Customers “hoodwinked” by supplements

RETAILERS fear increased customer complaints about fuel supplements after the latest round of increases by tour operators.

MyTravel, Thomas Cook and Cosmos have raised fuel supplements to £30 for short haul, £40 for medium haul and £65 for long haul. Thomson and First Choice are charging the same for medium and long haul, but £25 for short haul.

Co-operative Travel Trading Group chief operating officer Mike Greenacre said: “People are complaining when they go to book a holiday at one price and find the final price is more.” 

Travel Counsellors chairman David Speakman said: “Supplements are being used to hoodwink customers.”

Trading Standards lead officer Bruce Treloar has called on the Office of Fair Trading to investigate.   “We’ve approached the OFT to discuss whether tour operators are breaking the law. The OFT could call them in to discuss the issue,” he said.

Greenacre added: “You can justify supplements where the fuel price has increased dramatically since printing brochures. But there is no reason why earlier supplements can’t be included in the price.”

But Federation of Tour Operators director-general Andy Cooper defended the increases. “Customers know what they are paying when they buy,” he said.

The oil price was back close to a record high, at $74 a barrel, as Travel Weekly went to press.

Cosmos commercial director Stuart Jackson said: “The cost of fuel has risen from $220 a metric tonne 18 months ago to about $740. Nobody can absorb that. This is the fairest way.”

Treloar said: “Consumers aren’t complaining. But it’s not a good situation.” He added: “Fuel is a mandatory cost and should be included in headline prices.”

An ABTA spokesman agreed: “We’d like prices to be inclusive across the board. The difficulty is the law.”

The OFT declined to comment.