ACCC sues Webjet for misleading claims about pricing and booking confirmations

[Mattg]

The ACCC is taking Webjet to court for allegedly advertising flights for sale at prices people could not actually book because they excluded Webjet's mandatory service fees.

The regulator also says that Webjet sent over 300 confirmation emails to customers who did not actually have confirmed bookings. Webjet later either asked them for additional payment to confirm the booking or refunded them.

Webjet sued for misleading buyers on prices, bookings

Consumers were tricked into believing they were getting a better deal than was possible on Webjet's platform, a lawsuit claims.

www.thenewdaily.com.au

 

[jakeseven7]

Boo hoo and good riddance

 

[kpc]

Goos. A few million dollar fine would ram the message home!

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Good! About time!

Webjet sold the mandatory ‘fare lock’ fee as a type of insurance which you couldn’t opt out of. And i’d argue it was virtually useless anyway… no other airline booking company I’m aware of needed something similar to guarantee fares. And it was capped at $1000.

If webjet had made the fee optional, that would be different.

will be interesting to see webjet’s response.

 

[CaptJCool]

This is an interesting issue as a friend booked via an offshore OTA and had the SAME problem…

Drove him INSANE with the chops and changes and charges (6 or more over several weeks)

Apparently the process is to accept your payment now and then boom airfares go up after you paid before they “booked” the fare - which suggested the website you interact with is their front-end in-house not directly connected to the airlines sites

Of course being off-shore was a nightmare to deal with them post payment to get an actual ticket and then to manage “later changes” along the way with “service fees” on top of the airline fees soaking up the up-front savings so to speak meaning “may as well just bought the tic via the airline website to begin with”
Hopefully it wasn't one of those subscription service OTAs who keep charging an annual fee for however many years and make it somewhat complicated to cancel it.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

This is an interesting issue as a friend booked via an offshore OTA and had the SAME problem…

Drove him INSANE with the chops and changes and charges (6 or more over several weeks)

Apparently the process is to accept your payment now and then boom airfares go up after you paid before they “booked” the fare - which suggested the website you interact with is their front-end in-house not directly connected to the airlines sites

Of course being off-shore was a nightmare to deal with them post payment to get an actual ticket and then to manage “later changes” along the way with “service fees” on top of the airline fees soaking up the up-front savings so to speak meaning “may as well just bought the tic via the airline website to begin with”
Hopefully it wasn't one of those subscription service OTAs who keep charging an annual fee for however many years and make it somewhat complicated to cancel it.

The thing is with Webjet I think any reasonable passenger would assume the ticket is being purchased then and there, instantly, the same as any other major OTA such as flight centre or expedia.

The ‘fare lock guarantee’ should never be necessary for a major OTA, just like it isn’t necessary for a physical travel agency.

 

[CaptJCool]

The thing is with Webjet I think any reasonable passenger would assume the ticket is being purchased then and there, instantly, the same as any other major OTA such as flight centre or expedia.

The ‘fare lock guarantee’ should never be necessary for a major OTA, just like it isn’t necessary for a physical travel agency.

And these ?
price-promise
Fare-lock
price-drop-protection

this ought cover the ticketing problem for OTA

Qantas lets you lock in a price with new 5-day guarantee for NDC bookings - Travel Weekly

Qantas has introduced a price guarantee of up to 5 days when agents shop and book using the Qantas Distribution Platform.

travelweekly.com.au

 

[MEL_Traveller]

And these ?
price-promise
Fare-lock
price-drop-protection

this ought cover the ticketing problem for OTA

Qantas lets you lock in a price with new 5-day guarantee for NDC bookings - Travel Weekly

Qantas has introduced a price guarantee of up to 5 days when agents shop and book using the Qantas Distribution Platform.

travelweekly.com.au

I don’t believe it ever was a ‘problem’ for webjet. If you bought a simple VA/QF/JQ ticket from them it should have been purchased instantly, direct from available inventory. The price should not have changed. The fare is either available when you click ‘buy’ or it’s not.

$54 on fees for a $200 ticket internationally is outrageous.

 

[CaptJCool]

From earlier reading they made very little on domestic fares as the extra fees as % of low cost fares is “too much” for most consumers who can book direct with the airline

 

[MEL_Traveller]

From earlier reading they made very little on domestic fares as the extra fees as % of low cost fares is “too much” for most consumers who can book direct with the airline

Their fees for a domestic booking are stated as $35… comprised of $21.95 booking fee and $12.95 ‘fare lock’. Buy a $59 JQ fare and that’s more than 50% fees and charges.

 

[Mattg]

Their fees for a domestic booking are stated as $35… comprised of $21.95 booking fee and $12.95 ‘fare lock’. Buy a $59 JQ fare and that’s more than 50% fees and charges.

Exactly. I've often wondered why people book with them in the first place.

 

[SYD]

Their fees for a domestic booking are stated as $35… comprised of $21.95 booking fee and $12.95 ‘fare lock’. Buy a $59 JQ fare and that’s more than 50% fees and charges.

Begs the question why people do? It’s just as easy to book direct….

I used WJ once to book CX J from Indonesia to Europe and back. The good thing it allowed me to pay in AUD (at spot rate) and I had a freebie $100 WJ voucher from 28° MC and an AMEX cash back promo - happy days. Wouldn’t use them otherwise - other than maybe check fares….

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Exactly. I've often wondered why people book with them in the first place.

I think it might be a uniformed consumer? Or perhaps thinking incidental fees and charges are ‘normal’?

I don’t really have an issue with OTAs charging a booking fee. But the ‘fare lock’ I thought particularly bad and potentially misleading… how many fares actually change so quickly that they can’t be ticketed for the advertised price?

 

[CaptJCool]

I think it might be a uniformed consumer? Or perhaps thinking incidental fees and charges are ‘normal’?

I don’t really have an issue with OTAs charging a booking fee. But the ‘fare lock’ I thought was particularly bad… i would have liked the option to not have that benefit and taken my chances!

Unfair lock

It’s like a useless extended warranty claim - upselling at its finest

What it does is enable the retailer to know who will pay more for no real good reason (risk averse, peace of mind kinda customer) who pays a “higher” “premium” price for the exact same product and sell off the data stream to other retailers who can then extract more from that same bunch of customers.
What’s not to like about making profit from risk averse purchasers ?

 

[aikman]

They seem to have a large customer base who keeps coming back for more. They are doing something right whatever that is.

I'm surprised Booking or Expedia haven't bought them out yet.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Unfair lock

It’s like a useless extended warranty claim - upselling at its finest

What it does is enable the retailer to know who will pay more for no real good reason (risk averse, peace of mind kinda customer) who pays a “higher” “premium” price for the exact same product and sell off the data stream to other retailers who can then extract more from that same bunch of customers.
What’s not to like about making profit from risk averse purchasers ?

It would ok if it wasn’t compulsory! There was no way to escape this charge… so it wasn’t even upselling!

it wasn’t like optional insurance on a car hire, or an extended warranty… this ‘fare guarantee’ seemed like a service fee under another name.