Lastminute.com Pricematch

pau1777

Hi,

I booked a holiday through lastminute.com 3 days ago.
I received the conformation of the price and the tour operator through email. Later that day I found the same holiday £160 cheaper through another tour operator for exactly the same holiday (same flights, resort and hotel).
I went to lastminute.com to look at how to cancel the holiday to book the cheaper one, this is where I found the "pricematch".

The pricematch states

The lastminute.com price match promise is your guarantee that whenever you shop with lastminute.com we're confident you're getting the best deals.
It's simple. We'll refund the difference if you find the same product or service cheaper on any other UK website within 24 hours of your purchase. Promise!
To request a price match refund, just email [EMAIL="pricematch@lastminute.com"]pricematch@lastminute.com[/EMAIL] including: the name of the website where the product is cheaper, a screenshot of the cheaper offer (including the date and time visited), the cost of the cheaper product, your search criteria (dates / times / number of passengers / destination etc.), your name, email address and contact telephone number along with your lastminute.com order number. You will receive an automated acknowledgement of your request, and we will review the details and reply to you via email within three business days.


Thinking that this would be the best option I submitted a pricematch request following all of the instructions above. After I did this I did receive an acknowledgement within a few minutes.

Please note this is an automated acknowledgement.

Thank you for contacting lastminute.com. Your enquiry has been passed to our Customer Care Team who will strive to respond to your contact within 6 working hours.

Opening time 08:00 – 20:00 Mon - Sun.
Regards,
lastminute.com Customer Care
https://www.lastminute.com


I have now received a full reply at 4am this morning stating that since my holiday is through another tour operator this is nothing to do with lastminute, even though I booked and gave my credit card details to lastminue.com (although they have not charged me the tour operator has through the details that lastminute.com gave them)
I have my order number and conformation email from lastminute.com.

I phoned them up and spoke to a very rude person who first of all said I was too late to claim a pricematch, then said they don’t offer pricematch on holidays then said that they cannot offer anything as it was the tour operator that charged me and not lastminute.com

Is this false advertising that they offer a pricematch and even though you follow all their instructions they can find some way of backing out of it?
Thanks

pau1777

Here are the full terms and conditions of the pricematch.

The lastminute.com price match promise is your guarantee that whenever you shop with lastminute.com we're confident you're getting the best deals.
It's simple. We'll refund the difference if you find the same product or service cheaper on any other UK website within 24 hours of your purchase. Promise!
To request a price match refund, just email [EMAIL="pricematch@lastminute.com"]pricematch@lastminute.com[/EMAIL] including: the name of the website where the product is cheaper, a screenshot of the cheaper offer (including the date and time visited), the cost of the cheaper product, your search criteria (dates / times / number of passengers / destination etc), your name, email address and contact telephone number along with your lastminute.com order number. You will receive an automated acknowledgment of your request, and we will review the details and reply to you via email within three business days.

Upon our acceptance of your refund request, please allow 14 days for delivery of your refund which will be credited as a second transaction on your credit or debit card. The time taken for the refund to appear on your credit or debit card statement varies so the amount may not show on your next statement.

Terms and Conditions
You are eligible for a price-match refund if your request meets the following conditions: The lastminute.com refund guarantee applies only to UK internet retailers that have the identical product and/or goods in stock or service immediately available (not on request) and the product, goods and/or service is priced accurately.

Price match requests must be submitted within 24 hours from the time of purchase online at the website, www.lastminute.com. In the case of holiday products, identical product includes the name of the Tour Operator.

Please note, our price match guarantee does not apply if you book just a flight.
For ‘flight + hotel’ products and city breaks our price match guarantee does apply. To qualify, we must be satisfied that (a) both products are identical (including the same class of service on the flight and room type/board basis at the hotel), and (b) the flight + hotel product you have found is actually available to book as one package on the same website. When requesting a price match, please be aware that prices will be compared on the following criteria:
Prices are compared on product price and when calculating the competitor's total price comparisons will include the cost of the product plus handling and delivery charges.

When requesting a refund you must include the name of the website where the product is cheaper, a screenshot of the cheaper offer (including the date and time visited), the cost of the cheaper product, your search criteria (dates / times / number of passengers / destination), your name, email address and contact telephone number along with your lastminute.com order number.

The lastminute.com price match refund guarantee does not apply when you use coupons/vouchers or other promotional offers on the alternative website. .
The lastminute.com price match refund guarantee is only available against products goods or services found within 24 hours of making your booking on lastminute.com and any refunds must be made to the card you used to make your original booking on lastminute.com.

The lastminute.com price match refund guarantee does not apply to any lastminute.com sale items.

The lastminute.com refund guarantee does not include any DVD, video or CD purchase, restaurant booking, any flight only purchases or music ticket purchases

The lastminute.com refund guarantee is subject to change and can be withdrawn at any time and is only available to purchases made in the United Kingdom.

pau1777

OK so here are some other terms I have found

1. Except for the sale of a very small number of products (such as, for some entertainment tickets) our Channels operate to an agency model. This means that we act as a disclosed agent for third party suppliers, such as a tour operator, hotel or a restaurant. What this means is that the contract for the product is between you and the supplier. In most cases this will mean that there are additional terms and conditions governing the contract as each supplier will have terms and conditions relating to that product. Please make sure that you have read these terms and conditions before completing your transaction with us. You can easily request them from our Customer Services by using one of the methods detailed at the end of these terms. Where we act as agent this will mean that we have no contractual liability to you in respect of that product. However, we may still be liable to you if we have been negligent, we have misrepresented important information or have been in breach of any other relevant law. On the other hand, for some products, we act as principal. This means that the contract for the product is between you and us. Don't worry we will let you know where we act as principal and where we act as agent.
2. All products sold through lastminute.com's Channels are not an offer by lastminute.com to sell any product, but an invitation to you to make an offer to our suppliers. We are free to accept that offer on behalf of those suppliers or to reject it. In some cases, we may send you an email acknowledging receipt of your order. Once we have processed your order, we will send you an e-mail confirming the contract if you are purchasing from the website, from other Channels the confirmation may be different. For example when purchasing via WAP we will send you an SMS or via IVT our acceptance will be communicated when the product is delivered. The method of concluding a contract will be made clear on the relevant Channel.

I have highlighted in bold the parts that I think are relevant, however I feel that they have misrepresented the pricematch as they do not say that the price match is not available if the booking goes through a tour operator.

Surely they must have some responsibility if they advertise this to fulfil it?

dmg24

pau1777 wrote: »

I have received a reply at 4am this morning stating that since my holiday is through another tour operator this is nothing to do with lastminute, even though I booked and gave my credit card details to lastminue.com (although they have not charged me the tour operator has through the details that lastminute.com gave them)

pau1777 wrote: »

In the case of holiday products, identical product includes the name of the Tour Operator.

Your posts are a big old ramble, but from what I can see they have declined your claim because your comparator is through a different operator?

pau1777

I’m sorry I wanted to provide as much information as possible not a "ramble"
No they are declining it because lastminute.com say they have nothing to do with the booking, they passed it onto another third party tour operator who are now responsible for the booking hence my last post.
They acknowledge that I have found a cheaper identical holiday from a different operator within the 24 hour period, however they say that their pricepatch is only for booking with lastminute.com that are supplied from lastminute.com. If you book through their website and they pass the booking onto a third party operator, it is then nothing to do with them.
Yet the terms of their pricematch (my second post) do not specify this.

I just want to know where I stand.
Thanks

dmg24

pau1777 wrote: »

I’m sorry I wanted to provide as much information as possible not a "ramble"
No they are declining it because lastminute.com say they have nothing to do with the booking, they passed it onto another third party tour operator who are now responsible for the booking hence my last post.
They acknowledge that I have found a cheaper identical holiday from a different operator within the 24 hour period, however they say that their pricepatch is only for booking with lastminute.com that are supplied from lastminute.com. If you book through their website and they pass the booking onto a third party operator, it is then nothing to do with them.
Yet the terms of their pricematch (my second post) do not specify this.

I just want to know where I stand.
Thanks

You are still not making much sense - was your comparator identical, including the same tour operator?

pau1777

Ok,
I bought the holiday through lastminute.com.
Lastminute.com then passes the booking onto a third party tour operator (whom they have an agreement with to provide the holiday call them operator A), but my booking was with lastminute.com where I provide all my details credit card etc.


On the lastminute.com website they have a pricematch guarantee that is you can find the same holiday with any different tour operator within 24 hours of booking your holiday they will refund the difference between the two bookings.


Here's where it gets confusing.

I find the exact holiday from a different tour operator call these tour operator B (same flights, hotels and transfers) for £200 cheaper. I tell lastminute.com that I have found the same holiday cheaper and do everything that they ask me to do for a "pricematch" (see post 2).


They respond to say they are looking into it.


I then get an email this morning from lastminute.com to say that they will not do the pricematch as even though I booked through lastminute.com they forwarded the booking onto Tour operator A and therefore the lastminute.com pricematch that is advertised on the website is no longer applicable.


They acknowledge that Tour operator B does have exactly the same holiday (flights and hotel etc.) but say that I should have approached Tour operator A with this information not lastminute.com.


Does lastminute.com still have some responsibility as I booked through their website, or as they say they passed the booking through to Tour operator A and are no longer involved?

wealdroam

Firstly, I have not read all those T&Cs.

Could it be that Lastminute will price match if you can get the same holiday from Tour Operator A cheaper than LM can get it from Tour Operator A?

Feel free to ignore this post if there is something in those T&Cs that make it ridiculous.

:beer:

dmg24

wealdroam wrote: »

Firstly, I have not read all those T&Cs.

Could it be that Lastminute will price match if you can get the same holiday from Tour Operator A cheaper than LM can get it from Tour Operator A?

Feel free to ignore this post if there is something in those T&Cs that make it ridiculous.

:beer:

Yep, you are spot on. The OP is trying to claim for a price match with a different tour operator.

OP, you can see who the operator is before booking by looking up the ATOL number on the information page.

pau1777

dmg24 wrote: »

Yep, you are spot on. The OP is trying to claim for a price match with a different tour operator.

OP, you can see who the operator is before booking by looking up the ATOL number on the information page.

Hi,
This is the price match

It's simple. We'll refund the difference if you find the same product or service cheaper on any other UK website within 24 hours of your purchase. Promise!

This does not say you have to pricematch the same tour operator "any other UK website" to me means any other UK website!

Sorry if this sound silly but that is the way I read it.

dmg24

pau1777 wrote: »

Hi,
This is the price match

It's simple. We'll refund the difference if you find the same product or service cheaper on any other UK website within 24 hours of your purchase. Promise!

This does not say you have to pricematch the same tour operator "any other UK website" to me means any other UK website!

Sorry if this sound silly but that is the way I read it.

It says it in the terms and conditions, as you have quoted!

You are not comparing an identical product - in effect you are comparing a t shirt from M&S with one from Tesco. They might look the same, but they are not identical.