# Filling station advertising hols for €19.99, hidden catch



## Sandals (25 Jul 2011)

Filling station in Co. Westmeath had signs up:

€5 spend = 1 token
15 tokens and €19.99 for up to 3 nights in hotel

Filled up €75 worth of fuel and husband pays and gets card stamped etc.

Taking card out there now I must also pay for food (no mention of this at filling pumps, no asterisk etc) leading to at least €39 to be spent per person per day for breakfast and dinner.

I have been mislead. Surely this is false and misleading advertising. 

Anyone experience of this.


----------



## aristotle (25 Jul 2011)

Don't think you have been misled. It didn't say it was B&B or B&B plus dinner.


----------



## Sandals (25 Jul 2011)

From my reading I spent €75 for the 15 tokens and I had to pay a further €19.99 for the hotel break. 

Im not saying I thought i got free dinner or breakfast but I certainly wouldn't have spent €75 on diesel (in this filling station in one go) if i known I had to buy my breakfast and dinner in the hotel on every night I wished to stay.


----------



## elcato (25 Jul 2011)

Can you clarify that the deal is €39 per night for Breakfast and Dinner ? But you don't have the option of B & B for 19.99 ?


----------



## aristotle (25 Jul 2011)

Sandals said:


> From my reading I spent €75 for the 15 tokens and I had to pay a further €19.99 for the hotel break.
> 
> Im not saying I thought i got free dinner or breakfast but I certainly wouldn't have spent €75 on diesel (in this filling station in one go) if i known I had to buy my breakfast and dinner in the hotel on every night I wished to stay.


 
Are you saying you had no choice but to pay for the dinner and breakfast? The hotel would not accept the voucher unless you agreed to pay for breakfast\dinner?


----------



## Gekko (25 Jul 2011)

I've heard about this - You HAVE to purchase €39 worth of food per person per day.

A joke.


----------



## Sandals (25 Jul 2011)

the card (which I just stuck in the glovebox as on way to an occasion after I checked the 15 stamps) states a website you look for the hotels on and then I must ring a number to book. 

Yes I must pay for breakfast and dinner per person the cheapest being €39.  Iv a 10 year old so lord only know what the prices for her would be added on.

I really am disgusted and annoyed at myself over this. 

I cant find an email for this filling station but will make contact over this by post.


----------



## PolkaDot (25 Jul 2011)

This is quite common, these deals have been around for a couple of years now.

You think you are getting a hotel stay for a bargain price. But in the small print it says you have to buy €X worth of food each day if you wish to avail of the special offer.


----------



## ajapale (25 Jul 2011)

Sandals said:


> Taking card out there now I must also pay for food (no mention of this at filling pumps, no asterisk etc) leading to at least €39 to be spent per person per day for breakfast and dinner.


 
Sandals,

Your sentence does not make any sense. Perhaps you could edit it to clarify?

aj
moderator


----------



## frash (25 Jul 2011)

If this is the AppleGreen deal then it says it very plainly on the card that you have to buy food in order to get the "deal".


----------



## Sandals (25 Jul 2011)

Not Applegreen but deal running with the company with LBinternational-ni.co.uk, not sure what brand of fuel station it was but its in a small town in Westmeath. Ill name it if no problem here. 

There was absolutely no mention of having to pay for food at the filling station or when staff member stamped the card, just till I opened the card this morning and then checked the website.


----------



## ajapale (25 Jul 2011)

Sandals,



Sandals said:


> Taking card out there now I must also pay for food (no mention of this at filling pumps, no asterisk etc) leading to at least €39 to be spent per person per day for breakfast and dinner.


 
Please edit your post to make it meaningful.
aj
moderator


----------



## Sandals (25 Jul 2011)

Sandals said:


> Taking card out there now I must also pay for food (no mention of this at filling pumps, no asterisk etc) leading to at least €39 to be spent per person per day for breakfast and dinner


 
Taking the card out of the car and reading though it I find I must pay for meals, of which there was no mention of at the pumps or the filling station counter and then further investigation on the website listed led me to find the cheapest meals are €39 per person per day for each day in the hotel.

Hope this is clearer.....


----------



## ajapale (25 Jul 2011)

Sandals said:


> Taking the card out of the car and reading though it I find I must pay for meals, of which there was no mention of at the pumps or the filling station counter and then further investigation on the website listed led me to find the cheapest meals are €39 per person per day for each day in the hotel.
> 
> Hope this is clearer.....


 
Not really.

Is this what you mean:

I took part in a filling station promotion in Co Westmeath.

It involved €5 spend = 1 token. Collect 15 tokens and up to 3 nights in hotel are can be got for €19.99. 

I filled up €75 worth of fuel and got the card stamped etc.

When I examined the card I found that I must pay for meals. When I looked at the website I discovered that the cheapest meals are €39 per person per day for each day in the hotel. 

There was no mention of these facts at the pumps or filling station counter.


----------



## dereko1969 (25 Jul 2011)

Was there an * (terms and conditions may apply)? 

Would be usual get out of jail terminology used.


----------



## ajapale (25 Jul 2011)

Sandals,

Is it compulsory to buy the meals?

aj


----------



## ajapale (25 Jul 2011)

Sandals said:


> (no mention of this at filling pumps, no asterisk etc)


 
Sandals did not see any asterisk.


----------



## MugsGame (25 Jul 2011)

ajapale said:


> Sandals,
> 
> Is it compulsory to buy the meals?
> 
> aj



Yes, that's the issue!


----------



## Mongola (25 Jul 2011)

I think it is actually more than that per person per day. 

A petrol station in Ballinteer is offering the same promotion and while I don't think it is false advertising (as they have everything explained in the smallest characters you can find in their terms & conditions) it is, in my opinion completely misleading. 
It does not work out much cheaper than by going online and booking it yourself and a lot of the hotels on offer would be...quite basic hotels.


----------



## mcaul (25 Jul 2011)

Considering that most petrol stations make less than 5c per litre before any costs are applied, yoke can be fairly certain that any promotion that involved just €75 fuel purchase will have no real value.


----------



## Sandals (26 Jul 2011)

The signs up at the pumps were in A4 sized laminated pages with very clear text about the tokens needed and the €19.99 for up to 3 nights.  There was nothing that led me to know I should check for extra terms and conditions. I am very consumer rights aware etc (in fact Iv a degree in consumer studies which is why Im so disgusted that I got caught out).

It was my car and especially during the summer months I have no need for €75 of fuel, its like buying 5/6 weeks in one go.

yes, mongola there are more expensive options for better quality hotels at €49 per person per day.


----------



## RonanC (26 Jul 2011)

Sandals, 

Have you contacted the National Consumer Association and informed them of possible false advertising? 

I've seen a similar promotion before in my local petrol station but I cannot remember if they specifically mentioned if there was any t&c's attached.


----------



## Sandals (27 Jul 2011)

yip RonanC emailed them yesterday but they looking for proof of the actual signs, have a letter wrote to the filling station but hopefully passing through that village on Sunday so will take a few snaps and then hand in my complaint.

There were def no T&C/asterisks etc I'm 100% sure of it and Im assuming the majority of people would be like my husband and say "Bin it, its not worth the hassle" as he stretches out with the remote control. He's point is I got diesel anyway for the money spent but I feel the filling station got more of a spend out of me and Iv no holiday for the €19.99 I was willing to pay.


----------



## Brendan Burgess (27 Jul 2011)

This comes up from time to time. 

The advertising is misleading. It is not enough for the terms and conditions to specify that you must eat at the hotel and pay for it to qualify for the cheap accommodation. You had bought your petrol before you get to see the terms and conditions.

I think you should raise it with Conor Pope in the Irish Times or other similar journalists. Also the NCA and the ASAI. 

Brendan


----------



## f9710145 (27 Jul 2011)

I saved the applegreen stamps a couple of years ago.  At the time I was aware of the required food purchases but figured with a baby that we would eat in the hotel anyway.  The terms also said some hotels may have extra conditions on availablity.  But when we filled the card and started looking at hotels there were so many conditions on the ones we liked, such as only midweek, or higher than usual food spend required.  In the end we selected a few options, went online, and could get far better deals either directly or through discount sites.  So the card was never used.


----------

