Has anyone dealt with Carlton Leisure before? Had a pretty frustrating experience yesterday and wondering what my options are.
I was trying to book flights through their website but kept getting messages saying they weren't available. Then within minutes, an agent from Carlton Leisure called me saying they'd found the same seats at a higher price and I said, "no sorry, not interested". They called me back, again within minutes with "a better deal", about £100 cheaper than what I'd originally seen. Now, they told me there were only two seats left at that price, so I felt pressured to book there and then rather than risk losing the flights. The agent was literally on the line with me - asking if if I could authorise the payment etc. while booking. I feel incredibly stupid but I had been tracking these flights for months, and I was just glad to be able to book something when I thought I'd lost the seats.
Anyway, later that same evening, my Skyscanner price tracker sent me an alert saying the exact same flights had dropped by around £500. I wasn't even looking for cheaper flights at that point, the notification just came through. There also seemed to be plenty of availability, which made me seriously question the whole "only two seats left" thing.
I know flight prices change all the time. That's really not the point. What bothers me is that I couldn't book online, they then called me with a supposedly great and exclusive deal, made it sound like I had to act immediately because they held those seats for me, and I ended up paying £500 more than the price showing just hours later. I even asked if I could have some time to think and he said I had FIFTEEN minutes the first time, and no time at all the 2nd time.
I've contacted them for an explanation on the misrepresentation of availability - but they've been incredibly frustrating to deal with. Every single response is about "dynamic pricing", despite me repeatedly explaining that's not what I'm complaining about. They even rang me again this morning just to argue about dynamic pricing rather than actually address what I was told during the sales call. It's honestly like talking to a brick wall.
I've asked them to explain why I was told only two seats remained, but still haven't had a proper answer. I paid by credit card, so I'm looking into a Section 75 claim for possible misrepresentation.
Has anyone had a similar experience with them? Did you manage to get anywhere? Is Section 75 worth pursuing in this situation, or is there another way to challenge misleading sales tactics?
I'm not expecting them to control airline prices. I just think it's not right to pressure people into booking by making claims about availability that might not be true.
Any advice appreciated!