blakey1152
Member
- Joined
- 5 Sep 2011
- Messages
- 450
Hi all,
Thought you might be interested in this.
recently South Eastern trains had a "special offer" on their web site where you were able to purchase a range of tickets including off peak day returns at a 20% discount if booked online using their website and tickets picked up at the ticket machine.
I attempted to take advantage of this special offer and purchase an off peak return from Slade Green to Dartford - normal fare £2.60 - Discounted fare £2.10.
However, I was caught out as South-eastern's web site has a minimum purchase requirement of £5...something which was strangely missing from the full terms and conditions on the web site.
So I ended up having to go to the station and pay £2.60 and this annoyed me a bit as I felt that SE had made it so that the discount was effectively only available for longer journeys or if you had more than 1 person travelling!
When I got home I contacted SE Customer services to complain and request back the 50p that I believe I had now been overcharged only to be told on the phone that "50p is a bit petty Sir - There is therefore no need to refund you as you didn't take advantage of our offer"
This made me even more angry and I then went in and put a complaint in regarding the advertisement to the ASA.
I got a response back from the ASA as follows :-
Your complaint about London & South Eastern Railway Ltd. Ref: A11-168772
We have assessed the ad and your complaint and we considered that you have made a valid point. We considered that the ad was likely to mislead as it did not make clear that there was a minimum spend when purchasing train tickets on the website. As this appeared to be a relatively clear breach, instead of initiating a formal investigation and with a view to acting quickly, we informed the advertiser of the complaint and they have assured us that the ad will no longer appear in its current form. They have also agreed to ensure that similar issues do not arise in their future similar marketing communication. We have also received a written assurance from them to that effect.
We consider that the issue is now resolved and we will be closing our file. However, basic information including the advertisers name and where the ad appeared will be published on our website, www.asa.org.uk on 5 October 2011.
Just to let you know that the advertiser has informed me that they would like to apologise for any inconvenience and would be willing to refund the difference of the purchase of your ticket. I would therefore be grateful if you could let me know if you are happy for me to give the advertiser your details if you would like to take advantage of this offer. Id be grateful if you could let me know by Monday 26 September.
Thank you for taking the time to bring this to our attention.
So I felt it was a win for me...although...its been two weeks and I'm still waiting for my 50p refund.....
Chris
Thought you might be interested in this.
recently South Eastern trains had a "special offer" on their web site where you were able to purchase a range of tickets including off peak day returns at a 20% discount if booked online using their website and tickets picked up at the ticket machine.
I attempted to take advantage of this special offer and purchase an off peak return from Slade Green to Dartford - normal fare £2.60 - Discounted fare £2.10.
However, I was caught out as South-eastern's web site has a minimum purchase requirement of £5...something which was strangely missing from the full terms and conditions on the web site.
So I ended up having to go to the station and pay £2.60 and this annoyed me a bit as I felt that SE had made it so that the discount was effectively only available for longer journeys or if you had more than 1 person travelling!
When I got home I contacted SE Customer services to complain and request back the 50p that I believe I had now been overcharged only to be told on the phone that "50p is a bit petty Sir - There is therefore no need to refund you as you didn't take advantage of our offer"
This made me even more angry and I then went in and put a complaint in regarding the advertisement to the ASA.
I got a response back from the ASA as follows :-
Your complaint about London & South Eastern Railway Ltd. Ref: A11-168772
We have assessed the ad and your complaint and we considered that you have made a valid point. We considered that the ad was likely to mislead as it did not make clear that there was a minimum spend when purchasing train tickets on the website. As this appeared to be a relatively clear breach, instead of initiating a formal investigation and with a view to acting quickly, we informed the advertiser of the complaint and they have assured us that the ad will no longer appear in its current form. They have also agreed to ensure that similar issues do not arise in their future similar marketing communication. We have also received a written assurance from them to that effect.
We consider that the issue is now resolved and we will be closing our file. However, basic information including the advertisers name and where the ad appeared will be published on our website, www.asa.org.uk on 5 October 2011.
Just to let you know that the advertiser has informed me that they would like to apologise for any inconvenience and would be willing to refund the difference of the purchase of your ticket. I would therefore be grateful if you could let me know if you are happy for me to give the advertiser your details if you would like to take advantage of this offer. Id be grateful if you could let me know by Monday 26 September.
Thank you for taking the time to bring this to our attention.
So I felt it was a win for me...although...its been two weeks and I'm still waiting for my 50p refund.....
Chris
And perhaps add a £10 admin fee)