obligation on the seller.

plus the op said it wasn't actually advertised

Thoie

Generally with distance selling, the contract isn't formed until the goods are paid for. If they've taken the money from your card already, then you're probably good. If they've just sent a confirmation email, but not taken the money, read the small print.

Posy

Shinaynay wrote: »

Well goods must be sold at the advertised price thats the law so looks like your on to a winner

As djk1000 has said, it's not the law I'm afraid.

Shinaynay

theteal wrote: »

djk1000 wrote: »

Nope! It's just good practice. An advertised price has no contractual obligation on the seller.

plus the op said it wasn't actually nadvertised

so he just made the price up himself?

Shinaynay

" Under the Act (1980) it is an offence for an advertiser/trader to make false claims about goods, services or prices "

actuallylike

Shinaynay wrote: »

" Under the Act (1980) it is an offence for an advertiser/trader to make false claims about goods, services or prices "

If the price is a mistake, a customer has no legal standing to profit from it (i think).

theteal

Shinaynay wrote: »

so he just made the price up himself?

Shinaynay wrote: »

" Under the Act (1980) it is an offence for an advertiser/trader to make false claims about goods, services or prices "

the price displayed beside an item in a shop/on a web page is not an advertisement, it's called an "invitation to treat"

if a shop has an ad in a paper/a web site with a flashy banner advertising a product and price - this is an advertisement, yes it is an offence for a retailer to not honour this

welcome to the consumer issues forum

Shinaynay

theteal wrote: »

the price displayed beside an item in a shop/on a web page is not an advertisement, it's called an "invitation to treat"

if a shop has an ad in a paper/a web site with a flashy banner advertising a product and price - this is an advertisement, yes it is an offence for a retailer to not honour this

welcome to the consumer issues forum

, if I went on to Brown Thomas website and a pair of boots (the last & only pair) were marked down from €1000 to €50 and I purchased them on my credit card, are you saying I would not be entitled to them if it turned out it had been a typing error on their behalf?

theteal

Shinaynay wrote: »

, if I went on to Brown Thomas website and a pair of boots (the last & only pair) were marked down from €1000 to €50 and I purchased them on my credit card, are you saying I would not be entitled to them if it turned out it had been a typing error on their behalf?

of course they don't have to sell them at that price if it was an error. they may indeed process the sale as a gesture of goodwill but there is nothing forcing them to. similar things happen all the time, most natable example off hand would be the aerlingus debacle of a couple of years ago. keep an eye on bargain alerts and every now and again you'll see such example. . . .along with a couple of boardsies trying to chance their arm

bfocusd

YoureSoVain wrote: »

Its too late to do a screen print because when I booked it it disappeared off the screen because obviously it was only one room and it was no longer available

Was the amount advertised paid for in full on a card? Also did you receive any notification emails about you booking confirmation?

To be honest as it's a hotel booking I would be more cautious than buying say a tv as you don't want your parents to stay the night and when checking out to be landed with the balance of the usual room charge.

I would check a bank statement to see if the deposit or full amount has been cleared, or I would ring to confirm the booking and mention you might be looking to book another room for the same dates, but cannot find the page you booked the original on, or something along that line.

I wouldn't ring and blatantly say I got a room really cheap, so is it a mistake or what?
Cause if it us a mistake I doubt they will allow the room to go for such a small fee.

skinny90

djk1000 wrote: »

Shinaynay wrote: »

Well goods must be sold at the advertised price thats the law so looks like your on to a winner

Nope! It's just good practice. An advertised price has no contractual obligation on the seller.

Advertised or not it's only an invetation to treat by which the hotel can clearly say no to,even if advertised they legally can tho it may effect their pr

dudara

Shinaynay wrote: »

Well goods must be sold at the advertised price thats the law so looks like your on to a winner

I'm afraid that is not true. Retailers are permitted to cancel sales in situations where pricing errors etc have occurred. Also, I'd suggest reading more about the topic of "Invitation to Treat".

flower tattoo

Shinaynay wrote:

if I went on to Brown Thomas website and a pair of boots (the last & only pair) were marked down from €1000 to €50 and I purchased them on my credit card, are you saying I would not be entitled to them if it turned out it had been a typing error on their behalf?

I was in a shoe shop recently and a customer was trying to buy a pair of runners that were marked at 50 cent. All the other pairs were €20 and the shop assistant refused to sell them at the marked price.
She told the customer "it's an error and you know it's an error. It's been priced wrongly and you can see that yourself. "
Customer wasn't too happy!

dudara

Shinaynay wrote: »

, if I went on to Brown Thomas website and a pair of boots (the last & only pair) were marked down from €1000 to €50 and I purchased them on my credit card, are you saying I would not be entitled to them if it turned out it had been a typing error on their behalf?

Possibly not - in this case, the sale would have been entirely automated with no human intervention. If a human reviews the sale later, but before it ships, and sees a genuine error, then yes, they can refuse the sale. Of course, they have to balance that with the goodwill generated by honouring the sale.

The case you quote could fall within the realm of a genuine reduction, and isn't a glaringly obvious error. If they were originally €1,000, and on sale for €50, then that's a big error.

noodler

I worked for a well-known entertainment store and really the price on the product wasn't the be all and end all.

Now I specifically remember a misprint in a national newspaper advert and we were told if someone came in citing the advert to give them the product at the advertised price.

RoboRat

I'm afraid that is not true. Retailers are permitted to cancel sales in situations where pricing errors etc have occurred. Also, I'd suggest reading more about the topic of "Invitation to Treat".

This. Plus, retailers usually have it somewhere in their T&C's that the price is an invitation to treat and is not a transaction until fully processed. It unreasonable to expect retailers to not make mistakes and in a situation where one does occur, there needs to be sufficient leeway to allow them to rectify the mistake. The ASAI will then deal with any blatant flouting of Irish advertising standards such as companies deliberately mis-pricing to get business.

If I was the OP, I would ring the hotel and confirm the booking, if nothing is said then happy days and enjoy!

Dodge

Is the room paid for (or just booked)? Surely there's some sort of confirmation e-mail. That will have the price on it.

YoureSoVain

I don't know if the money was taken off the card. I got a confirmation e-mail stating the price was 66 euro

Dodge

Then I think you're good to go.

Hope your folks enjoy it

YoureSoVain

Think I would have to ring to confirm. Imagine being landed with that bill!

RangeR

Thoie wrote: »

Generally with distance selling, the contract isn't formed until the goods are paid for. If they've taken the money from your card already, then you're probably good. If they've just sent a confirmation email, but not taken the money, read the small print.

For automated distant selling, it even goes further than this. After taking money, the retailer can cancel the order and refund.

danjo-xx

If only a booking deposit has been taken does this count as acceptance of the offer by the hotel (apart from all the other arguments)

YoureSoVain

UPDATE: Got a call from hotel today about my booking A lovely lady said there was an issue with their bookings and they had an IT glitch and that they couldnt possible give me the room for that price. I said I understood and said that I booked it just to see what would happen! She said she could offer it to me for 480 euro (which was the price that weekend for their standard room) She thanked me for being so understanding. So there ya go

theteal

YoureSoVain wrote: »

UPDATE: Got a call from hotel today about my booking A lovely lady said there was an issue with their bookings and they had an IT glitch and that they couldnt possible give me the room for that price. I said I understood and said that I booked it just to see what would happen! She said she could offer it to me for 480 euro (which was the price that weekend for their standard room) She thanked me for being so understanding. So there ya go

sorry to hear it OP, it was worth a shot

Cheshire Cat

YoureSoVain wrote: »

UPDATE: Got a call from hotel today about my booking A lovely lady said there was an issue with their bookings and they had an IT glitch and that they couldnt possible give me the room for that price. I said I understood and said that I booked it just to see what would happen! She said she could offer it to me for 480 euro (which was the price that weekend for their standard room) She thanked me for being so understanding. So there ya go

Just out of curiosity: Did you take up the offer? A good bit more than the rate originally offered but still a massive saving on the normal price :eek:

YoureSoVain

Actually didn't take up the offer. Looking at a weekend abroad which is working out cheaper