Are all agent price guarantees useless?

[tomlikesbeetroot]

Recently I noticed Zuji, bestflights.com.au and webjet posted a fare I knew would sell out rather quickly, as it was $300 cheaper than price available on expedia.

I used to think that expedia is the only company worth taking them up on a price match as they match the price and give a $50 hotel voucher, previously I have got them to price match zuji and received my voucher all good.
This time however I tried to do the same thing again and they told me that it was a mistake last time, zuji is a site they never price match (along with webjet and bestflights.com.au) despite nothing in their terms stating this.

Unfortunately by the time I had got off the phone the price was no longer available.

Luckily (I thought) I still had the webjet page open displaying the sale price and 8 minutes remaining of their 30 minute booking price guarantee. I tend to avoid webjet due to the $50 charge for this price guarantee, but what better time to take advantage of their offer which states "The Booking Price Guarantee secures the prices you have selected provided you complete your booking within 30 minutes."..............Sounds great, except its not true.

After entering my card details to make the booking, a message came back saying the booking had not been confirmed with the airline and they would contact me within 48 hours to advise if the booking would be finalized or cancelled. Surely enough, I got the phone call saying that the fare was no longer available.

I admit I knew the price had changed and was simply trying to take advantage of them, but they should not make such guarantees (and charge for the service) if they will not uphold it.

 

[Travel Guru]

Firstly your title should really read 'are all online agent price guarantees useless' as you only mention online sites.

Re your complaint, I can't really understand why you're complaining, you knew the fare was no longer available because you yourself had delayed in booking while trying to score a better deal but still want them to honor it?

I can't imagine any other retailer would honor a price on an item that was no longer in stock either by themselves or their competitors so why should the travel website?

If I've missed something be sure to point it out, always happy to stand corrected.

TG

 

[tomlikesbeetroot]

Firstly your title should really read 'are all online agent price guarantees useless' as you only mention online sites.

You are correct, I was referring to online travel agents.

If I've missed something be sure to point it out, always happy to stand corrected.
TG

I may not have made it clear, the flight is not sold out. I can still rebook the same flight but the lower price is no longer available.

Re your complaint, I can't really understand why you're complaining, you knew the fare was no longer available because you yourself had delayed in booking while trying to score a better deal but still want them to honor it?

I'm not complaining about missing the fare I knew it would sell out very quick, always does when I see this price on this route. My complaint is that companies do not uphold the guarantees they make.

Webjet make a guarantee that regardless of price changes they will give you the quoted price for the next 30 minutes. Webjet even charges a fee for this service. The fact I knew it was no longer available is irrelevant, the price did change and they did not honour their guarantee. I don't see how they can legally charge this fee if they don't honour the originally advertised price when it does change during that 30 minutes.

Expedia on the other hand had nothing in their terms stating that they will not price match to zuji. In fact they have done it for me previously. If the offer for a hotel voucher is there, I might as well take them up on it.

I can't imagine any other retailer would honor a price on an item that was no longer in stock either by themselves or their competitors so why should the travel website?

Actually officeworks have done exactly this for me. Retravision had a sale on an android tablet that I wanted to purchase however my local store was out of stock. I took up officeworks and their price match offer, they called retravision to confirm the price and stock availabiliy, informed me they were out of stock as well but still honoured the price and let me pick it up as soon as the next shipment came in.

 

[tomlikesbeetroot]

To put it another way.
What does the webjet booking price guarantee cover, if not this exact situation?

 

[kpc]

I find Expedia's price match useless / worthless. I booked a flight on Expedia (non cancellable), and within an hour found a slightly cheaper fare on Zuji. Rang up Expedia to match as per their policy; at first they said they only match hotels, to which I asked them to check their policy again. They came back to say they couldn't match the Zuji fare as Zuji had cancellation fees but they didn't. Not sure what I would be getting back if I cancelled the flight as it was non cancellable. Anyway, Expedia have a policy that you can cancel a flight booked with them if you call on the same day you booked, so I did and rebooked the cheaper Zuji fare.

On a separate note, my local Flight Center matched Zuji and travel.com.au fares for me, and did not charge the credit card surcharges.

 

[tomlikesbeetroot]

They came back to say they couldn't match the Zuji fare as Zuji had cancellation fees but they didn't. Not sure what I would be getting back if I cancelled the flight as it was non cancellable.

Just curious, did you get their australian call centre (AEST business hours) or indian call centre out of hours?
Twice previously I have price matched zuji, but late at night so got the indian call centre who did this no questions asked.

Today I got the australian call centre, and they told me they dont price match zuji because "zuji charges booking and credit card fees". She refused to open the zuji site and read the big advertisement which states no booking or credit card fees.

 

[kpc]

Just curious, did you get their australian call centre (AEST business hours) or indian call centre out of hours?

australian call centre

 

[tomlikesbeetroot]

To put it another way.
What does the webjet booking price guarantee cover, if not this exact situation?

I am pleaseed to say that after calling again and speaking to another operator, webjet has confirmed this is the exact situation the guarantee is meant to cover, and have now issued my ticket at the lower price.

Quite pleased considering the price went up by about 50%