Ad watchdog sanctions Holiday Extras over parking price pledge

The ASA ruled an ad by Holiday Extras trading as Purple Parking was misleading as it appeared to offer free cancellation for bookings at Stansted. A pop-up box on the Holiday Extras website stated purchasers could amend or cancel bookings up to the booked arrival time without fees.

However, this linked to another box with text stating, “Cancellations within seven days of making your booking will be issued as a voucher for the full amount.” It added: “We are unable to issue a cash refund for bookings cancelled on the arrival date” and warned of a £10 administration fee redeemable towards a future booking.

The ASA ruled retaining £10 or the full amount did not mean bookings could be cancelled without penalty and the ad was misleading.

Holiday Extras said because the circumstances in which £10 was retained as a voucher were “infrequent”, it considered it fair and reasonable for that information to appear in the terms and conditions.

Holiday Extras added 9.74% of cancellations were affected by this provision, and that it was implemented “as a safeguard against a small number of customers making a large number of bookings and then cancelling at the last minute”.

It told the ASA that to explain the voucher provision on the first page of booking “would cause more confusion than benefit”.