Post by mdkabila on Mar 10, 2024 19:49:40 GMT -8
“Last room left, hurry!” This may be an old and hyperinflated system to push bookings, but to date, it has always worked. Too bad that according to the Competition and Markets Authority , i.e. the Competition and Markets Authority in England, this is not legitimate . England has not yet banned installment parity clauses, but is thoroughly investigating all the portals' sales practices. As reported by the Telegraph, the authorities have pricked up their ears because some customers recently complained that they had to pay additional taxes after booking holidays and hotels on small sites found through Skyscanner, a price comparison portal. So they promise to bring the culprits to court if the "unfair and misleading" practices do not stop.
The most classic sales practices and more are under attack To understand more, we went directly to the English CMA website , where a press release written on 28 June 2018 explains the positions taken in more depth. The CMA's major concerns concern in particular: Search results : how hotels are positioned on OTAs. For example, to what extent search results are influenced by factors that are not relevant to the user, such as commissions paid by the hotel to the site Sales pressure : Whether claims about how many people are looking at the same room, how Denmark Phone Number many rooms are left, or how long a price will be available create a false picture of room availability and push customers to rush into booking Discounts : whether the advertised discounts offered on these sites offer a fair comparison to the customer.
The claim may be based on a higher price that is only available for a short period of time or for a period that is not relevant to the user. For example, if you compare the cost of a room during the weekend, which is obviously higher, with the rates during the working days that the customer has searched for. Hidden costs : Whether sites include all costs in the price they show to the user, or whether people are later faced with unexpected additional costs, such as taxes or booking fees. In short, on the one hand the authorities' fears are more than legitimate , as in the first case and in the last point: it is not really "ethical" for hotels to be listed based on the commissions they pay to OTAs, without taking into account the age-old question of taxes to pay added at the last second. On the other hand, it seems a bit ridiculous that even very widespread sales practices, as old as the world and I would say quite harmless, are being called into question.
The most classic sales practices and more are under attack To understand more, we went directly to the English CMA website , where a press release written on 28 June 2018 explains the positions taken in more depth. The CMA's major concerns concern in particular: Search results : how hotels are positioned on OTAs. For example, to what extent search results are influenced by factors that are not relevant to the user, such as commissions paid by the hotel to the site Sales pressure : Whether claims about how many people are looking at the same room, how Denmark Phone Number many rooms are left, or how long a price will be available create a false picture of room availability and push customers to rush into booking Discounts : whether the advertised discounts offered on these sites offer a fair comparison to the customer.
The claim may be based on a higher price that is only available for a short period of time or for a period that is not relevant to the user. For example, if you compare the cost of a room during the weekend, which is obviously higher, with the rates during the working days that the customer has searched for. Hidden costs : Whether sites include all costs in the price they show to the user, or whether people are later faced with unexpected additional costs, such as taxes or booking fees. In short, on the one hand the authorities' fears are more than legitimate , as in the first case and in the last point: it is not really "ethical" for hotels to be listed based on the commissions they pay to OTAs, without taking into account the age-old question of taxes to pay added at the last second. On the other hand, it seems a bit ridiculous that even very widespread sales practices, as old as the world and I would say quite harmless, are being called into question.