Consumer watchdog clips travel firm's wings

[Wirraway]

Tues "Sydney Morning Herald"

Consumer watchdog clips travel firm's wings
By Kirsty Needham, Consumer Reporter
February 1, 2005

Flight Centre will be forced to run corrective notices in the front windows of 500 travel agencies after the consumer watchdog ordered the company to drop its "Lowest Airfares Guaranteed" slogan.

The notices will remain in place for a month after an investigation by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission found Flight Centre was not delivering on the promise of the marketing line, which has been used for 17 years.

The commission's chairman, Graeme Samuel said the watchdog held "serious concerns that customers may have been misled by Flight Centre's slogan which may have led them to decide not to 'shop around' for lower prices".

A survey of air fares by the commission had found Flight Centre's prices were not always the lowest, he said.

Mr Samuel said the commission had acted because the number of complaints from consumers showed there was a systemic problem.

The travel chain will introduce a new slogan, "Price Beat Guarantee - bring us a competitor's airfare and if it's available, we will beat it".

"The consumer has to do some work first," said Mr Samuel.

Flight Centre has also been told it cannot use the term "Global Buying Power" unless it obtains clearance in each instance from the commission.

The watchdog said this term was misleading because Flight Centre does not buy air fares in bulk, but books each seat individually for customers.

"A claim that a trader guarantees to offer the lowest price in a market for a particular good or service is a very powerful device. However, with such claims comes a heavy responsibility," Mr Samuel said.

Flight Centre's company secretary, Greg Pringle, told the stock exchange last week that the travel agency would introduce a "a new, simpler slogan and will continue to beat any competitor's quoted air fare price".

Mr Samuel said price advertising in many retail segments "tends to be susceptible to overselling and under-delivery, and we are constantly receiving complaints".

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[Kornholio]

Yeah I was thinking of posting that however my posts just waste bandwidth and do nothing but denigrate other users :sad:

Woomera (Eastern States)

[Spuds McKenzie]

So it took the ACCC 17 years to conclude that the
Flight Centre was not delivering on the promise of the marketing line
Flippin' heck, that's what I'd call efficient... :hmm:

[Icarus2001]

So will Bunnings be next? LOWEST PRICES EVERYDAY

[Ultralights]

when will QF get told to remove "the spirit of Australia" from their brand??


me thinks someone in the ACCC didnt like the price they paid through flight centre!

i would say a good 90% of all advertising slogans are false! why pick on Flight centre?

[Eastwest Loco]

Well all I can say is YAY!!!!!!!!!

This industry turkey has been taking other people's work for years - taking $20.00 off the quote with the work already done for them with spotty Uni students with no travel qualifications other than being rooted senseless on one or more Contiki tours selling what the company dictates. We have methods in place now to avoid giving them enough info to quote from, and for non regular passengers will charge a $50.00 per person fee for a detailed quote that comes off the booking once it is in place. That sorts out the wheat from the chaff.

Every single time I have had a client come in saying they have had a Fright Centre quote, I have told them I did not want to know what it is, and have used our usual formula of nett plus 9% plus taxes, and offered the best value airline (rather than the airline that is offering the biggest kickback to the group) and have beat their quote by up to several hundred dollars. About bloody time they copped it in the neck.

Also, try to get them after hours if things go pear shaped. Every full service corporate agent that is serious about the passenger makes that service available. We do so not just to corporates, but to the everyday traffic. It is better to fix a problem on the spot than to let it fester for 12-15 hours getting steadily worse.

I guess there is a market for the here's your ticket - now piss off bucket shop agents, but it is something we and many others will not stoop to.

One agent in this town actually got a call from the local FC with a female purporting to be the partner of a person who had made a booking with them. The lady who took the call actually knew the partner and knew it wasn't her - then the penny dropped, and she asked the caller if she was calling from FC. Very embarassed stuttering and then the phone was hung up. Trying to verify the quote.

What a scumbag operation.

It is so nice to see them cop a big one squarely up the date. Good one ACCC - finally!!!

EWL:ok:

[Woomera]

"One agent in this town..."

There's more than one in that quaint hamlet? :E

[Kaptin M]

Agreed, EWL - I reckon the "We guarantee to beat the lowest price" bs is dirty pool, and I refuse to support the businesses that advertise on that basis.
If they aren't the cheapest - on a comparable product - in the initial sweepstakes, why give THEM a second bight of the cherry, and get rid of the REAL competitor.

I used to use Flight Centre, until I discovered that I could get better deals - for EXACTLY the same product - by shopping around.
BTW, although each outlet is franchised, I thought that FC was a QANTAS-owned company?

If you want a nice red & white travel pass holder for an extra x number of $$$'s above the lowest fare, then this mob might be for you.....but having said that, I did find a couple of their staff extremely efficient.
And then they moved on!!!

[Eastwest Loco]

Six actually Woomerasan.

Or 5 restaurants and a fast food outlet.:}

Agent in question is Travel and Cruise (nice play on words for an ex Traveland) and the lady concerned an I used to work together and I have a lot of time for her, her workmates and the Directors of the company. Lovely people all round.

Generally we just get on with it and win on our merits. There is still one other in town that desperation sells, but that has already brought the 7th (along with a BMW and using client's money in trust Accounts to fund a holiday) unstuck.

FC was working on a move into Burnie as well, but as soon as the QF commission reviews were announced, they suddenly pulled their heads in. Inside word is they are running scared, as they used the up front commission as the discount tool and lived off the flown revenue overides.

Interestingly they do not issue their tickets "in office" and all are generated ex Brisvegas which is in fact a clever ploy to centralise all revenue for the purpose of bargaining power with airlines. hence, 100% of staff in their offices would not be able to handle an emergency issue of physical tickets for a family emergency on non e ticket airlines.

Good thing.

Oh - and on an aside - Woomera - the waitlist on the non stop cleared this evening - about 10 minutes ago.

Kaptin - Apart from one of the subsidiary brands, I am under the impression that Flight Centre is all company owned. They send managers from good turnover offices around the country to kick start new ones. The poor staff have to provide a record of conversions to calls/face to face enquiries. The reason the good ones left is they found a job with a real Agent, where they were supported and rewarded for effort,not hounded for results.

That is why I pay my staff well over award. They perform, appreciate how they are treated, and I will not stand anyone giving them heat for no good reason. Even if they make an error (and who doesnt) I wear it if it costs us. The girls and guy I have working for me are the business. If I treated them like Primary School children, then I would not have had them for this long.


Best regards

EWL

[jb_flyer]

EWL I have always appreciated reading your posts, you strike me as a true LEADER, not just a manager. The wy you approach an argument, and present solutions, and the way you treat your customers (and staff, as they are customers as well) leads me to think you consider them as CLIENTS, not just customers.

Your attitude to staff benifits needs to be communicated to others, and listened to. Not only in the airline industry (although im sure we can all name a few airlines that could do with a employee relations kick) but extending to other industries as well.

Back to topic, a friend of mine is a corporate agent here who handles the WA Govt account. I asked her how FC was to work in (they seem to continually advertise here in WA) and the answer was not flattering, and echo all the items you have mentioned about how their employees feel about them. And they are supposedly the "best company to work for" as awarded by some awards ceremony thing.

Rationalisation is a good thing in any over subscribed industry. There are some clients who focus mainly on price, and bugger the service, and there are other clients who dont mind paying a fair price for good service. Lets hope that people continue to support those who make a fair living, and get the good service! (In all industries)

JB

[Eastwest Loco]

jb - that is high praise, and not really earned. I simply treat my staff as I would like to be treated myself, and (shock - horror - reel in amazement) it works.

I have been berated on occasion for harking back to the old days. There is a lot in those days that I use now. Caring about your people, culture of an Airline, working your butt off for that one extra passenger.

Our QF debit memos (charges when we alleged make a mistake) are now generated in the UK, and carrey a Surrey postmark. Great eh?

My franchisor is pissed off with me for spreading ways to retain your commission by getting smart - they are running scared because the majority of their income comes from preferred partners such as QF. They have still yet to see that there is precious little QF left.The flying roo is already a wallaby, heading steadily to quoka with the reassignment of market after market to subset companies.

I actually sold a bit of rat today, on Jakarta ex AKL and wore the 7% for a good corporate. Another for a mate MNL BNE. I will not apply "fee for service" except where there is a no commission policy in place.

It gets really ugly when you find ways NOT to sell your national carrier though. I personally find that un Australian and hurtful.

Itaint geting any better jb

Best regards

EWL

I do however, have a group of good people to keep in work for themselves and their families.

[7gcbc]

EWL absolutely right, checked the FC website a few weeks ago, saw the QF/BA codeshare to LHR for about 1800, quick calc in my head, 1800*2+(1800*.75% toddler monster) + 300aud baby monster, gave me a ballpark of 5300 odd.

Rocked up at the one in Circular Quay, sorry sir best price we can do is 2300 each + taxes.

So we went to trailfinders instead and got the lot (QF/BA Also) for 6500K including tax, but with EI flights thrown in to Dublin/Rome and a route back via Rome and HK, with bulkheads both ways for the screamers.

FC said we would be better off booking the internal european flights ourselves as they are soooooooooo cheap..... yeah sure.

FC have been at it a long time, they know the tricks, its bulk volume sales, unfortunately it works for the Bali /Fiji/Koh Samui crowd.

I suppose they are cheap (for small % certain situations) but it pays to read whats on the tin carefully before opening.

7g

edit to add "QF/BA Also"

[Eastwest Loco]

7b

It is nice to see someone is paying attention.

Well done.

I would go web based, but would lose the personal contact, and the ability to fix problems after hours for clients without bringing the world down around me by publishing an after hours number on a worldwide website.

I much prefer being available to those who are good enough to call on the toll-free and make bookings, and fix their problems and handle their fears/queries/question day or night.

Mainline airlines, such as BA/LH/OS/AZ etc have had to cut the guts out of their lead in fares to compete with the cheapies to stay compettitive - nice little trick with AF is to look for the YZ (youth fares) for younger passengers. Cheap as!! You will not be offered them at a Blight Centre. They would not have a clue.

Best all

EWL