Beware TCB/Quidco - they can direct to more expensive versions of the same website!!

gorgirl wrote: »

Everyone may already know this but I've just discovered that you get different prices for the exact same offers on redletterdays.co.uk, depending on where you click through from.

If you type in the url or click through from google, there are a number of offers on the spa breaks page. For example the one night De Vere break has been reduced from £200 to £160.

However if you then decide to try and buy one of them by logging onto Topcashback or Quidco, when you go through them, the same page shows up without the reduced prices so the same break is back at £200.

Here are the screenshots:

Without discounts: http://www.freeimagehosting.net/oxt4c

With discounts: http://www.freeimagehosting.net/thxk4

So if you go to the cashback site first you might unwittingly think you've saved money by getting 10% or 13% cashback, when the price is already 20% more expensive than on the normal website.

I googled it and came up with this page where they explain whole thing in detail:

http://www.affiliates4u.com/forums/affiliate-marketing-lounge/146065-innovative-technology-red-letter-days-levels-playing-field.html

Did everyone else know about this already, or is it just me? It seems sneaky and underhand, especially at the moment when everyone is trying to save money, to penalise those who are using cashback sites and gives them a really bad name.

What does everyone else think and have you seen this on other websites?

Backbiter wrote: »

Bear in mind that ticket prices are affected by the availability, so once tickets at a certain price have been sold, only higher-priced tickets will be available. So, on occasions, it is inevitable that, when you return to a website, prices could be higher than when you previously looked.
It is not just down to cookies on your computer.