SuperBreak and misleading information

Lyndsay157

I recently booked a west end break package with SuperBreak but unfortunately (no fault of SuperBreak) we couldn't see the show we'd booked and got given a refund. When we booked the first thing we had to do was choose our show tickets, which displayed as £95, however when we received our refund they'd only refunded us £60 per ticket. I queried this and was told that they minus the cost of the hotel from our total price paid and then give you the difference back as the refund for the tickets.


Not happy with this, I then sent an email complaint and have had a response back stating that the £95 is a starting price and that they got these tickets at a discounted rate of £60.


I know I'm not going to get anywhere with claiming the rest of what I perceived to be the ticket cost back, but I really want to report this to a 'body' who can look into this practice. If the customer isn't paying £95 for a ticket then it should tell you at some point during the booking process. I think this practice is very misleading.


Any suggestions on who I can report this to would be great or feel free to tell me I'm wrong!

soolin

Here it says that cancellation costs are payable if you cancel:

https://www.superbreak.com/info/faq.htm

Please note that cancellation charges apply. These charges vary depending upon the product type you have booked. For further details see our privacy and terms page for our cancellation terms and conditions.

Here it shows the costs of cancellation broken down in charges:

https://www.superbreak.com/about/privacy-and-terms/

waamo

They are supposed to tell you the face value of the ticket you are buying. They are also allowed to add on their own profit margin. In saying that legally there is no obligation to refund anything for theatre tickets so all in all it's not a bad outcome.

DoaM

Lyndsay157 wrote: »

unfortunately (no fault of SuperBreak) we couldn't see the show we'd booked!

What do you specifically mean by this?

1. Booked to see Show A but Show A was no longer available?
2. Booked to see Show A on X date but could no longer go on X date?
3. Other?

Item 1 would be their failing thus you'd be entitled to a refund of all monies paid.

Item 2 would be you cancelling thus you'd be bound by their cancellation terms. (As said above, you're not actually legally entitled to anything unless their terms allow for it).

Item 3 - well that would depend on what it is.

Lyndsay157

Thanks to everyone who has replied.


Sorry I wasn't clear - we went to the theatre to watch the show we were booked for and there had been a burst pipe overnight, meaning our seats were soaking wet. They were sold out so couldn't offer us other seats for that performance or any other that weekend, so said a full refund would be issued by SuperBreak.


I have no expectation I will get any more money back from them, I just think the booking process is misleading for the customer. I fully understand the concept of travel trade pricing, as I work in tourism, but the difference being we would only ever give a total price for the package, not tell someone a 'false' price for an element.

agrinnall

As the cancellation was not down to you there should definitely be a full refund. The issue is what does "full refund" mean? It sounds like you booked a hotel and theatre package, you had the hotel part but couldn't take up the theatre part. So the amount of your refund would depend on how much of the price paid was attributed to the hotel and how much to the theatre tickets. Face value of the tickets is irrelevant unless you were buying them as a separate transaction; as part of a package they could be worth anything. If the total you paid less the £60 refund comes out at a reasonable price for the hotel then I'm not sure there's much you can do about it.


Of course if you can argue that the only reason for the trip was to go to the theatre and that the hotel stay was an integral part of the trip (e.g. there was no way to get home afterwards so you had to stay the night) then you might have a case for a refund of everything you paid, but it'll be a tough argument to make.

pmduk

You could always ask the Advertising Standards Authority to rule on the wording of the original advert, but given it's not their fault you missed the show, I'd be grateful to get any refund at all.

hollydays

You could try appealing to the theatre