richyp Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 Just read in Jan 2012 MMM an advert for New London Show offering tickets FROM £6.50 and on their website FROM £7.00. However there does not appear to be any way you can actually buy a ticket for either of these prices.There's an advance booking fee of £1. Am I being a bit dim or is this advert misleading. If it is, surely it contavenes advertising standards regulations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Jones Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 It could be fun to contact them (phone or e-mail) and ask specifically how to get tickets for those prices. But I'm afraid it's a bit like ferry crossings - have you ever tried to get one of those at the "headline" bargain price? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
postnote Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 It's all to do with give and take. :D :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 Yeh right PN - we give - they take! Have you ever tried getting an airline ticket at the listed rate never mind the headline rate! More flippin additives than McDonalds! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richyp Posted December 13, 2011 Author Share Posted December 13, 2011 I've sent them an email to ask how I get one. Must be getting to be a real Grumpy Old Man as we can't actually go. Just feeling a bit mischevious. It's stop raining now and the suns come out so I'll go outside and play in the van. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 richyp - 2011-12-13 1:25 PM I've sent them an email to ask how I get one. Must be getting to be a real Grumpy Old Man as we can't actually go. Just feeling a bit mischevious. It's stop raining now and the suns come out so I'll go outside and play in the van. Wonderful - I love it!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 richyp - 2011-12-13 12:48 PM Just read in Jan 2012 MMM an advert for New London Show offering tickets FROM £6.50 and on their website FROM £7.00. However there does not appear to be any way you can actually buy a ticket for either of these prices.There's an advance booking fee of £1. Am I being a bit dim or is this advert misleading. If it is, surely it contavenes advertising standards regulations. Not sure I understand the rip-off criticism. You can purchase Senior Citizen (SC) tickets for £6.50 each via the website if you enter the MM1 promotional code. There will also be a £1.00 transaction fee for advance bookings. So two SC 'special rate' tickets would cost (2 x £6.50) + £1.00 = £14.00 Is that misleading? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richyp Posted December 13, 2011 Author Share Posted December 13, 2011 The advert says tickets from £6.50 but you can't actually buy one for that price. I've had a reply in the same vain as your comment but it does not explain how I buy aticket for £6,50 as adverised. Surely the advert shoud tickets from £7.50 as that is the lowest possible price you can get your hands on one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 Well their not lying are they the ticket is 6.50 ..they just also happen to choose to charge a £1 for advanced booking . their perogative you either pays it or don't . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 So if you turn up on the day is it £6.50 8-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 If they sell tickets at the door then they can only charge 6.50 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted December 14, 2011 Share Posted December 14, 2011 richyp - 2011-12-13 8:02 PM The advert says tickets from £6.50 but you can't actually buy one for that price. I've had a reply in the same vain as your comment but it does not explain how I buy aticket for £6,50 as adverised. Surely the advert shoud tickets from £7.50 as that is the lowest possible price you can get your hands on one. I suspect that some of the respondents to richyp's original posting are not MMM readers. This is a link to the website through which tickets for the February 2012 Excel show can be ordered and it will be noted that the non-promotional price of a Senior (over 60 years) or Adult ticket ordered in advance is £2 less than similar tickets obtained 'On-the-Door'. http://www.motorhomecaravanandcamping.co.uk/page.cfm/Link=9/t=m/goSection=17 Clicking on the "Buy your tickets here" button produces this webpage: http://tinyurl.com/d83u7qp into which the promotion code (MM1) quoted in the MMM advert can be typed in the appropriate box. Doing this and clicking on the SUBMIT CODE button moves you to a 'special offer' webpage: http://tinyurl.com/cxddx37 and selecting the day you want to attend the Show produces this webpage: http://tinyurl.com/bm689j5 Tickets are sold at a stated price with a £1.00 transaction fee. If you order one promotional-price Senior ticket, the overall cost will be £7.50 (£6.50 + £1.00). If you order three promotional-price Senior tickets, the overall cost will be £20.50 ((3 x £6.50) + £1.00). If you order ten promotional-price Senior tickets, the overall cost will be £66.00 ((10 x £6.50) + £1.00). The more tickets that are ordered, the less effect on the OVERALL per-ticket cost the £1.00 transaction fee will have. While it would be nice if there were no transaction fee for advance ordering of Show tickets, the reality is that a transaction fee IS being charged. More importantly, from a buyer's point of view, the fact that a transaction fee is being charged is made clear both in the MMM advert and throughout the ticket-ordering procedure on the website. There is absolutely no question of lack of transparency. Ticket prices are quoted in the MMM advert on a "FROM only £6.50" basis. There's nothing sneaky, or rip-offy about this, because that's what the minimum ticket price actually is. If you are going to argue that, when you buy a ticket, the ticket-price will always cost more than £6.50, then (I would suggest) you are making a semantic error. The ticket-price is the basic price of a ticket (minimum £6.50) and the £1.00 transaction fee is a separate component. If you ordered 100 promotional-price Senior tickets, you'd be buying 100 tickets at a ticket-price of £6.50 each and you'd pay £1.00 for the transaction. Obviously the overall cost of a transaction can never be £6.50 as the transaction-fee is unavoidable, but the advert doesn't say "transactions from only £6.50". You have claimed that the MMM advert is misleading and contravenes advertising standards, but the advert's wording is exact and, in my view, perfectly clear. This type of 'base-price + an additional component' approach is commonplace with distance-selling. It can be confusing to the buyer - for example where several vendors advertise the same product but with significantly different product prices and carriage charges. A product offered at £10 by Vendor A initially looks poor value if Vendor B offers it at £8, but it may then transpire that Vendor A's offer is carriage-free, whereas Vendor B adds £4 for carriage. Is this a 'rip-off', or is it just common business practice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted December 14, 2011 Share Posted December 14, 2011 Whilst I agree with Dereks' summary I think the problem is that the advert gives the impression that you can get in to the show for as little as £6.50 - which in fact does not seem to be the case. I see no rip-off, it's quite clear what you have to pay - I only see it as a modern advertising technique. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted December 14, 2011 Share Posted December 14, 2011 malc d - 2011-12-14 10:08 AM Whilst I agree with Dereks' summary I think the problem is that the advert gives the impression that you can get in to the show for as little as £6.50 - which in fact does not seem to be the case. I see no rip-off, it's quite clear what you have to pay - I only see it as a modern advertising technique. Of course, if you know the leisure-vehicle journalist's complimentary-ticket promotional-code, you can order up to 2 free tickets usable on all Show-days and with the transaction-charge waived. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyishuk Posted December 14, 2011 Share Posted December 14, 2011 Think Ryan Air !! Rgds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted December 14, 2011 Share Posted December 14, 2011 Putting my well worn cynical cap back on - it's my favourite cap because modern life makes it so well used - almost, but not quite, everyone is out to deceive and hoodwink us all into thinking that a deal, or to be specific, their deal is the best available. Sometimes, often in fact, it is impossible to find out the true cost including handling charges, hidden taxes, delivery charges (as opposed to delivery costs), until you reach the pay point by which time most people, but not all, are too deeply hooked to cancel and tell them to shove their deal where the sun don't shine and go look elsewhere. Adverts and websites that quote the full cost up front and stick to their word, rare that they are, get my undivided attention and they also get me to return as a repeat customer too. Whatever happened to honesty and integrity in marketing - or is that a contradiction in terms! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tazdog6007 Posted December 14, 2011 Share Posted December 14, 2011 why pay to go to a place where poeple want to sell you things?i went to harrods store the other day,cost nothing to go in .and the toilets were nicer than at any show i used to go to. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted December 14, 2011 Share Posted December 14, 2011 tazdog6007 - 2011-12-14 12:10 PM why pay to go to a place where poeple want to sell you things?i went to harrods store the other day,cost nothing to go in .and the toilets were nicer than at any show i used to go to. ;-) I agree with you up to a point - but I rarely go to these shows with the intention of buying anything. I go because it's a good place to get 'information ' For example, some of my best holidays have been based on brochures about foreign parts which I would not be aware of without visiting a show. I've also come across a few useful gadgets which I would not have known about if it wasn't for a show. .. but why on earth do people pay out good money to advertise manufacturers goods - such as wearing trainers with Nike written on the side ? Surely they should pay us to do that ? I did once ask a car dealer if I could have a discount because he had stuck an advert for his dealership in the back window of the car I was buying. He just didn't get it. ( .. and nor did I ) Funny old world innit. (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 1footinthegrave Posted December 14, 2011 Share Posted December 14, 2011 Not a rip off if you don't play the game,and a booking fee is just another con, but I've never understood why anyone should be prepared to pay for the privilege to view and or buy goods in the first place, just don't go............ My real "festive" rip off favorite is the Currys / Dixons / PC World where they advertise huge discounts from the previous price, then at the bottom in small print it say's something along the lines of "higher price charged" which I've seen can be as short as just a week. Now that is taking the proverbial. And don't get me started on the DFS sale ! >:-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelly58 Posted December 14, 2011 Share Posted December 14, 2011 Years ago when you had to buy number plates and pay delivery charges on a new car I gave the dealership I was buying a new car from a choice Number plates with their name on them NO Charge plain ones I would pay for , I got the free ones . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted December 14, 2011 Share Posted December 14, 2011 So what's the considered view of those forum members who have commented above but not addressed richyp original question? Even if you haven't read the advert in MMM, you've now had the opportunity to examine the website through which show-tickets may be ordered. Ignoring whether or not charging a transaction-fee leaves a nasty taste, or whether asking any entry-fee for trade exhibitions is or is not an imposition, do you believe that the website's advertising or buying procedure are misleading, or contravene advertising standards regulations? After all, that's what richyp has been asking about... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 1footinthegrave Posted December 14, 2011 Share Posted December 14, 2011 YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith T Posted December 15, 2011 Share Posted December 15, 2011 Yes, I think it is misleading headline advertising,but not unusual in purchasing tickets. In fact you cannot buy at the door at these prices as they will be £10/£9 (snr)......! If you are a memeber of the Caravan club they are charging £7/ £6 (snr) in advance, plus a £1 transaction charge - I assume a 'transaction' is one fee however many tickets you purchase! At least the cost of this is a lot less than the earlier Brimingham show prices were. One of the worst I have come across was recently I wanted to get tickets for a concert at Bristol's Colston Hall, and there was an 8% fee,plus a £1.50 handling charge! I queried this with them, as I have purchased tickets from them many times in the past, and whilst not advertised on the website, it is still possible to reserve seats by phone to the box office,then send your cheque plus SAE, and the only additional charge is £1.50 handling fee, which is the same procedure as I have used previously. If you go into the Box office you still pay the basic ticket price advertised, buty if you use credit or debit card the fee of 8% is still charged. My complaint to them fell on deaf ears!! However, I am sure if you use most of the ticket agencies they have a similar charge - if we want to go to a theatre or conert hallin London, we now generally go to the box office office in person on the day, and often pay in cash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted December 15, 2011 Share Posted December 15, 2011 Derek Uzzell - 2011-12-14 5:25 PM So what's the considered view of those forum members who have commented above but not addressed richyp original question? Even if you haven't read the advert in MMM, you've now had the opportunity to examine the website through which show-tickets may be ordered. Ignoring whether or not charging a transaction-fee leaves a nasty taste, or whether asking any entry-fee for trade exhibitions is or is not an imposition, do you believe that the website's advertising or buying procedure are misleading, or contravene advertising standards regulations? After all, that's what richyp has been asking about... No it's not a rip-off - it's just misleading. :-( But then I'm also one of those people who has yet to find an advertised " exciting offer " that turns out to be exciting. :-( :-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ChrisB Posted December 15, 2011 Share Posted December 15, 2011 I think anything over and above the advertised price is a rip-off. Just to widen this discussion a little what do you all think of the motorhome sellers who regularly advertise "From £30,300" and then (in the small print) add something like "plus £1500 on the road charges"? I think it woulld be far more honest to headline the true cost and a dealer who does this is more likely to get my business. What other shop (other than car sales) adds on delivery charges etc. to the "ticket" price? I've never seen a washing machine advertised for e.g. £300 (small print plus £30 delivery to the shop), and many will deliver to your home all inclusive. Now there's a thought for motorhomes ... Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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